Sunday, July 1, 2012

Explaining "Day of Beauty"


I'm not quite sure I ever really explained what "Day of Beauty" is in my house and how it came to be called that.

Back when I had two cats my grooming for them was very minimal.  Tig went outside and took care of his claws on his own and he kept them sharp and lethal for climbing and hunting.  Em occasionally needed her claws trimmed because they would start to click on the floor, but that was about it.

Then as my clowder grew I would take the time every couple of weeks to trim claws that needed to be, but when the household hit eight cats it would be oh so time consuming not to mention confusing to not have a system about it.  I would forget who got trimmed and who didn't.  Things were over looked.  I felt horrible when I brought my cats in all their carriers in for a vet visit and the vet pointed out a wound I wasn't aware of..

Sadly "Day of Beauty" doesn't happen as regularly as I would like.  I would like it to happen weekly.  The Crew would like it to happen yearly.  We settle on about once a month.  If I could get it together I would schedule it, but alas I'm just not that organized (not to mention kittens usually have other ideas for my time.

I usually start with the claw and get those out of the way.. I prefer scissor clippers to guillotine type.  I've used bigger ones like this but I much prefer the smaller ones that look like scissors you might buy for a child to craft with.  They have that notch.  I bought them at the dollar store.  I've also found some more expensive ones at my local megamart.  I'm seriously considering seeing if I can buy a set or four like my vet uses.  They are a little longer and all steel.

Then I check their ears.  If need be I clean them out.  The outside of the ear gets wiped up with q-tips, my finger or a tissue.. if the debris is heavy I get out an ear cleaning solution.  I've currently got Epi-Otic as well as an enzyme based cleaner called Zymox.  Eli still has ear issues but not nearly as bad as he used to.  See his tear ducts are blocked due to several bad rounds with Calci and general URI and as a result his excess tears back up and drain into his ears. As a young cat they would cake up so bad it had to be painful.  Now at the ripe old age of 10 (OK 9 years 10 months) for the most part they are just a little dirty, but I like to keep up on it.  Hard since he so totally would be happy if I never look in his ears again.

I do my best to keep the loose fur at bay too.  I like grooming with a wide toothed comb like this one .  I recently got a fur-minator and I like how much fur it gets out, but my cats really do not enjoy the experience.  I try to limit using it to only those first few warm weeks/months when they shed out their winter fur.

Depending on the cat I will then brush teeth.  Some cats love the toothpaste and will sit there for it, some have decided that my fingers in the mouth is the last straw.    Which ever their "this is the last thing I will put up with mom!!" thing is, that is what goes last.  Some it is grooming, some it is the teeth.  There are lots of great videos on teeth brushing on YouTube.  You really shouldn't be intimidated to do it as it does have benefit to the cat.  It helped me realize that Jack had broken two of his teeth.  If I hadn't been in there looking around with my fingers I might never have noticed it until it caused a problem.

When all is finally done and the supplies are put away, the kitties get a treat and we have play time.

a good intentional once over to make sure there are no lumps or bumps or broken teeth or gooey ears or the such really does quite a bit of good in keeping your kitty as healthy over it's life time.


(full disclosure - this post was sponsored by mediarunsearch.co.uk and nutrecare.co.uk but the content is 100% my own.)

7 comments:

  1. we gets brushed whenever, but the nails happen more often. OK - except Ivy....mom puts that event off as long as possible. Like you, she can't get a schedule. It usually happens when Tim starts to knead on her and all she can think is "ow ow ow ow" MOL

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  2. My Lucius HOUNDS my every step in the morning until I spend some time brushing him! I make sure I get up 20 minutes early so I can brush all 4 cats...cuts down on the hairballs too! :)

    About once every month or so I also trim the long hair under Lucius' tail for a "clean litter box experience" :)

    Armand is getting "old man nails" so I check them when I brush him and trim the ones that are starting to look "weird".

    Morgainne gets checked for new "lumps" when she is brushed as she gets cysts sometimes as well as "fatty lumps".

    Whew...that's alot of work! :P

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  3. My goodness! you are so lucky they enjoy being combed so much!

    When I worked at the vet's office we had a woman come in every six weeks or so for a "Pantaloon' and nail trim. It was one of our more interesting and fun clients :) (the vet wasn't so amused and let me do it quite often)

    Jack, like your Morgainne, is prone to cysts and fatty lumps. It's always a heart pounder when I find a new one because of what happened to Ollie.. My vet just accepts it and laughs at me (OK with me once I start to relax)

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  4. I do the pantaloon myself! I used to be licensed in cosmetology so I'm handy with the scissors...haven't knicked him yet! :P

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  5. I check the kitties nails on an almost daily basis and if somekitty has too long nails, it's trim day for EVERYONE. Thankfully all the kitties are short haired so I furminate the whole bunch once a month. Eyes are wiped daily. Only Cosmo needs to have his ears cleaned every couple of weeks.
    I don't really have a schedule "beauty day" schedule for the furries. :)

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  6. I know what you mean about that tipping point for grooming/etc. When we had two, it was much easier, but with three things just didn't happen. I don't think I could do all of that in one day and still have all my fingers though. . .

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  7. Now that's definitely a day at the spa!

    purrs
    >^,,^<
    ♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥

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