Nothing can be compared with pampering your cat to look and feel like a star. Most cats take real pride in grooming themselves, and they spend half of their time preening themselves to look perfect. Cats are pets who love to look after themselves. But, it does not mean you can’t have a pampering routine for your cat.
Yes, cat grooming is possible at home. No doubt, the idea of shampooing or grooming your cat at home may seem crazy. But, it will really be fun and exciting when you take care of everything about your pet. Regular maintenance helps in making your cat look and feel great.
When it comes to how to groom a cat at home, it may confuse you, especially when you do not know how and from where to start. Regular cat grooming helps you spend quality time with your cat and enables you to check her body condition and possible signs of any health problem.
Your cat may squirm when you take her to a bath or when you get out a comb. Have you ever experienced this situation? If yes, you need to be a little polite to get your cat ready for a grooming session.
If you don’t know how to groom a cat, this guide will help you make the grooming session a peaceful and effective experience.
Things To Keep In Mind
- How Can Grooming Be A Pleasing Process For You Both
- Why Grooming A Cat At Home Is Required?
- When Should You Start Grooming Your Cat?
- How To Trim Cat Claws?
- Tips For Cat Grooming
How Can Grooming Be A Pleasing Process For You Both
Do you know that to make your cat feel comfortable, the grooming process should be enjoyable for both of you? It is very important to schedule a grooming session at a time when your cat is calm and sleepy. Remember, you should also be in a good vein. It is so because if you are stressed or grumpy during the grooming session, your cat may also get stressed.
The cat may ask for all the attention for the first time you groom her. Make sure that the first few grooming sessions should be short, not more than 5-10 minutes. Once your pet gets used to the grooming routine, you can increase the time gradually to clean your cat.
This time can also be used to help your cat to be handled easily by your hands. During this time, you must play with her ears or feet so that your cat gets used to the touch to these parts of her body. It will help in future grooming sessions for ears and claws care.
How to groom a cat at home tips also include that you should never force or push your cat to accept grooming. If you notice that your cat is stressed or upset, give her a break and try again when everything seems ok. If you are taking your cat to bathe, you must take the help of someone to get this job done quickly. Never hesitate to give treats to your cat if she behaves well during grooming.
Also Read: Top 10 Cat Breeds.
Why Grooming A Cat At Home Is Required?
Whether you are looking for how to groom a cat with long-hair, medium-hair, or short-hair, the long and medium-haired cats require more grooming help from the owners because they are more prone to matting. If you groom your cat daily, it helps in keeping her coat in good condition. Grooming helps
- Regular grooming helps in improving your cat’s muscle tone and promotes her skin to produce oil that gives her coat a healthy shine.
- The cat removes hair when grooming herself. But, if you groom her daily, it helps in removing most of the loose hair and also prevents the formation of hairballs.
- Grooming also helps in checking her ears, eyes, and mouth for the signs of any health problems, such as lumps or bumps or fleas, ticks, or ear mites.
- If you do grooming in the right way, it enhances your bonding with your pet.
Learning how to groom a cat at home properly helps in the reduction of hairballs/tangles. It provides you with the best way to monitor your cat’s health and any health issue at an early stage.
When Should You Start Grooming Your Cat?
You should start grooming your cat at an early age as it will help the cat to become habitual of this routine. Some kittens are hard to groom. So you have to find the solution to make your kitten comfortable for clean-up.
Do you know that as kittens grow, they become stiff? So, if you try to groom your cat at an older age, you may not be able to clean some areas because your cat will not allow you to touch those areas. Therefore, you must start looking for how to groom a cat at home as soon as you get a kitten in your home.
You must make regular cat grooming a part of your cat’s life if you want to make things smooth. The grooming at a younger age works great in making a shared level of trust between both of you.
For shorthaired cats, it is advised to brush them once a week as it is enough to maintain their coat, while for long-haired cats, you should brush them once a day to prevent their hair from knots and build-up of hairballs.
How To Trim Cat Claws?
Learning how to groom a cat is not complete without knowing how to trim cat claws. Some cats, like outdoor cats and cats who love scratching posts, take care of their claws by themselves. But, cats who spend most of their time indoors or elderly cats need your help.
You must check your cat’s claws weekly to prevent her claws from growing inwards. This, in turn, can cause pain and infection, which you will never want. If you find that your cat has overgrown claws, it is important to check with your vet if any treatment is required.
So, you must trim the claws when absolutely necessary. Let’s have a look at some of the tips to learn to trim claws perfectly.
- Before you start doing trimming, just check if your cat really needs doing this. Outdoor cats use their claws to climb and defend themselves. So you must trim their claws only if you find that your cat is at risk of overgrowing. In this case, there are chances that only some claws need trimming.
- You must make a habit of checking your cat’s claws on a weekly basis. If you find that any of the claws is ingrowing, you must consult the vet immediately. In this case, your cat may need medications for pain or infection. Also, the vet will check for ripped, torn, or missing claws.
- If you are a first time cat owner and looking for how to groom a cat at home, it is best to ask your vet to demonstrate the right way to your cat’s claws. If you find it hard to trim your cat claws or you are not confident in this job, you must ask the vet to do the trimming instead.
- It is always good to get your cat used to the process of claws trimming from an early stage. It will help make your cat familiar with this routine and will let you do this job without any hassle.
- Always use a quality clipper for claw trimming and make sure that it should always be cleaned and well maintained. This clipper can easily be available from a pet shop, or you can buy it online.
- When you trim your cat’s claws, make sure to hold it gently between your finger and thumb. First, start with trimming the transparent tip of the claw. Make sure not to trim blood vessels in the center of the claw.
- Don’t trim claws if you are in a hurry, as it can be an uncomfortable situation for your cat, and she may not let you trim her claws. Have patience and take adequate time to trim the claws.
- You must also check the paw pads to find if there is any sign of soreness between the toes. If you find anything unusual, don’t hesitate to consult the vet.
Tips For Cat Grooming
How to groom a cat at home is not an easy task. You have to maintain several things, follow certain guidelines, and make some routine, etc., just to make your cat clean, hygienic, and healthy all the time.
If you are a new cat owner, you must know that a clean cat means a happy and active pet. These tips for learning how to groom a cat will help you to do everything with great ease and properly. From claw trimming to bathing, these small maintenance jobs can go a long way.
Here, you will learn how to keep other body parts, such as eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, and others, clean. If your cat fights the grooming process, you or your cat may get an injury, so the best way is to make an appointment with the vet or a professional cat groomer.
Bathing Your Cat
Cat is a pet that has its own built-in grooming feature. The cat has the ability to handle her own hair care needs. But, if your cat is dirty, smelly, or something gets stuck to her hair, you need to give her a bath. You need to follow bathing guidelines given by the vet to ensure minimal stress.
Brushing Your Cat
Brushing your cat not only helps in removing dirt and dead hair but also helps in stimulating blood circulation. It also works great in improving the overall skin condition. If your cat has long hair, you must brush her hair every day and make it a regular session.
Skin Issues
How the skin of your cat looks determines her overall health. When a cat has any skin problem, she may do excessive scratching or licking. The common causes of skin problems are external parasites and allergies due to change in the season and stress. You must see the vet immediately if you find anything suspicious.
Shedding Of Hair
It is important to reduce the shedding of your cat’s hair by keeping a check on her amount of loss of dead hair. Regular grooming of your cat and cleaning hair from your house can reduce the inconvenience of this condition. If you notice an excessive loss of hair or some bald patches in the fur of your cat, it may be a sign of any health-related problem.
Ear Care
No doubt your cat is highly able to hear the sound of her food bag or box being opened anywhere across the house, but it does not mean that your cat’s ears do not require grooming. You must clean your cat’s ears once per week to remove wax or debris. You must check her ears for any sign of infection.
Paws Care
Always remember that a cat needs healthy feet for scratching, climbing, and holding her toys. Due to this reason, it is important to examine her paws on a regular basis. Also, make sure to keep her paws clean and wound-free.
Nail Care
Does your cat get scared and hide in some place when you take out her nail clipper? Even if you wrap your cat in a towel, still she does not let you give her a manicure, and then gives her a break and start pampering her after some time so that she allows you to give her a nail trimming.
Dental Care
Many people think that pets do not require any kind of teeth cleaning. This is completely wrong. Like you, your cat also needs good dental health with clean and healthy teeth and gums. If you find any damage to her tongue, teeth, or gums, it can result in various health risks for your cat. So, the best way to prevent this from happening is to go to the vet for regular check-ups and also follow the traditional brushing method.
Eye Care
When going through the guide for how to groom a cat, you must not ignore the importance of your cat’s eye care. You must take your cat for an eye exam to check if there are any tearing, crust, cloudiness, or inflammation in her eyes. Having any of these problems may indicate a health problem.
Also Read: First Time Cat Owner Guide
Final Words
Most importantly, no matter what grooming task you are going through with your cat, you must be patient and pay full attention to your cat to make sure that she feels comfortable and stress-free.
This how to groom a cat at home guide will be extremely helpful for you to give a safe and friendly grooming session to your cat. It will also help in experiencing a pain-free grooming relationship.
