hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

I have an indoor only cat (lives at my office after being evicted from
the house by my wife almost 2 years ago). He's a long hair about 8
years old. I'm not normally in the habit of grooming him as he hates
being brushed so I've just let him be for the most part. This past
week though I decided that I was going to clean him up. He had some
small clumps of hair around his collar, so I removed his collar and
brushed him out as best as I could. There were still clumps so I
tried to see if I could brush through them and break them apart with
my fingers but found the hair pulls right out without bothering him.
I felt all over his body and found a few areas with small clumps and
the hair in those areas pulled right out as well.

This sounds a little odd to me and I'm not sure if it's because spring
is coming, if it's normal, or because of his diet (I feed him twice a
day, about 3oz of dry food at a time and use Innova Reduced Fat as
he's overweight. I realize wet food would be good as well but I have
not been giving him wet).

I see no sores, feel no problems with his skin, though his fur is a
bit dull. Any thoughts?

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

This sounds a little odd to me and I'm not sure if it's because spring
is coming, if it's normal, or because of his diet (I feed him twice a
day, about 3oz of dry food at a time and use Innova Reduced Fat as
he's overweight. *I realize wet food would be good as well but I have
not been giving him wet).

Food has everything to do with the appearance of his coat (and his
overall health too). I noticed a huge difference in my Tucker's coat
when I switched to an all-canned diet. Less shedding, fewer hairballs,
and a generally more glossy coat.

My guess is that, since he's long hair and hasn't been regularly
groomed, is that he's just shedding. If you see any more mats that are
close to the skin, I'd recommend taking him to a groomer and have them
shave the area. Once his fur is mat free, keep brushing him on a
regular schedule. I really like the Furminator--it really gets the
hair out--but use whatever brush your cat will tolerate. Some cats
love the rubber Zoom Groom vs. a metal brush.

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

On Mar 27, 2:26 pm, "Rene S." wrote:
This sounds a little odd to me and I'm not sure if it's because spring
is coming, if it's normal, or because of his diet (I feed him twice a
day, about 3oz of dry food at a time and use Innova Reduced Fat as
he's overweight. I realize wet food would be good as well but I have
not been giving him wet).

Food has everything to do with the appearance of his coat (and his
overall health too). I noticed a huge difference in my Tucker's coat
when I switched to an all-canned diet. Less shedding, fewer hairballs,
and a generally more glossy coat.

My guess is that, since he's long hair and hasn't been regularly
groomed, is that he's just shedding. If you see any more mats that are
close to the skin, I'd recommend taking him to a groomer and have them
shave the area. Once his fur is mat free, keep brushing him on a
regular schedule. I really like the Furminator--it really gets the
hair out--but use whatever brush your cat will tolerate. Some cats
love the rubber Zoom Groom vs. a metal brush.

Thanks, I"ll take a look at some of the brushes you mentioned
but I don't think it will matter, he HATES being brushed. He wraps
all 4 paws around the brush and bites the brush and my hand if I
even go near him with the thing. It doesn't matter where I try to
brush, if he even just sees it, he goes into attack the brush mode :).
I'll see if I can mix in some wet food, I used to use Welness but my
local source dried up and with the price of gas, it's a LONG drive
to the closest place that carries it. I'll look into some of the
alternatives. I'm sure the store where I buy Innova must have
something of quality (Innova wet perhaps?)

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

The Innova canned food would be a good option. Also, canned food is less in
calories than dry so that would be another reason to switch your cat over to
canned since you said he was overweight.

As far a grooming tools, I had a glove that was for grooming. It had rubber
nubs on the palm part. You would wear the glove and just pet your cat and
it would help remove loose fur, etc. I'm not sure if such a glove is
available anymore, but you could check the pet stores or maybe online
somewhere.

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats at http://www.island-cats.com/ **
---
"robro" wrote in message
...
On Mar 27, 2:26 pm, "Rene S." wrote:
This sounds a little odd to me and I'm not sure if it's because spring
is coming, if it's normal, or because of his diet (I feed him twice a
day, about 3oz of dry food at a time and use Innova Reduced Fat as
he's overweight. I realize wet food would be good as well but I have
not been giving him wet).

Food has everything to do with the appearance of his coat (and his
overall health too). I noticed a huge difference in my Tucker's coat
when I switched to an all-canned diet. Less shedding, fewer hairballs,
and a generally more glossy coat.

My guess is that, since he's long hair and hasn't been regularly
groomed, is that he's just shedding. If you see any more mats that are
close to the skin, I'd recommend taking him to a groomer and have them
shave the area. Once his fur is mat free, keep brushing him on a
regular schedule. I really like the Furminator--it really gets the
hair out--but use whatever brush your cat will tolerate. Some cats
love the rubber Zoom Groom vs. a metal brush.

Thanks, I"ll take a look at some of the brushes you mentioned
but I don't think it will matter, he HATES being brushed. He wraps
all 4 paws around the brush and bites the brush and my hand if I
even go near him with the thing. It doesn't matter where I try to
brush, if he even just sees it, he goes into attack the brush mode :).
I'll see if I can mix in some wet food, I used to use Welness but my
local source dried up and with the price of gas, it's a LONG drive
to the closest place that carries it. I'll look into some of the
alternatives. I'm sure the store where I buy Innova must have
something of quality (Innova wet perhaps?)

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

On Mar 27, 10:46*pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:
The Innova canned food would be a good option. *Also, canned food is less in
calories than dry so that would be another reason to switch your cat over to
canned since you said he was overweight.

As far a grooming tools, I had a glove that was for grooming. *It had rubber
nubs on the palm part. *You would wear the glove and just pet your cat and
it would help remove loose fur, etc. *I'm not sure if such a glove is
available anymore, but you could check the pet stores or maybe online
somewhere.

Innova is a good brand, and Nature's Variety raw or canned is
excellent as well.

I believe those gloves are still available. If you can't find them at
a pet store, try a place like Harriet Carter, where they tend to sell
the unusual. Have you tried taking him out on a harness and brushing
him that way. I've found it works great with my cats. They are
distracted by outside sounds/smells, and I can brush away.

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

That's how I clip my cats' claws....I take them outside and they are so
distracted by being outside, I can trim those nails in no time flat!

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats at http://www.island-cats.com/ **
---
"Rene S." wrote in message
...
On Mar 27, 10:46 pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:
The Innova canned food would be a good option. Also, canned food is less
in
calories than dry so that would be another reason to switch your cat over
to
canned since you said he was overweight.

As far a grooming tools, I had a glove that was for grooming. It had
rubber
nubs on the palm part. You would wear the glove and just pet your cat and
it would help remove loose fur, etc. I'm not sure if such a glove is
available anymore, but you could check the pet stores or maybe online
somewhere.

Innova is a good brand, and Nature's Variety raw or canned is
excellent as well.

I believe those gloves are still available. If you can't find them at
a pet store, try a place like Harriet Carter, where they tend to sell
the unusual. Have you tried taking him out on a harness and brushing
him that way. I've found it works great with my cats. They are
distracted by outside sounds/smells, and I can brush away.

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

On Mar 28, 8:09 pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:
That's how I clip my cats' claws....I take them outside and they are so
distracted by being outside, I can trim those nails in no time flat!

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats athttp://www.island-cats.com/**
---"Rene S." wrote in message

...
On Mar 27, 10:46 pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:

The Innova canned food would be a good option. Also, canned food is less
in
calories than dry so that would be another reason to switch your cat over
to
canned since you said he was overweight.

As far a grooming tools, I had a glove that was for grooming. It had
rubber
nubs on the palm part. You would wear the glove and just pet your cat and
it would help remove loose fur, etc. I'm not sure if such a glove is
available anymore, but you could check the pet stores or maybe online
somewhere.

Innova is a good brand, and Nature's Variety raw or canned is
excellent as well.

I believe those gloves are still available. If you can't find them at
a pet store, try a place like Harriet Carter, where they tend to sell
the unusual. Have you tried taking him out on a harness and brushing
him that way. I've found it works great with my cats. They are
distracted by outside sounds/smells, and I can brush away.

Yeah we've tried the harness thing, in fact we tried to train him from
when he was a kitten with the intent of being able to walk him, but
it didn't work well. Once the cats came back inside, they would all
go nuts trying to kill each other. I just noticed our 3yr old long
hair
female at home is having similar issues, so it's probably just the
whole spring shedding thing. The glove brush thing sounds kind of
cool though and I'll check out the website mentioned above. Thanks
for the tip.

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

On Mar 28, 8:23 pm, robro wrote:
On Mar 28, 8:09 pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:


Yeah we've tried the harness thing, in fact we tried to train him from
when he was a kitten with the intent of being able to walk him, but
it didn't work well. Once the cats came back inside, they would all
go nuts trying to kill each other. I just noticed our 3yr old long
hair
female at home is having similar issues, so it's probably just the
whole spring shedding thing. The glove brush thing sounds kind of
cool though and I'll check out the website mentioned above. Thanks
for the tip.



I also thought I would add that if you cannot find canned food close
by, and do not feel like doing mail order (which is actually very
convenient and a good suggestion) some pet suppliers will be willing
to order the canned food for you at a discount on the shipping... This
would include pets stores and also many feed stores (larger animal
type feed stores).

Just a though :-)

Good luck ;-)

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

That's a good suggestion. When I was looking for a particular brand of cat
food which my local pet store did not carry, I asked the owner if he could
order it for me. He agreed and he didn't charge me for shipping at all. Of
course, I had to buy at least a case of the canned food (which wasn't a big
deal).

All you have to do is ask.

S.
--
**Visit me and my cats at http://www.island-cats.com/ **
---
"mc" wrote in message
...
On Mar 28, 8:23 pm, robro wrote:
On Mar 28, 8:09 pm, "blkcatgal" wrote:


Yeah we've tried the harness thing, in fact we tried to train him from
when he was a kitten with the intent of being able to walk him, but
it didn't work well. Once the cats came back inside, they would all
go nuts trying to kill each other. I just noticed our 3yr old long
hair
female at home is having similar issues, so it's probably just the
whole spring shedding thing. The glove brush thing sounds kind of
cool though and I'll check out the website mentioned above. Thanks
for the tip.



I also thought I would add that if you cannot find canned food close
by, and do not feel like doing mail order (which is actually very
convenient and a good suggestion) some pet suppliers will be willing
to order the canned food for you at a discount on the shipping... This
would include pets stores and also many feed stores (larger animal
type feed stores).

Just a though :-)

Good luck ;-)

hair comes out in chunks when pulled
 

On Mar 29, 8:12 am, "blkcatgal" wrote:
That's a good suggestion. When I was looking for a particular brand of cat
food which my local pet store did not carry, I asked the owner if he could
order it for me. He agreed and he didn't charge me for shipping at all. Of
course, I had to buy at least a case of the canned food (which wasn't a big
deal).

All you have to do is ask.



Hey Blkcatgal,

How is your newest member of the family doing? Is she adjusting pretty
well? Have you accomplished the full intros with your other cats yet?

Is she getting friendlier?

Thanks!
Melissa ;-)