Lucy's fur....Normal? or Poor condition?

[txcatmom]

Our newly adopted kitty Lucy (formerly Sharon when we were fostering her) has had much more pressing concerns than the state of her coat....but I have been curious about it for a while.

Just 6 weeks ago she was dirty and matted in spots, had health problems (URI and stomatitis), and had been on a shelter quality diet for at least 2 years.

When we brought her home we started feeding her grain free canned with some raw as snacks.  She has been on a better quality diet for about 6 weeks.  We brushed her gently daily for a while to play "catch up" with her grooming.  We also wiped her down with a warm wet washcloth occasionally.  I don't think she grooms herself well but hopefully that will improve as her mouth pain subsides (tooth extractions happened last week.)

Anyways, her fur looks sort of like a teddy bear that has been through the wash...sort of separated.  It has gotten shinier since coming home with us, and cleaner, but I'm curious if the "tuftiness" is within the normal range or considered poor condition for a cat coat.

Here are a couple of photos...

This was just a few days after surgery, so looking a little ookie around the mouth...

9-16-12 009.jpg

• txcatmom
• Sep 18, 2012

This one shows it well....

9-17-12 003.jpg

• txcatmom
• Sep 18, 2012
• 1

We think she's cute either way, but I'm curious whether this coat condition is a "problem" that will improve as her health improves or is considered normal for some cats.  As I was looking through her photos I realized it really is getting better.

I suppose this could have gone in the "health" section...fits in both categories I guess.

ETA: You can click on the photos to see them enlarged.

 

[riccadawn]

I think the teddy bear through the washer thing is normal for some cats. Not all over their body, but in certain spots (like how it really shows up on her tail in that 2nd pic). One of our new kittens looks like that on his tail too. He's also a tabby and to me it almost seems like his 2 different colors of fur have 2 different textures, and that's why they don't lay down flat against each other. Does that make any sense? Kind of a hard thing to describe!

I'm sure the overall quality of her coat will improve in the next couple months, but I wouldn't be surprised or concerned if the wet teddy bear look stays. (Great description by the way - I immediately knew what you meant when you said that!)

 

[txcatmom]

2 different colors of fur have 2 different textures, and that's why they don't lay down flat against each other. Does that make any sense?

It does make sense....thanks.  I find the different textures of cat fur so interesting.  Our four domestic shorthairs all have distinctly different fur textures.

 

[GoldyCat]

I have one cat with fur like that (also a red tabby). His fur actually feels very soft and smooth, just looks rough. I've come to the conclusion that it's normal for him.

 

[Willowy]

A lot of times the "wet teddy bear" look is because of greasiness. You haven't fully bathed her, right? If you don't want to do a full bath, a dry shampoo powder (or plain cornstarch :tongue2 usually does a good job of absorbing greasiness.

It can also be caused by hyperthyroid. But I'm sure there are some cats who are well bathed and not hyperthyroid who still look like that.

 

[orientalslave]

I doubt her coat has finished settling yet.  Bathing her seems rather extreme though you could try a dry bath with warm oatmeal.  If she was hyperthyroid she would be losing weight at quite a rate and I'm sure you would have noticed.

 

[whollycat]

My red-headed boy Abby looks like that when I "add" too much fat/skin in their home-prepared raw diet (I sometimes forget to remove a good portion of the skin). Also, at 16 he tends to groom Izzy more often than himself

, and I've found that by me giving him a good brushing/combing that his hair perks right up and looks good again, smooth and shiny. Not saying that the "wet teddy bear" look is bad, just that I notice a difference after giving him a good going over. It could be that I'm dispersing any oil in his hair all over instead of it giving him that "spikey" look...think you know what I mean.

I bet that diet has played a role in Lucy's hair and that with time it will lose the wet teddy bear look. Maybe it's a red-headed kitty thing?

 

[matts mom]

Matt wasn't all over, but when I got him from the shelter he was like this in his orange........he's an orange/white DSH 

It took us about 4 months of good diet and grooming before he got his sleek coat in. I found the best thing for the matting and for gently removing the loose fur was a  high quality lice comb i have..........though it looks the same as any flea comb i ever saw lol so I'd  just use one of them. Matt would never tolerate a brush, but with the combing, we didn't need  one