ᐉ How to make a cat's fur shiny?

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The cat is a common animal that lives in many houses and apartments. When a pet is healthy, its well-groomed appearance pleases the eyes of the owner and household members. But sometimes the animal’s health fails and its appearance changes for the worse. For example, a cat may develop greasy hair, which many owners initially mistake for normal dirt. It is especially visible in white fluffy cats with long hair.

To get rid of the problem, the owners are trying to buy out the mustachioed inhabitant of the home. This method really helps if the pet is simply dirty. But if after some time the hair becomes greasy again, this most often indicates oily hair (tail) syndrome.

What to do to make your cat have beautiful fur: 5 tips

Cats are clean and handsome. In nature, whiskers take care of their fur on their own, but at home you can help them look even more luxurious. We will give 5 tips on how to improve your cat's coat.

The appearance of a pet is a mirror of its health. If a cat has bad hair, the first thing to do is take the animal to the veterinarian. Dull hairs, too much and sudden shedding, and the appearance of bald spots can be symptoms of serious illnesses. And here you can’t get by with special food, vitamins or bathing.

1. Adjust your cat's diet

A balanced diet will 99% help improve your cat's coat. If you feed your animal natural food, be sure to discuss the menu with your veterinarian. He will tell you which products to add and which to exclude.

If you feed your cat with industrial food, choose a good cat food to improve its coat. This can be a complete GO cat food. It is suitable for both adult animals with different activity levels and kittens.

2. Sow grass for the cat

Set aside a place on the windowsill for a small tray of wheat germ, oats, or a special collection of “Grass for Cats” (sold in pet stores and seed stores). Such an addition to the diet will not immediately improve the cat’s fur, but the “apartment” resident will definitely like it and will affect her appearance over time.

Greens will help remove hairballs from the stomach easily. This will help avoid serious health problems (sometimes so much hair and undercoat accumulates in the stomach that surgery is required). Sprouted grass is especially relevant in the cat’s menu during periods of shedding.

3. Brush your cat regularly

What can you do to make your cat have beautiful fur? Brush it regularly. Buy a good comb/brush that matches the length of the hair and the size of the animal. Train yourself and your pet to brush at least every other day. A furminator is also a special “comb” that effectively removes dead hairs from the undercoat. It is enough to use it once a week, during the molting period - 2 times.

The cat has bad fur. What to do? Perhaps this is a seasonal molt and you just need to get through it.

Brushing does more than just improve your cat's coat. This is a simple and enjoyable procedure for most furry pets:

prevents the formation of tangles. Mats often appear in long-haired breeds with abundant undercoat; removing them is not always a pleasant procedure for the animal. Therefore, it is better to prevent tangles than to cut them later;
reduces the amount of scattered hair on furniture, floors, clothes, as dead hairs are removed with a comb;
prevents the stomach from becoming clogged with hairballs. Yes, it is impossible to remove all the dead hair from a cat, but it is possible to reduce what it eats with each wash.

4. Keep your skin healthy

Another recommendation on what to do to ensure your cat has beautiful fur is to monitor the health of its skin. Regularly inspect your body for ringworms, sores, lesions, ticks, lice and fleas. Yes, yes, even those cats who never leave the threshold of the apartment periodically develop skin parasites. Lice and fleas can easily be brought in on your clothes, shoes, or with any items from the street. Moreover, they are completely independent and will cross the threshold of the apartment, and then end up in the cat’s fur.

Be sure to give your cat anthelmintic medications once every 3 months - for prevention. Sometimes, in order for a cat to have beautiful fur, it is enough to get rid of parasites.

5. Stop bathing your cat often

If a cat has bad fur, it is not enough to know what to do. You need to determine what not to do. For example, do not bathe your cat more than once a year. Why?

firstly, it is stress, both for the animal and for you. And stress is bad for everyone;
secondly, you wash away the natural protective layer from the fur and skin.

Fluffy takes care of his hygiene on his own. You cannot do without bath procedures in several cases:

doctor's recommendation (skin diseases, presence of parasites, etc.);
very dirty cat. For example, if you just adopted a pet from the street.

If your pet has dirty its paws or other parts of its body, you should not bathe it all. It is enough to wash only the dirty part of the body.

There are medicated shampoos and special care products that can improve a cat's coat. Use them only after consulting a veterinarian or groomer.

What do you do to make your cat have beautiful fur? What cat food do you choose to improve their fur? Share your tips in the comments!

Adjusting the diet

Main mistake

Overfeeding is the most common feeding mistake made around the world. Don't feel guilty about the fact that your cat's bowl is sometimes empty. A constant buffet leads to an increase in the calorie content of the daily diet and, naturally, to obesity. Even an absolutely not hungry cat will definitely not leave food for tomorrow if it can be eaten today.

How to calculate a portion

The calorie content is always indicated on the packaging of ready-made food, which is why portioned wet food in bags of 80-85 grams is very convenient. If you combine them with a dry diet, then 2 sachets per day will be enough.

Among the brands for cats there are those with a wide range of flavors, for example. This is very important because every pet needs variety. Thanks to the large number of flavors, there is no need to change the diet from one brand to another, which means you can always offer your cat something new without consequences for digestion.

Sheba has 2 wet food formats: 85 gram pouches and 80 gram metal jar. In total, pouches and jars are presented in 13 exquisite flavors - double and mono. The average calorie content of one spider is 55 Kcal. If your cat weighs 4 kg, then 2 Sheba spiders will be enough, as well as 2 small portions of a dry diet. If you choose only wet food, then 4 bags per day will cover her calorie needs.

Caloric intake for a cat: 50-60 kcal per 1 kg of weight per day. All types of food should be taken into account here - both dry and wet.

There is a very convenient life hack for dry diets:

● Determine the daily portion of dry food using a kitchen scale - you only need to do this once.

● Divide the resulting portion into 2 parts by weight.

● Select a measuring spoon from among the kitchen utensils that will hold exactly half of the daily volume of dry food and apply food only with this spoon 2 times a day.

Both wet and dry food can be given in more than just the usual bowl. Use educational toys that can hold your cat's food. Thus, the process will be longer and more interesting, as it will satisfy the cat’s instinctive need to hunt and obtain food.

Beautiful fur in cats: how to achieve

A fluffy cat, shining with health, is the pride of any owner. But what can you do to ensure that your fur is always attractive? We'll talk about this in our article.

3 main factors for a beautiful cat appearance:

proper and regular care,
balanced diet,
suitable microclimate in the house.

In order for your pet to have a healthy coat and well-groomed appearance, you need to follow all the rules.

Content

Proper nutrition

The appearance and well-being of a cat largely depend on nutrition. If the diet is unbalanced, then this usually affects the quality of the coat: it becomes dry, loses its shine and elasticity, and hair begins to split and fall out. To avoid this, choose a complete ready-made food for your cat - it already contains all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Long-haired cats may also need a product to help remove hair from the gastrointestinal tract. A veterinarian will help you decide on the choice of diet and supplements, taking into account the cat’s breed, age, activity, and health status.

Remember that the animal’s diet should not include food from your table. If you want to cook for your pet yourself, study in advance the daily intake of calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, micro- and macroelements that the cat should receive, and pay attention to prohibited foods. Among them are fish, poultry and meat bones, sweets, herbs, avocados, smoked meats, etc. For smooth coat and healthy skin, it is important to choose foods rich in B vitamins (beef liver, meat, dairy products, etc.), vitamin A ( egg yolks, sea fish liver, etc.), omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (salmon, eggs, etc.).

Why are hairballs dangerous?

The hairball lingers in the cat's stomach and gradually increases in size. It cannot pass into the lumen of the intestines or esophagus. Trichobezoars irritate the gastric mucosa, cause inflammation and cause gastritis.

The cat tries to vomit the foreign substance, gags and strains the diaphragm, which leads to damage to small blood vessels. Pain and spasms occur in the epigastric region.

The cat must regurgitate hairballs regularly, otherwise the normal functioning of the body will be disrupted:

the fur that the cat cannot regurgitate takes up space in the stomach, causing a false feeling of fullness, so the animal loses its appetite and refuses to eat;
along with fur and hairs, an infection can enter the cat’s stomach;
the hairball causes digestive disorders: stool upset, bloating, acute pain;
trichobezoar can cause intestinal obstruction - an extremely dangerous condition;
due to disruption of the digestion process, intoxication of the body occurs.

Important! Do not think that trichobezoars are a problem only for long-haired cats. Their fur rolls into soft balls in their stomach. Short-haired breeds have short, hard and spiky hairs. They irritate and injure the walls of the stomach, cause gagging and vomiting of blood, and often cause gastritis and ulcers on the gastrointestinal mucosa.

Indoor microclimate

Is there a lot of yellow light bulbs in the house, is the air dry? In this case, the cat's fur may become dry and lifeless. For the health and beauty of your pet, pay attention to the microclimate in the house. Various ways can help improve it:

frequent wet cleaning without the use of chemicals;
regular ventilation of rooms;
reducing heating intensity. If this is not possible, make sure that the cat does not sleep on the radiators. Equip her with a cozy house or bed;
using a humidifier.

If you think you're doing everything right, but your cat's appearance still isn't up to par, visit your veterinarian. Coat problems can be symptoms of various diseases. Also, do not forget about routine medical examination, vaccination, and deworming of your pet. All this can help your cat be healthy for many years and delight you with its beauty and playfulness.

Sources:

https://allexpert.com.ua/chto-delat-chtoby-u-koshki-byla-krasivaya/ https://www.ikirov.ru/news/32833-8-sposobov-privesti-sherst-koshki-v- poryadok https://www.vetmag.ru/advice/koshki-uhod-za-sherstyu/kak-dobitsya-krasivoj-shersti-u-koshek/

What are mats?

Mats are dense clumps of matted old wool. Young cats lick themselves constantly. Thus, they remove old fallen hairs, preventing the appearance of tangles.

Old or sick cats sometimes cannot maintain such hygiene. The fur begins to weave, tangle, and dense clumps appear. However, even young cats are not always able to prevent the appearance of mats.