How to Brush a Cat? A Detailed Guide for Responsible Parents

Making an Inspection

Before you start inspecting your dear cat’s fur for any ticks, put on sterilized rubber gloves as a precautionary measure. If the cat is infested with germs and you have any open wounds on your hands, rubber gloves will prevent you from getting infected. Generally, healthy fur is smooth and glossy while the skin is free from any blemishes. Stroking the fur, it must spring back to its place. If you notice any bumps or wounds, contact your vet.

• Search for fleas. Brushing your pet with a special flea comb, search for dark and small objects resembling sand. These are what fleas look like. White and tiny dots stuck to the cat’s hair are flea eggs. Consult your vet if you notice any fleas or eggs.
• Although indoor cats aren’t usually infested with ticks, check your cat. These are small, tear-dropped brown creatures that hang out of a cat’s skin. Use tweezers to grab them out and drown in a container filled with alcohol. However, if the head of the tick is in the skin of your pet, don’t hurry. Using petroleum jelly, smoother the infested area so that it backs its head out. Then you can grab it with your tweezers. Remember to disinfect the area and only then pass to grooming.
• And the last step of inspection is checking under the tail of your pet. If your pet is long-haired or an old one, he might have fecal matter matted in with his hair. Remove it with a fine-toothed comb or by rinsing the area with warm water. If you notice any small objects under your pet’s tail resembling grains of rice, your pet might have a tapeworm. Consult your veterinarian to get treatment.

Brushing Cats with Short Hair

• To brush a short-haired cat, you will need a fine-toothed comb or a metal cat brush. Take it and gently brush the cat with the grain of the fur. Brushing in the other direction will cause discomfort to your pet. Just remember to deliver enough pressure to remove the loose fur and be cautious when combing the area near the ears (cats are sensitive here). However, most cats love having their faces combed. Don’t deprive your cat of such a pleasure.
• After you have finished brushing your pet’s back, pass to his abdomen and sides. Move slowly and gradually, always with the grain of his fur. In case your pet swats when you reach his abdomen, don’t continue. Cats feel vulnerable when you reach this area and may not let you do that.
• After brushing your cat, damp your rubber gloves and pat him as usual. A little bit of water will not only pick up any loose hair missed by the brush but also give his coat some shining.
• How many times you will have to remove fur from the brush depends on your cat’s undercoat. But whenever you notice the brush is full, remove the hair immediately.
• Generally, brushing a short-haired cat should be repeated every two days. Anyway, in certain seasons extra brushing may be required. Watch how much our pet sheds and you will guess when to brush him additionally.

Brushing Cats with Long Hair

If you wonder how to brush a long haired cat, here is a detailed guide:

• Use a comb with wide teeth. Like in the case of brushing short-haired cats, go with the grain of the fur not to cause pain or discomfort to your pet.
• Start brushing from his head and move toward his tail little by little.
• As a rule, cats have longer hair on their belly and armpits. While brushing, look for mats (tangled balls of fur). If you find any, detangle. To do this, you should start at the bottom of the matted hair and work your way up little by little. Do this either by hand or with a mat-splitter.
• Stubborn mats shouldn’t be cut or shaved as you may accidentally harm your cat’s skin.
• Some cat breeds (the Norwegian forest cat, for instance) have much longer hair at their pads of feet. Check these parts for mats carefully.
• Long-haired cats should also be patted with rubber mittens. They remove dead hair not brushed off and help cats relax after a long session of hair brushing.
• The last step of brushing a long-haired cat is patting him with your damp rubber gloves to reduce any loose hair left and bring some gleaming to your cat’s long hair.
• To keep your brush in a good-state remove the fur every time it is filled with hair.
• Long-haired cats must be brushed every one or two days. Even though such cats don’t shed more often than short-haired ones, they are more likely to get mats and hairballs.