Maine Coon Grooming Basics

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Originally Posted by Becka

I super happy this thread got bumped! I was just about to post about grooming questions. As Pina is getting older her fur has thickened and she's got her undercoat. Unfortunately she hates being brushed! I use a regular wire brush, about twice a week. It does the job for now but I need about 6 hands to hold her down and avoid being bitten! She is particularly sensitive about her bloomers being brushed and that's where she needs it!

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Try the "Untangler" this is a comb with wide spread rotating tines, it gets deep into the coat and is less likely to snag then a regular comb.
The secret it to get kitty used to being groomed.
Start with short sessions and just comb the same places where she likes to be petted, cheeks, top of the head, middle of the back.
Stop combing before she gets upset and be sure to give treat.s pets and praises.
Samantha grew to love out nightly sessions before bed, unfortunately she would still mat up on her britches and about 3 times a year I'd have to take her to a local groomer.
They were really close to my home and love Samantha and after a dematting, a coat thinning and a bath she just glowed and smelled wonderful.

On a slightly different note, I was wondering if anyone has the answer to this question: about 9 months ago we had Roxy spayed and the vet told me it would be a lot less painful for her (and would heal more easily) if she did the incision on the side flank. Naturally to make this operation and recovery as easy as possible for Roxy I agreed and I think it was the right decision as it took no time at all for Roxy to recover and she had very little pain or trauma. So...now she has had a bald 'patch' for the last year (where the vet shaved off her fur) which has been slowly filling in with new fur. Roxy is a silver tortie tabby, and the 'patch' is right on her swirly side pattern. The fur that has been growing back seems to be mostly her light undercoat - does anyone know how long it will take for her to re-grow her darker top coat which makes up the pattern? It will grow back, won't it...????

''We occasionally have to trim away round her rear end too where those 'um bits' have, errr...hung around ''
Yvonne - i thought i was doing a preety good job of keeping the rear end clear of ...those bits ...but after a bath and when they were being blow dried ( for a show) there was still one of ''those bits'' lurking ....luckily my tabby doesnt mind being groomed round there so now i am a whole lot more careful!

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Originally Posted by RoxyKitten

On a slightly different note, I was wondering if anyone has the answer to this question: about 9 months ago we had Roxy spayed and the vet told me it would be a lot less painful for her (and would heal more easily) if she did the incision on the side flank. Naturally to make this operation and recovery as easy as possible for Roxy I agreed and I think it was the right decision as it took no time at all for Roxy to recover and she had very little pain or trauma. So...now she has had a bald 'patch' for the last year (where the vet shaved off her fur) which has been slowly filling in with new fur. Roxy is a silver tortie tabby, and the 'patch' is right on her swirly side pattern. The fur that has been growing back seems to be mostly her light undercoat - does anyone know how long it will take for her to re-grow her darker top coat which makes up the pattern? It will grow back, won't it...????

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I haven't known one not to grow back & normally you find that if there is a lighter patch now by the time she has had the next coat change it should all be back to normal....x

It probably took Lily about 8 weeks to regrow the fur on her flank after she had her bits removed at 6 months.

I have the same thing with Bullet, she was spayed over a month ago and there isnt one shred of regrowth yet. She was also a side spay. I'm hoping it grows back normally! lol
I also have a furminator but I usually only take out around a hamster size amount of hair if that makes sense once a week, the rest is taken out with a comb. My only problem is my male, Nero hates you going near his under arms, its a proper struggle to brush there and twice now I've had to clip him because of matting. I also had to clip his back end as he's quite messy when he poos for some reason and isn't great at grooming himself. I struggled a bit with that at first because Bullet is so very clean!

It's so tricky under the 'armpits'! Roxy gets matted there and positively HATES having any kind of implement (including my hands) near there. I try to go in with my fingers initially to feel the extent of the matts and carefully start untangling work, but she will squirm, hiss and growl, so naturally not my most favourite thing to do. And she is usually the most sweet tempered cat, just gets really grumpkins whenever grooming is involved...hopefully as she gets older it will get a little easier...

Thanks everyone for posting all these tips. I'd agree with comments on the furminator -- little at time (maybe only every other week), and short strokes only. Stop if it bothers your cat. It won't remove mats, just extra fur. Beware of overdoing it! A slicker brush and/or comb is better, and do little bits to progressively accustom the cat to the grooming process. My guy also likes a soft bristle brush (human brush). Have an extra brush on hand for your cat to attack and chew on! He loves to bite the wooden handle of the human bristle brush.
Here are my tips for mats:

My cat likes to play wrestle games under his small cotton throw rug. I've had good luck snipping an item or two from his britches while he is being entertained by a helper. He doesn't even know what's going on! Thank goodness for that, because he is not a fan of hind-end grooming. Another tip that works for me is aerial distraction... We have a bird in a high-up cage and I'll pick him up and cradle him like a babe-in-arms. While he is feasting his eyes (he knows he can never touch!) my hands get sneaky and busy with some tiny blunt tip scissors. Caged parakeets don't live all that long, and this little fellow is old and doesn't want to leave his cage anymore. It's been a huge surprise to me, that at the end of his life, he has been the perfect 'cat trainer'. Really! Don't know how I would have trained the cat to love being picked up with out my little feathered helper.

I just use a metal comb but I have to be careful as it's pretty unforgiving and they don't like it when it snags in a lump of fur. I use it little and often so it stops the mats from forming in the first place. I do find that if I comb them holding the comb at an angle, tip downwards, it does drag out a lot of the thick undercoat. I wonder if this is what the Furminator does? I've got slicker brushes etc but none of them get through the whole coat like my trusty metal comb.

This is all really useful info! I've begun grooming a little every night so that it's not so much at once and that seems to be working a bit better. She get real mad and runs away but comes back for more in a few minutes. :suprised: