Are Long Hairs really THAT much more work than Short Hairs?

[jessica smith]

We have two domestic shorthairs, and luckily they are very low maintenance and brushing them seems to almost be optional and once a week is more than enough.

We are thinking of adding two new kittens to our family, and are debating between shorthair (my preference) and longhair (SOs preference). My fear is that a long hair like the Maine Coon would need brushing every other day to avoid tangling and matting and then there's probably clingers from litterbox that might need cleaning and maybe even take to the groomers from time to time, whereas shorthairs are pretty much zero maintenance.

For those that have had both, thoughts?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
You would be correct, for the most part

Is your SO willing to handle the daily or every other day brushing, and also handling of mats if by chance the cat has this amazingly almost sticky-ish fur (Poppycat's belly fur would tangle and mat if all I did was look at it wrong, and the only way to keep it under control was to keep it relatively short), and hygiene trims under the tail and along the upper backs of the hind legs so that dingleberries have less chance of clinging?

On the other hand, Mr Captain is a short haired marmalade boy, and I'm having to brush him every other day because his fur is extremely thick, and he'll literally pull it out if he becomes uncomfortable with it.

 

[game misconduct]

get both

 

[vansX2]

Yes, long Hairs are much more work in keeping their coat looking nice. That's the main reason that I changed breeds after my last Maine Coon died. While my two Turkish Van's Aren't considered short hairs. Their coat is a medium length with just one layer of fur. They don't require much coat grooming. No more Veterinarian trips for "Lion " haircuts needed. Only a once a week of combing. Their fur doesn't mat either.

 

[FeebysOwner]

My long haired cats were really no more work than my current short haired one. All of them have gotten frequent brushings to keep their natural body oils spread throughout their fur which helps to prevent matting, poop clumping on their behinds, and reduce ingestion of hair - including the short haired one. When you 'train' a cat to be brushed, they will get used to the brushing on ALL parts of their body, including their behinds.

I've actually had a few more mats to deal with on my short haired cat - more so as she has aged - because I, like you, felt it was OK to be a little lackadaisical with her brushing.

The other aspect of brushing is to get them used to/comfortable with being handled, and it also helps with bonding. If they are more accustomed to being brushed - short and long haired - it is easier to manage their care when they get older and don't do as good of a job with grooming or need other aspects that require handling.

 

[iPappy]

I have found, with my own cats, that short haired cats will require more vacuuming and long haired cats will require more combing. I'm sure the amount of grooming on the long hairs cuts down on the hair shed, but the short hairs seem to shed more guard hairs more often. The long hairs seemed to shed "tumbleweeds" that could easily be scooped up with my hand.
You can learn to do the brushing and combing at home, and most cats if introduced properly absolutely love it.
I've been a groomer for quite a few years. We've groomed long haired cats and a lot of people opt to have the stomach area taken a bit shorter (as Furballsmom mentioned).
The clingers from the litter box could happen, but in many cases that's a diet/stool issue and not a coat issue.

 

[Tobermory]

I’ve had both. The challenges with the long hairs didn’t really start until they were elderly, didn’t groom as well, and had fewer natural oils. The most recent cats had such long, silky hair around their tails that it snagged the poop and followed them out of the litter box…but mainly when they were seniors. And yes, they had mats, but only when they were elderly. And yes, they were more work, but they were so beautiful.

And not all long hair is the same. Some mats worse than others. Iris’s was silky and didn’t mat as much as Lily’s, who had denser long hair.

As FeebysOwner said, it’s really important to get them used to being brushed/combed when they’re kittens. Then it’s not as much of an issue as they age.

 

[jessica smith]

Yes, long Hairs are much more work in keeping their coat looking nice. That's the main reason that I changed breeds after my last Maine Coon died. While my two Turkish Van's Aren't considered short hairs. Their coat is a medium length with just one layer of fur. They don't require much coat grooming. No more Veterinarian trips for "Lion " haircuts needed. Only a once a week of combing. Their fur doesn't mat either.

Thank you, that's an excellent point, we could meet in the middle. The Turkish Van if we adopted brothers would be still semi-long coat and still large in size like he likes.

I'm just hesitant with the Maine Coon even though they are beautiful because I'm a very lazy person (well outside my day job), and know everything ends up falling to me if its inside the home.

 

[maggie101]

My cat peaches is short fur but gets startled by Maggie alot so her fur flies all over my apartment. The new cat may or may not be afraid of her new playmates at first. She will still need to be brushed

 

[GenCat]

It really does depend a lot on various factors, my girl YanYan is short hair but she has the texture of a minky blanket and sheds like an absolute nightmare. She gets hairballs easily due to the amount of fur and her fastidiousness when it comes to grooming so I have to brush her a lot more than most shorthairs.

XiaoXiao feels like he has a double layer coat, medium/long. If I had worked with him more as a kitten it would probably be ok but he blew his coat during his kitty teens and tricked me into thinking he was actually short hair. Now he hates brushing so I’m having to retrain him to maintain his coat. It’s not that bad but we have had to bathe him due to poopcidents when he was younger and I learned how to use a trimmer to shave his sanitary area (I cry every time because he looses his tiny bellbottom pants look)

I do agree with others who have mentioned caring for a long hair elder will be stressful, or if by some chance they have long term GI conditions like IBS/IBD. So definitely something to think over and discuss. Still wouldn’t trade my fluffy boy for anything in the world though.

 

[neely]

The challenges with the long hairs didn’t really start until they were elderly, didn’t groom as well, and had fewer natural oils.

Exactly! Carleton has a lot of arthritis in his spine and the vet is looking into neurological problems as well. Since he was between 5-8 years old when we adopted him he had never been brushed, combed or groomed, i.e. came from a bad hoarding situation. The shelter had him completely shaved down including his tail when we brought him home. I'm sure that was traumatic for him and I'm also sure over 5 years living in a cage and being neglected did not help either. Long story short, he does not like to be combed or brushed no matter how hard I try and I am very, very gentle with him. Therefore, I take him to a groomer that I have thoroughly checked out. As Tobermory said, it becomes more challenging to groom a long-haired cat when they are elderly and he is close to 14 years old now.

 

[jessica smith]

Of course after doing research on youtube, now this kind of stuff is showing up in my feed trying to whisper "its worth it":

This is my kitten, look! Lu cat Ragdoll cat Thanos Ragdoll cat Opium Ragdoll cat Aunt's cat

This is my kitten, look! Lu cat Ragdoll cat Thanos Ragdoll cat opium Ragdoll cat Aunt's cat HNmBYQ

www.youtube.com

 

[iPappy]

Of course after doing research on youtube, now this kind of stuff is showing up in my feed trying to whisper "its worth it":

http://[URL]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bvoz01tHm-4

[/URL]

Oh, that floof! I have all short hairs, and a long hair will be in my future.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Short hairs are definitely easier when it comes to butt clumps. I don't have to worry about that with my girls. My medium-haired boy though gets the clumps every so often and I have to sneakily brush them out. He at least lets me brush him in general, but not the butt. I don't think it's a huge difference in the amount of care, but I've also never had a true long haired cat.

 

[Alldara]

The one thing and reason why I personally would not get a long hair (I'm writing in case you do)....there's a rare condition where cats tummy cannot handle any amount of their own hair. My friend's cat had this and passed after two surgeries to remove bezoars even after diet change, brushing etc. If this does happen, the best thing to do is just shave them and keep them shaved. Now the vet didn't mention this and I didn't know. But now I've seen a few cats on social media with the same issue and their owners get them lion cuts.

Maybe this could happen with short hair cats too but Ive just not heard of it or it's not as bad because they well have less hair.

 

[JAL57]

So, I have a short hair and a long hair (who we all think has some Maine Coon in her). The long hair is in her prime and isn’t that much more work. I do have to brush her once or twice a week and watch out for mats, and occasionally if I can’t get a mat out myself I have to take her in to the vet to have them cut it off.

What I would say, though, is that as a kitten, she got poop stuck in her fur all the time until she got the hang of pooping/grooming. A nice compromise might be to adopt a longhaired cat who’s 1 year or older — so, still young and vigorously self-grooming, but out of the poopy kitten phase. As an added bonus, you’d be helping a less fortunate cat. Everyone wants the kittens.

 

[Allison.Mau]

We have two domestic shorthairs, and luckily they are very low maintenance and brushing them seems to almost be optional and once a week is more than enough.

We are thinking of adding two new kittens to our family, and are debating between shorthair (my preference) and longhair (SOs preference). My fear is that a long hair like the Maine Coon would need brushing every other day to avoid tangling and matting and then there's probably clingers from litterbox that might need cleaning and maybe even take to the groomers from time to time, whereas shorthairs are pretty much zero maintenance.

For those that have had both, thoughts?

I have both. I brush my long haired more frequently....maybe like every other day or so....and her coat is gorgeous. Not matting or yuckiness whatsoever. Yes she sheds a little more than my short haired...but I vacuum every day anyway so its not problem for me. Perhaps I'm lucky....but I'm proof that this mindset doesn't apply to all long haired kitties! My Liliana is the most beautiful girl <3

 

[iPappy]

I have both. I brush my long haired more frequently....maybe like every other day or so....and her coat is gorgeous. Not matting or yuckiness whatsoever. Yes she sheds a little more than my short haired...but I vacuum every day anyway so its not problem for me. Perhaps I'm lucky....but I'm proof that this mindset doesn't apply to all long haired kitties! My Liliana is the most beautiful girl <3

Every single person out there thinks they have the most beautiful cat, and every single person out there is absolutely correct. With my long haired boys, I loved watching them trot around or play with all that gorgeous coat combed out. I'm itching to get another long haired cat some day!!

 

[Lennybells]

So cute!! My furbaby is a long hair. He‘s a Siberian, and he really doesn’t need much maintenance. I brush him once a week or so and he stays knot free.

 

[doomsdave]

I must concur.

Big Boy is getting ancient and matted. I'm learning the art of grooming him.

Honey Bun is long-haired but so gorgeous it's worth the occasional brushing, maybe a couple times a week during the shedding season in late spring. But so worth it. She's both eye and finger candy.