Grooming
Guide to grooming
Grooming is important to help prevent the formation of knots and matting in cats with long or thick coats. Brushing can be a wonderful bonding experience between yourself and your cat and can be started from 6-weeks of age. Brushing should be introduced slowly and positively to help your kitten to enjoy the experience.
Do not force your kitten to accept brushing if they are not comfortable with it yet. Start with a kitten brush with soft bristles and keep brushing sessions short. Always brush in the direction of hair growth and praise and reward your kitten for good behaviour.
Knotted and matted fur will pull on the skin causing pain and discomfort. Matted fur may hinder movement, mask underlying skin disease, or hide fleas. Matted fur cannot be brushed out and should be removed with a professional groom. Most cats will not tolerate electric clippers, so we recommend a full-body groom under general anaesthesia.
Toileting habits
Cats that live indoors will need a suitable litter box and toileting area to relieve themselves.
Litter boxes come in many shapes and sizes and may be open or covered. When selecting a suitable litter box, the tray should be as large as possible to allow your cat to move, scratch and squat comfortably. We recommend clay, gravel or sand based cat litters that are fragrance free and clump together when used.
Fine, sand-like litters are ideal as cats will instinctively prefer to scratch and toilet in these materials. Litter trays should be cleaned out at least daily to remove odours and to encourage your cat to toilet (cats prefer to toilet in a clean tray!). Every cat should have its own litter tray, plus one extra per household.
Scratching posts
Cats will scratch on surfaces to sharpen and maintain their claws for climbing.
Cats may prefer to scratch on either horizontal or vertical surfaces, so it is important to provide them with some options to choose from. Vertical scratching posts should be tall enough to allow your cat to stretch out fully when scratching (at least 60 cm high without obstruction by platforms or sleeping hollows). Scratching posts come in many shapes, sizes and materials! The best post will be based on your cat's personal preferences.