Cat Struggles To Lick Herself

[Winter&willow]

Hello everyone,
My British long-hair cat struggles to lick herself as she is really fluffy around her neck area. This means whenever she tries to lick her paws or her belly etc, she gets a mouthful of her beard. I have uploaded a picture so you can see how fluffy she is.
I was wondering if there was anything anyone can suggest to prevent this from happening.
It's causing problems as she is getting knots in her fur and when she goes outside we have to clean her when she comes back in.
I'm not sure what there is to help (maybe a bib...?) so I would be grateful for any ideas.
Thank you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Unfortunately, this is one of the hazards of owning a long-haired breed. They are lovely but high-maintenance. A bib at meal times would surely help IF your cat will tolerate it. And daily brushing, of course. Other than that, the only thing I can think of is having her professionally trimmed, but she is SO beautiful that it would be a shame to do that! Hopefully, one of our members with more experience in long-haired breeds will pop in here soon with something I hadn't thought of!

 

[Winter&willow]

Unfortunately, this is one of the hazards of owning a long-haired breed. They are lovely but high-maintenance. A bib at meal times would surely help IF your cat will tolerate it. And daily brushing, of course. Other than that, the only thing I can think of is having her professionally trimmed, but she is SO beautiful that it would be a shame to do that! Hopefully, one of our members with more experience in long-haired breeds will pop in here soon with something I hadn't thought of!

Yeah she's not a big fan of the daily brushing so I doubt she would tolerate a bib! Thank you very much, I agree that she is beautiful so I wouldn't want to trim her either. Thank you for your help anyways, I really appreciate it.

 

[stephanietx]

The only other option is to have her 'beard' trimmed.

 

[Winter&willow]

The only other option is to have her 'beard' trimmed.

We've tried that before but there's so much beard!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Best of luck. And...as far as the thanks, appreciated, and that's what we're here for! Should you choose to stick around, you have found a very warm, friendly and supportive community!

And we'd really like for you to stick around!

 

[Winter&willow]

I definitely will! Thank you