How Often Should You Groom Your Cat?

Depending on your cat’s breed, you may have to spend a lot of time grooming your cat’s fur!

If you do not brush, comb, and detangle long-haired cats daily, their fur will tangle quickly.  If you cannot commit to daily grooming, you should trim their hair short so it does not get matted and tangled.  Cats who have medium-length coats will require weekly grooming.  Cats with short hair only need to be brushed out frequently enough to ensure that their fur does not get matted.

As you probably realize, grooming a long-haired cat is a time consuming process.  First, you must comb through their hair with a medium or coarse pet comb.  After that comb handles any tangles, you need to go over their hair with a fine-toothed comb.  I would recommend a double sided comb like the GripSoft Double Sided Pet Comb, which has one coarse side, and another fine-toothed side.  Then, you will need to use a pin brush.  It is very important to go through all of these steps, as skipping one can cause discomfort to your pet, which will make brushing incredibly different.

Medium and wire-haired cats are much easier to groom than long-haired cats.  All you need to do is run a regular pet comb through their hair, and then use a cat slicker brush or grooming glove to follow up.  I would recommend the Love Glove Grooming Mitt – Four Paws, shown above.  These gloves not only massage your kitty while removing their hair, but they also can be used to collect hair from furniture and carpet!

When you groom your short-haired cat, you can use a flea comb.  When combing your short-haired cat, first use a regular comb, and then use a flea comb.  The narrow spacing of the flea comb can pull too much on your cat’s hair, causing major discomfort.  If your flea comb pulls out fleas, put them into a bowl of water to drown them, and then flush them down the toilet!  The Palm Pet Flea and Flea Egg Comb is great because its specifically designed to remove fleas as well as flea eggs.

Keep in mind that no matter what length hair your cat has, there are certain areas that are more prone to tangling and knots.  You need to pay special attention to these areas, particularly in long-haired cats.  These areas are: behind the ears, under the tail, and in their “armpits” (where the legs meet their belly).

Frequently grooming your cat gives you a chance to give their coat a good look.  This way you will become aware of any abnormalities.  If there are bald patches, this could mean your cat has a parasite or fungal infections.  When you notice any abnormalities, take your kitty to the vet!