How make Zena’s fur silky soft.

[Meowmee]

So my recent rescue baby Zena is a beautiful longhair cat.. I have been brushing his hair every day with a slicker and a mason Pearson brush which he loves and it looks really shiny after I brush it but he has a tendency to lay roll on the floor and he had a lot of fur damage from living outside for two years and was even losing patches in areas for a while. When he first showed up he was dumped and he was a very super fluffy cat, so gorgeous. And now his fur looks kind of more choppy although it’s still looks beautiful.

But when I pet him it feels sort of rough feeling, not silky like my gorgeous Sybil. I am just wondering what I can do to make it feel soft and silky. I’m not at the point where I’m going to try a bath but I’m wondering if there’s a wipe I can use. I did use some baby wipes on him. I’m wondering if it’s just an issue with him needing to be inside longer and recover from everything that happened to him.

The brushing etc. does encourage him to groom more in fact he just jumped up in the bed next to me on the couch and he’s washing himself now. He still has left over anxiety and he will go into the cage sometimes and meow- or randomly roam, he often sits by my feet. he’s very talkative, he walks around meowing telling you everything he is going to do.

 

[GoldyCat]

Very likely it’s a combination of at least two things. One is his diet. A good diet will produce better fur but it will take months for the new undamaged fur to grow in completely. I found that adding fish oil to my cats’ food made their fur softer and shinier.

Another thing is that some cats just have rougher fur than others. It may never be as silky as your other cat even when it’s completely healthy.

 

[gilmargl]

It takes time for a cat's fur to improve. Last summer I purchased a British Long Hair female who had been misused as a kitten-machine. She had recently been spayed and was rather long and very thin. Although her hair was long, she didn't much resemble a BLH. Her tail was thin and her neck was scraggy. She looked far more like a Maine Coon. At first she lost even more hair but once she had started to put on weight her fur thickened and now, 5 months later, with the typical thick neck and tail, there is no doubt that she is a BLH.
I'm not sure that the difference can be seen in photos but here she is in August when she weighed only 2 kg and I could feel her ribs:

and more recently, almost 4 kg:

GoldyCat is quite right. Diet is important and some cats do have a wiry rather than a silky coat but I've only seen that in short-hair cats. You are lucky that he likes to be brushed, Woolly bear is not cooperative at all! I have never bathed my cats properly - a wash is all I've ever managed. One cat from the shelter had a very smelly, dirty coat and I found a dry shampoo for cats which worked wonders - her coat became soft and clean after just one application! Good luck - time and patience is probably all you need.

 

[Maurey]

Here's a previous post of mine re: grooming recs for long haired cats Brush recommendations?

In addition to good quality food, you may want to supplement omega 3, either with really high quality fish (make sure it's a named fish and from a really reputable company) or krill oil, or by offering half to a whole sardined tinned in water without added salt once a week. Diet tends start having an effect on the coat as quickly as a month or two, but you won't see the full effect until his first shed, at the very least.

 

[Meowmee]

It takes time for a cat's fur to improve. Last summer I purchased a British Long Hair female who had been misused as a kitten-machine. She had recently been spayed and was rather long and very thin. Although her hair was long, she didn't much resemble a BLH. Her tail was thin and her neck was scraggy. She looked far more like a Maine Coon. At first she lost even more hair but once she had started to put on weight her fur thickened and now, 5 months later, with the typical thick neck and tail, there is no doubt that she is a BLH.
I'm not sure that the difference can be seen in photos but here she is in August when she weighed only 2 kg and I could feel her ribs:
View attachment 408876
and more recently, almost 4 kg:
View attachment 408877
View attachment 408879

GoldyCat is quite right. Diet is important and some cats do have a wiry rather than a silky coat but I've only seen that in short-hair cats. You are lucky that he likes to be brushed, Woolly bear is not cooperative at all! I have never bathed my cats properly - a wash is all I've ever managed. One cat from the shelter had a very smelly, dirty coat and I found a dry shampoo for cats which worked wonders - her coat became soft and clean after just one application! Good luck - time and patience is probably all you need.

Thanks for saving her You did a great job, Wooly Bear looks so much better and so happy

I know how lucky I am that he loves being brushed! Sybil really hated it it so it was a rare thing and although she groomed herself well, she had a mat problem and also fleas when she went out etc. so I gave her a lion cut every spring when she shed.That took care of any mats and I could stop flea treatments on all my kitties except a bath if needed. They hated baths after a few years so I stopped that too eventually.
I am going to try the fish oil in his food. I am being cautious about food because he is getting over giardia and hook worm and had persistent runs.

He is switched to the home cooked food now, which is chicken, chicken liver and supplements and pumpkin, but I think adding some fish oil should be ok. I have wild salmon oil which I take myself so I will try that first.

Which dry shampoo did you use? I am careful about stay in products because I have a lot of allergies and my cats never seeemd ro like them and didn’t have fur issues for the most part, time took care of it if they were outdoor rescues.

 

[Meowmee]

Here's a previous post of mine re: grooming recs for long haired cats Brush recommendations?

In addition to good quality food, you may want to supplement omega 3, either with really high quality fish (make sure it's a named fish and from a really reputable company) or krill oil, or by offering half to a whole sardined tinned in water without added salt once a week. Diet tends start having an effect on the coat as quickly as a month or two, but you won't see the full effect until his first shed, at the very least.

I will try all of that and read the post, thanks I am a bit worried about sardines etc because his runs seem to be gone now but I think it will be ok if it’s not too often.

 

[Meowmee]

Very likely it’s a combination of at least two things. One is his diet. A good diet will produce better fur but it will take months for the new undamaged fur to grow in completely. I found that adding fish oil to my cats’ food made their fur softer and shinier.

Another thing is that some cats just have rougher fur than others. It may never be as silky as your other cat even when it’s completely healthy.

Thanks I am going to try the fish oils etc. He is eating the home cooked diet now of chicken, chicken liver, pumpkin and supplements. I agree it will take time to heal whatever happened.

I have never encountered a rougher furred lh kitty so hope it will be a bit softer/ silkier too even if it isn’t like Sybil’s. It may be partly because he is rolling on the ground where there is litter dust and stuff, I sweep everything up a couple times a day but you can never get rid of all of it. I think also with everything he went through he was not able to groom as much and outdoor cats roll in the dirt to wash themselves.

 

[Flybynight]

My thoughts are the same as others diet and supplements and agree, you are lucky he loves brushing .

 

[CindyH66]

I was giving my kitty Bella these treats for " skin and coat" .. and they had salmon oil in them. she loved them. only a couple a day. her coat was a mink coat !! plus I brushed her ..and she loved it !! She liked greenies and temptations ... the ones specific for coats. when I got other ones, I noticed her coat getting more dry , and it didn't take long. amazing !!

 

[gilmargl]

Which dry shampoo did you use? I am careful about stay in products because I have a lot of allergies and my cats never seeemd ro like them and didn’t have fur issues for the most part, time took care of it if they were outdoor rescues.

Sorry, I can't help you. It was a very long time ago - perhaps 30 - 40 years?. Susie was from a shelter in the days when cats were not given names - she was number 46 - I still have her vaccination card! The shampoo was simply a talcum powder which you massaged into her fur and then brushed out. I only had to use it once and it worked wonders. I am a bit of a hoarder but I'm fairly sure I threw it out !

 

[Meowmee]

Sorry, I can't help you. It was a very long time ago - perhaps 30 - 40 years?. Susie was from a shelter in the days when cats were not given names - she was number 46 - I still have her vaccination card! The shampoo was simply a talcum powder which you massaged into her fur and then brushed out. I only had to use it once and it worked wonders. I am a bit of a hoarder but I'm fairly sure I threw it out !

I save all the documentation too I even called the shelter where I got Angie she from to see if her sister who was also a tortoiseshell kitten was still alive and what it happened to her. I was always kind of regretting that I didn’t take both of them together but they didn’t have any information anymore about her.

 

[Meowmee]

I was giving my kitty Bella these treats for " skin and coat" .. and they had salmon oil in them. she loved them. only a couple a day. her coat was a mink coat !! plus I brushed her ..and she loved it !! She liked greenies and temptations ... the ones specific for coats. when I got other ones, I noticed her coat getting more dry , and it didn't take long. amazing !!

Thanks I am giving him salmon oil capsules for now. I got a special comb- stainless steel and I combed him with it last night by spraying water on the comb- that seemed to help, I don’t want to spray him because I think it’s going to scare him.

He’s still a bit skittish and he’s scared of one of my winter coats that I was wearing, so I hope he will get used to it, it makes kind of a hissing sound when I move around because it’s not a shiny material I think.

I don’t want to give him any treats right now because he was addicted to those he was eating too many of them and he had diarrhea from giardia and hookworm- he finally seems to be over the diarrhea so I’m just putting oil into his food- he’s totally on the home cooked food now so maybe after he fully recovers I could try some of those treats again too. They were really good for getting him to start trusting me, and if he can eat them again I would like to use them to train him because I think he’s going to be trainable.

I think his fur really was damaged because it just looks so choppy looking. I have pictures and video of when he first showed up- it was so much longer but the fur on his body is kind of shorter / different lengths now etc. I’m not sure how else to describe it. And at one point it was falling out- I think it’s gonna take a few months for him to recover, maybe when he sheds in the spring and then grows fresh fur etc.

It’s strange that when I’ve brush him sometimes it just feels so hard to come through his fur and pulls on him in some areas even though there doesn’t seem to be a matt, fortunately he doesn’t seem to mind that at all really which is great!

He is the best ever for being brushed He only gets a little bit upset when I get to his back of legs/ bum area sometimes but last night he actually rolled over on his back so I could comb his tummy lol.

 

[CindyH66]

aww.. the brushing is building a bond and trust ! the highest honor from a kitty ! Bella would only let ME brush her she would get a snarl now and again , and I actually cut some out with scissors ( carefully, of course !) which always got me the evil eye ...but she let me do it .. and then brushed that area to be sure they didn't come back. The salmon oil works great ... doesn't matter how you get it in him I suppose . so in the food is fine !! maybe one or two as a reward after brushing (treat) would make him more eager to let you do it ? tho I am not sure that works on cats. I would go for the bonding ... not the reward system. Sounds like you are right on track ! ( by the way ... my neighbor had a cat .. poor girl go so matted up she looked like she had tumors ! ended up at the vet being shaved off !! I urged him to NOT let her get in that condition again !!! she was old and resisted being brushed. oh well... I would do it anyway ...she has passed on now, but you really cant let them get like that !) .. my kitty Peanut ..the tabby in my pic.. hates being brushed. but she is shorthair and not an issue. Bella was fur kitty plus <3 !

 

[CindyH66]

PS ... THIS was Bella .. she passed over the rainbow bridge last year. I still miss our brushing sessions. I even dream of doing them sometimes. she would purr , and love it so !!! funny what we can miss .. LOL !