Should you be grooming your cat daily?

[abaig]

My cat is a Domestic shorthair breed, and we don't groom him often. I am just wondering if we are supposed to groom him daily.

Is it mandatory or optional?

If it's mandatory, is there a specific reason for why we must groom cats daily?

Thank you so much!

abaig

 

[tabbytom]

abaig, welcome to TCS!

Yes, it's good to groom/brush/comb your cat daily as ny doing it, dirt and loose hair will be gotten rid of and thus reducing hairball as cats groom themselves and they take in quite a bit of fur during grooming and also those shed on the floor and when they lie down and groom themselves, loose fir from the floor gets on their body and they lick it up too.

Here's a recent thread on this topic :- how-often-do-you-brush-your-cat-and-what-do-you-use.408795

Feel free to ask questions if you have any and post them under the right forum heading to get a faster response.

See ya around

 

[jen]

It really depends on the cat. I think I have literally brushed/groomed my 16 year old shorthair cat once or twice in her life. She is the cleanest cat, constantly grooming herself. She is very low shed. No thick undercoat or anything. She sleeps on my bed and her coat is shiny and healthy.

I have also had longhair cats who need groomed daily to not become tangled. As well as a shorthair cat with really thick, coarse fur that matted and she never was much of a groomer, but would roll on her back and matte the hair back there pretty badly.

 

[Azazel]

It depends on many factors including the cat and their diet. I used to have to brush my short hair cats daily when they ate kibble many years ago. On a canned diet they shed less but still my one girl had regular hairballs so I was brushing often. On an all homemade raw diet my cats shed way less and never have hairballs and so I rarely brush them. Actually, I only brush them because they enjoy it. So, you just need to consider your cat and circumstances. There is no hard and fast rule for all cats, but ideally cats shouldn’t be shedding too much and they should be ingesting some fur as fur acts as a natural fibre for them. Hairballs are usually an indication of some underlying issue.

 

[vince]

For me, it's usually twice a week, perhaps a little less frequently in the summer. I have two shorthaired cats and one "medium-haired" cat.

 

[kittyluv387]

If you care about shedding it's good to furminate them. But besides that it's not mandatory if they're not long haired. I have given up on the fur issues so I don't groom my medium haired and short haired cats. Diet does make a difference, but they have fur.

 

[abaig]

Thank you all for your answers. I really appreciate it! Now it makes sense why we should come him quite regularly - he is quite prone to throwing up hairballs these days. I'll be sure to brush him!

abaig

 

[sivyaleah]

While I'd like to groom them more, we usually wind up doing our domestic longhair about 3x a week, it could be more though because she LOVES it and it's a good bonding experience between her and us and for the kitten ugh, that's a rough one because she fights us tooth and nail to have it done. Luckily, her coat doesn't tangle at all yet (Maine Coon) and we're working on acclimating her to the process though I can't say it's going well at all. She's too flighty with little patience and starts bunny kicking and biting every tool we've tried on her. So, with her I do try daily but in very short spurts of a minute or two more to get her used to it than for the sake of actual grooming. I really want to give her a bath (MC's benefit from them occasionally); which should be .... interesting. I've done my other cats before but I suspect she'll be somewhat less cooperative LOL

 

[susanm9006]

The amount of grooming really depends on the cat. Their age, the length and type of their coat and their own grooming skills will dictate what they need. With a very short haired thin cat, running your damp hands over their fur once a week may be all they need while a long haired fluffy coated cat or an overweight cat may need grooming every day or every couple of days to stay tangle free. As the seasons change especially from winter to summer or if the cats have been under particular stress, they all may may shed more and require some extra grooming session to rid them of excess hair.


As cats age most need some additional help with grooming especially with their back near their tail, their rear end and haunches as these get more difficult for them to reach. Older cats also need their nails checked and trimmed more frequent, as the nails get thicker as the cat ages.

 

[GaryT]

Theodore has exceptionally long fur and this time of year it is at it's fullest. Combine that with the dry air and you have matts BIG time if you don't comb. He is used to being combed twice a day and all I have to do is pick up the comb and spritz bottle and he comes right to me and rubs against my legs (Pick me up!). He has been combed every day since he was a kitten so he expects it now and will yell at me if I am a bit late grabbing the comb. His "clock" is right on!

 

[golondrina]

I brush my cat Sombra every morning without fail. When I call her with the two brushes in my hand and tell her it is brushing time she hurries up and jumps to take place on the cushion on my desk. She kisses (licks) my left hand all the time while being brushed. Now and then she sits up and kisses my face. She lets me know when she has had enough by lowering and waggling her tail. I let her go then and follow her to the kitchen where she will sit in front of the cabinet where she knows her rewarding treats are kept. I must hurry up and give her earned reward otherwise she will claim it loudly. Agreements must me respected. I agree with her.

 

[basscat]

I only groom our cats about once a week. More than that and I get awful hairballs

 

[dustydiamond1]

I brush my cat Sombra every morning without fail. When I call her with the two brushes in my hand and tell her it is brushing time she hurries up and jumps to take place on the cushion on my desk. She kisses (licks) my left hand all the time while being brushed. Now and then she sits up and kisses my face. She lets me know when she has had enough by lowering and waggling her tail. I let her go then and follow her to the kitchen where she will sit in front of the cabinet where she knows her rewarding treats are kept. I must hurry up and give her earned reward otherwise she will claim it loudly. Agreements must me respected. I agree with her.

I'm so glad she now likes being brushed. If I remember correctly she didn't care for it much at first.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Brushing and combing has always been a bonding process with us and Gypsy. It was the first way we ever touched her when she was the neighborhood stray and started hanging around with us outside. It's still one of her favorite things. Her fur daddy uses the metal toothed shedding brush for an intense experence while I use a mens comb or round nubbed brush for a more massaging and relaxing one. She is free to take off at anytime while we are working on her (but of course she doesn't)

 

[golondrina]

I'm so glad she now likes being brushed. If I remember correctly she didn't care for it much at first.

You have a good memory dustydiamond. It is true that initially Sombra didn't like to be brushed and tried to get away during the whole process. But rewarding her with treats immediately after every brushing ended by winning her over.

 

[neely]

As other members have said, it definitely depends on your cat and the environment. Even if your cat has short hair they still shed and a regular grooming routine would be beneficial as you mentioned hairballs. Since our cat has long hair I try to prevent mats, therefore, groom every other day. Hopefully your cat will enjoy or tolerate grooming and so will you.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

most short haired cats wouldn't need it probably, but this fella.. You'd be surpized with the amount of hair she loses daily. She has a double coat though this pic is her summer coat. I have to throw away about two handfuls of her fur a day from brushing her, and do it only if she's sleeping/nursing her blankey. I start by backwards combing up the bottom layer and brushing over with a real brush about twice and that does it.IF I weren't to do this daily she'd have a hairball. I also brush her teeth; clean her ears and wipe her face down before bed nightly. i think it's mandatory to brush their teeth daily though

 

[Meowmee]

Quinn is a pb siamese with short hair, but not as short as my Wizarduni, who was all black half os and or siamese. I don’t groom Quinn very often because he bites me when I do last time I furminated him he loved it and was rubbing his face against it but then he starts biting me something I do not want go deal with. He does shed quite a bit but nothing like my Syb who was part nfc part siberian, I rarely groomed her because she also hated it, although no biting etc., but I shaved her each spring in a lion cut to avoid mats. My other sh kitties I groomed here and there, Wiz loved it. I am going to try to furminate Merlin soon, he seems to have dandruff. He is a dsh ginger tux rescue from outside, I am not sure how he will react to it so I will wear gloves. He is sh but pretty fluffy for a short hair. Quinn has the silkiest fur of all my kitties except for Syb.

 

[vince]

It's an effort to round them up and brush them. They crab, struggle and cry. I even give 'em treats as a reward and I still have to dig them out from under the davenport. That's why I only get to groom them once or twice weekly.

They do need it. I get so much hair off them, I'm afraid one of them will disappear during the combing!

 

[Purr-fect]

Greg and Arnold need a quick comb daily. About one minute each is enough to keep matting to a minimum. Im no expert but they seem to have 3 types of fur; sort of a curly lambs wool on their bellies, a medium length fur on most of their bodies and then very fine sort of top coat that blankets their back, sides, haunches.

Brushing them CAUSES matting. A wide toothed comb works best for them.