Mary Allen
Every year in autumn and also in spring it’s that time again: the beloved kitty comes into the change of fur. With our four tips, you can make the procedure much easier for your sweetheart.
The shedding of our most beloved pet, the cat, is a year-round theme. The free-living or outdoor cats build up a dense winter coat due to the shorter days and falling temperatures in autumn. On the longer and warmer days in spring, they then lose this again when they change their fur.
Artificial lighting and heating almost completely eliminate these regulating factors in our pets, which is why they always shed their hair. It is therefore important to provide them with everything they need for a beautiful, healthy coat and to support their shedding.
Nutrition
Optimal nutrition helps to avoid skin and coat problems, especially during molting. A balanced diet includes high-quality proteins, amino acids, vitamin B, omega-6, and omega-3 fatty acids.
There is a special “Hair & Skin” dry food available in the feed trade that contains these substances in the correct composition. You can give this food to your cat during the change of coat.
Omega fatty acids are also contained in good, cold-pressed oils such as linseed oil, grapeseed, or safflower oil. The addition of vegetable oils to the high-quality complete food makes a lot of sense during the hair change.
Care should be taken with the dosage because too much oil can quickly lead to diarrhea.
There is a special mixture of different, tasteless oils that can be added to the feed in specialist shops. Due to the high bioavailability of the substances contained, a low daily dose is sufficient. The success, shiny hair, and a full coat of hair become visible after a short time.
Grooming
During the daily, extensive grooming of the cat, she licks the fur with her wet, rough tongue. Since a lot of hair would get into the stomach during the shedding process, you should brush your pet daily to minimize the amount of hair. Because these can solidify in the stomach to form an impenetrable hairball, which can lead to serious indigestion and even dangerous gastric obstruction.
The right brush
Normal brushes with nylon or natural bristles are sufficient for short-haired cats, while you should have a grooming comb to hand for semi-long-haired and long-haired cats.
If the coat is not tangled and easy to comb through, you should use a so-called furminator, which really removes any further loose hair. There should always be a harmonious atmosphere between you and your velvet paw.
Such a relaxing, playful massage not only promotes blood circulation in the skin and better hair growth but also strengthens the loving relationship between humans and animals.
Cat grass
So that the hair swallowed during grooming does not remain in the stomach but can be vomited out without any problems, the cat should also always have fresh cat grass available.
The cat grass that can be bought in specialist shops can be sown outdoors in summer or grown in a planter on the windowsill. Consuming cat grass is very effective. Cat grass tablets have a similar effect.
We wish you and your cat that the time of the coat change is a little less hairy than usual with our tips.