Thread: Shedding

Originally Posted by Halcyon

How do you Coonies shed and when? One of the owners of Norwegian Forest cattery told me that Norwegian cats shed very fast and in large quantities while Maincoons loose their coat gradually by small amounts at a time. This is the first year I have my kitties, and one of them shed like a snake in 1 week in August. I became concerned ant took her to the vet. $400 later, when all her tests turned out to be normal, I still had no answer to why she shed so fast. If it was a seasonal change, it should happen in spring or at least in the beginning of summer, and her sister would also be affected. I am aware that hair loss in cats can have million reasons, but want to know the common trend of shedding in your cats.

Our girls loose their ruff and a little of their coat in the summer, but normally they just look thin in the coat.. and sleak . nothing drastic... and over a few weeks... they soon get it back... quickly and beautifully..... Jet our boy never looses his coats is so thick I wish he would shed a little its a nightmare sometimes to keep clear of knots specially around his important bits... If you have had all the test done and she is fine, really not sure as excessive shedding like you state is usually due to some underlying problem like a disease and or Stress...


I use all the time for my cats a little extra oil in the food to help them through this difficult time...

None of my six shed their hair in the same way or at the same time,Bruce is the classic one & does his in one swoop about May time,lumps of it everywhere, white mats & carpets wherever you look but once its done you hardly ever even have to comb him & thats it,Merl the silver boy sheds during the winter & when he used to be shown we would appear mid summer with a cat that had a super flowing & thick winter under coat & a ruff & tail to die for,mid winter he needs an extra blanket...! Two of the girls just seem to shed most of the summer & both of their coats need constant attention at that point because they will matt quickly,one you can comb forever & it still comes out in handfulls the other one leaves it wherever she lays but come September it is back to just the normal grooming & the two youngest brothers are both completly different to each other,the black & white started loosing a fair bit early on then stopped but in the last two weeks I have got masses of dead hair out of him but he doesn't seem to just shed it on his own,his brother a brown tabby has done nothing,as yet,but then his coat is nowhere as long & dense as bruvs....still hoping that one day he will get a ruff ! I also add Yumega daily as a supplement to help their coat...All good fun.

Some of mine never seem to shed at all whereas 2 of my girls, mum and daughter, seem to shed constantly for about 8 weeks. It gets so bad that we have clumps of their fur all around the garden and pen.....we daren't let them in the house when they are shedding as we would constantly be covered in cream and silver fur!

MC Elvis decided for a couple of weeks that he liked chasing his tail 'round the scratching post.

When he caught it, he'd tear out clumps of fur until he almost entirely stripped the last 8 inches or so of his beautiful bushy tail.



Fortunately, he's since moved on to other minor acts of domestic terrorism and his tail fur seems to be growing back.

He seems to have shed quite a bit of other fur too. It's been way hot & humid here so....

Ours all shed some in early summer. For several weeks there will be a considerable amount of cat hair all over the carpet with some in clumps. Vacuum time! This is also when they have the most trouble with mats/knots.

I too would be worried if one were to lose a considerable amount of hair in just one week. Of course they can have a considerable amount of hair to lose (though kittens will not have a full adult coat). How did the cat look after the hair loss? Even when they have shed they still have a pretty full outer coat--they mainly shed the undercoat.

Did you guys have any heat waves in Seattle this year? Our girl who goes out with me every day for half an hour or so really lost hair fast shortly after we started getting really hot weather here. The others are always in A/C so was more gradual.

Originally Posted by claudel

MC Elvis decided for a couple of weeks that he liked chasing his tail 'round the scratching post.

When he caught it, he'd tear out clumps of fur until he almost entirely stripped the last 8 inches or so of his beautiful bushy tail.



Fortunately, he's since moved on to other minor acts of domestic terrorism and his tail fur seems to be growing back.

He seems to have shed quite a bit of other fur too. It's been way hot & humid here so....

Love that tail!!!

Thank you for your replies. We only had few hot summer days, and Ariella started shedding when the heat was over. It is amazing how different the shedding pattern is among Maincoons!
Even with littermates it can be so different. I am still puzzled about possible causes, but so was my vet. Ariella looks skinnier with less hair (she had both undercoat and outer coat shed)
I am glad the loss has stopped, although she loves to come and ask for more brushing with her cute thrill. She then positions herself with the most urgent area in need for brushing towards me, and then rotates the places as the brushing is going on. She did this prior to shedding, but now more so. I though she had skin allergies and tried to instill liquid Benadryl into her mouth.
My husband who was holding her needed immediate First Aid on that evening, the cat spit out Benadryl in my face, and I ended up taking Benadryl myself because I could not fall asleep after this ordeal.
I will post her pictures before and after shedding when I have my day off.

Originally Posted by debbie560

Love that tail!!!

Yeah, hope it grows back all the way....

Hi

Sarah has just had a massive shed and it is still cold here and winter only finished 2 days ago so the warm factor was lost on her I think.

She will probably grow the long coat back for summer - 45 degrees C - here we come - she survived last year with it!!!

Here are the before and after shots

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Tonite
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Tonite

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June
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Full bloom


Also I have found using a large dog size slicker brush gets the hair up from the carpets and cat poles and anywhere else really easy - easier than a vacuum!!!!!