Friday, April 20, 2012

The Flippin' Fur Factory

Nelson has adapted well to living with us.  He'd love to have some nose to nose conversations with Smudge, but she doesn't want to oblige.  Sometimes he can get within inches of her without her hissing, or occasionally  swatting at him, but she has no interest in getting close and cuddly.  He is entertaining, some of the things he does, what with being a younger cat, and the whole thing has worked out much better than I had thought.  He does spend some time outside, usually early morning and in the evening, and quite often brings a selection of vegetation back in with him.  It's that hair.

And speaking of hair, it's everywhere.  Probably it's worse now because it's Spring and officially shedding season, but since he actually spends 80-90% of his time inside, I'm not sure that he actually needed to grow a winter coat.

My mother used to complain about the hair he left around.  In fact she used to get very worked up about it.  I used to think 'really, is it that big of a deal?'.  
I eventually convinced her to switch to a higher quality food, having heard that it could help reduce shedding.  She went from Friskies to Orijen.
Didn't make a difference.

Now I'm feeling her pain.  Nelson doesn't just shed, he drops hair in clumps.  So instead of of random hairs joining the light airy dusty bunnies that accumulate in those dead air zones, we have these smoky grey clumps, not hidden in the corners, but out in the open.

Doesn't matter if you've just groomed him, or groomed him several times that day (yesterday).  You can vacuum, and you are guaranteed a few hours later to find clumps just sitting in the middle of the floor.
He has this very soft undercoat that mats easily and just seems to fall out in clumps. everywhere. all the time. endlessly.

Last Fall when he first arrived, I started saving his hair.  Not sure why, I guess just to see how much I was actually getting.  There was enough to clothe a few more cats.
You can't brush him, because all that does is glide over the outer hairs.  You have to comb him to get to the root of the problem, and he is generally good about being groomed, thank goodness.

If there is a next cat, and we have any control over the matter (sometimes they just show up) it won't be white, and it won't be long haired with a soft undercoat.

I think it will be a dog.



8 comments:

  1. Sympathies with the hair. Went thru that with our Lucy. I absoluely love that chair - if it ever needs a new home, call me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hh he, You could get him a spring Lion cut? The vegitation I am very familiar with. Kosmo loves to lay in the garden and then brings in slugs, spiders and other assorted hitch hikers! Many times he brings them right into my bed... got 5 spider bites a few weeks ago, but those slimmy slugs, ekkk!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nelson had a lion cut of sorts when my Mum adopted him. He was so matted they had to shave him. I'm hoping that the clumps will diminish after I've got most of the undercoat out. I am considering doing a good trim on his back feet and legs. So far no live hitchhikers, or that I've seen anyway, thank goodness!

      Delete
  3. Long haired cats can be a pain...does he like the vacuum cleaner..we had several that did..and that helped. We use the vacuum on Chance! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Everyone has kidded me about breeding a litter of smooth coats. Hey, no muss, no fuss! Though, sometimes when you want to snuggle, a coat is very beneficial. I love to cuddle with Jet. I love the feel of his fur :0)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jake would be the dog to cuddle with here. His coat is quite soft, especially his chest. Luna is all bony bits and coarse hair, and Calli is all hair coming off in your hands.

      Delete
  5. Well, you've already seen my solution to taming lots of fur (and come to think of it, hair, too!) Hmm, I think Pippin is due for another botched hair-cut...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leave Pippin alone, he's just starting to look half decent!:)

      Delete

I love to get comments, so don't be shy!