126 claws

So a while back I got an email from Kong asking me if I wanted to blog about one of their products. I had seen a few people do this and there are often treats involved, so I said I was happy to but I have food restrictions on one of my cats so as long as it wasn't treats I was in.

A few days later a Kong ZoomGroom arrived at my door.  This made me laugh since had pretty much just finished telling you about it from the one I got in my PetBox

I figured I'd do a grooming post and once again share with you what I refer to as "Day of Beauty" when I brush, clip, and clean the cats.  Seven cats, 14 claws a cat hence 126 claws..

Setting up the equipment

This time I incorporated the ZoomGroom in and I was once again very pleased with the outcome. I've never had much success with the other two brushes on Muffin but the ZoomGroom helps take off the loose fur on her and she does not mind it in the least.  The Furminator is great for thinning the undercoat, especially on Jack, but often doesn't do much for those kitties with "guard hairs" like Eli and Twee.  I generally find that the blue handled brush did a good job on my short haired cats, but some of the cats aren't fans of it because it hits their hip/knee when brushing.  The ZoomGroom was much easier on them.  It got TONS of outer fur off Twee, which was nice.  Just the night before my husband had been patting her and ended up covered in shedding fur. That night when he patted her, nothing came off.  Now it doesn't work on every coat, so my experience on each member of The Crew was different. Some it worked wonderfully on, others not so much.

Truth be told, there is probably not even 120 here as a few of them went flying

Each kitty got a nail trim, got their eyes and ears checked out and cleaned if necessary, had their teeth checked, and any loose tartar picked off and enzyme toothpaste bushed on (I'm at the point where I don't use the toothbrush any more I just use my finger - Muffin likes the toothpaste so much that sometimes I use the brush to keep her from biting my finger in an attempt to 'eat' it)  Each one got checked over for mats as well.  I keep the small scissors on hand not to cut out any mats that might show up, but to help 'break' them by slipping the scissors in the middle of the mat and opening them up.  I try never to cut a mat off because cutting matted fur feels very very similar to cutting skin, and too many cats end up with cuts from owners who were just trying to help. If I feel the need to cut a mat, I will use the nail clippers because they pinch long before they start cutting.  Looking for mats I have to do a once-over with my hands which will also allow me to catch any lumps and bumps early.

Grooming is vital to the health of your kitty. It helps you keep an eye on your cat's overall condition as well as keeping fur out of your cat's digestive tract minimizing hairballs. You want to keep grooming as positive as possible so you can continue to do it frequently. The GroomZoom might be your key to doing just that.

I get treats now.. right??  ~Muffin

Kong did send me a free GroomZoom, but the post and the opinions are mine

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.)

216 claws later

Everyone in the house hold has survived "Day of Beauty" - including me..

(Day of Beauty includes teeth brushing for the residents, a good once over, ear cleanings if necessary, combing and nail trims)

now for the clean up - and I have to find something to do with this basket of fur..

not sure there isn't a kitten in there :)

22 kittens up for adoption

There are going to be 22 kittens up for adoption tomorrow.. I hope mine are adopted.. cause I absolutely hate leaving them there after they have been up for adoption for a day.

We had "day of beauty" for my kitties today.. I really need to make a point of doing that at least once a week if not more, cause they are starting to fight me on it.. I trim their claws, comb the fur, and brush the teeth. Ollie refuses to let me do it if there is anyone else in the room. It's like he is embarrassed. He still growls at me when I restrain him, but at least he's not fighting me. I'm so lucky that he keeps his fur so well. we get a lot of cats in the clinic with huge mats that get so tight they pull the skin and are uncomfortable. Every once in a while, he will get a matt, but they are small and are easy to pull out. Most of the time I can get them out without him getting too mad. I'm surprised the brushing of the teeth isn't harder than it is.. but since I only need to get the outer sides it works out well. I think they might like the flavor of the toothpaste too. Not overly, but it's tolerable.

I've gotten to the point with Eli that I need to talk to the doctor about his tear ducts because his eyes are looking horrible, the skin underneath is looking quite inflamed, and he hates it when I clean him off. I can't keep doing that, he'll never want to be around me. I'll let you know more about it when I work up the courage to talk to someone about it. hard to do since there isn't much time in the day to chat with someone at work.. and since I've only been there a short time, I don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of the perks of the job..

Day of Beauty

Friday was yet another teeth cleaning / combing day day. It went relatively easy. Ollie didn't even try to bite me, and I was able to comb him a little. I didn't get into it too much, didn't want to traumatize him. I was very surprised. Friday night we went to the local cat show. It was fun seeing all the different breeds of cats. One cage had a sliding door. Either the owner had left it open, or someone opened it, cause when we came around the corner I saw a kitten looking out the open door. I looked around for an owner, and there was no one to be found. I stood there and watched him for a minute, and he made a move to get out. So I walked up to the cage.. he backed into it, so I reached out and slid the door shut. I felt a little odd doing it, knowing I shouldn't be touching the cage.. but I figured they would rather me touch the cage than have to track down their kitty in the building. We walked around a bit more. I kept looking for an owner to that cage but no one ever showed up.. it was rather weird. We went shopping at some of the merchants at the show. I was shocked at how they price gouge. The pair of socks I bought for $2.00 they were selling for $8. A pair of flannel pj's were 50$. a simple dress was 90. Some plates I saw at the local Christmas tree shop for a dollar a piece were being sold for 8-9$. It was insane. I saw a bunch of cute cat toys though. Even a stretchy collar with a large pink satin bow on it. I almost bought it, but it was 9$ and the bow was kinda big for muffin. We did get two pole toys.. one with a sparkly ball attached to some fishing line, and another with large feathers on the end. Those were a big hit. We also bought a small cat nip bag with feathers on the end, but some how that got lost between the show, the trip to the restaurant eggspectations (VERY good btw), and home. Hubby ran out to get another this morning.. Eli loved it.

This afternoon, the hubby decided to give me a massage. I store all my stress in my lower back, and it gets quite painful sometimes. He broke out the massage oil, which of course totally interested the kittens. Muffin wouldn't stop licking me. So to prevent her from ingesting the oils, he picked her up with his oily hands and threw her on the floor (several times.. she is obsessive). Which of course coated her in oil. Which of course lead to a a bath for muffin. I was very worried as she does NOT like water. well unless she's licking it out of my water bottle. I got a big bucket and filled it completely with water. Grabbed her by the scuff of her neck and under her behind and dropped her in. and she balked big time. When I put her on the bath tub floor for washing, she hasn't even gotten her back wet. I haven't had a cat that acted that badly to getting a bath, and that includes Tigger, my first cat who was almost feral when we got him (and who shredded me when I'd clip his claws) We were very fortunate though, I still have all my fingers.. and surprisingly she didn't try to bite or scratch me.. just was desperate to get out of there. I dunked her back in the tub after I scrubbed her with some soap. It wasn't all that helpful, so I used a bowl to pour some water over her. eventually I put her back in the tub and talked to her till she stopped bucking. She was still very unhappy, but at least we got all the soap off.

She is obnoxiously cute when she's wet.....

Muffin decided she liked her collar so much she chewed right through it

Muffin decided she liked her collar so much she chewed right through it. :( so she's back to the pink one we got from the shelter.
Did a little spring cleaning this weekend.. there is a hutch in my kitchen that 90% of the small cat toys end up under. I got a yard stick and tried to get them out, and of course it became a major game.. every time I got something close to the edge someone would go after it and push it back in. *rolls eyes*. I also found a Snapple cap under there with a Snapple fact in it that said "cats have over one hundred vocal sounds". I just thought that was cute.

Today was a major day in the lives of the kitties. Ear cleanings, nail trimmings, combings and yes.. teeth cleaning. It started out with Eli. His ears were a little less dirty than they had been recently, so I got out the flush that I got when we acquired ollie (he had a major mite and flea problem) One ear went okay, got some gobs out from the inner ear. But then the sun room people stopped by (cause the frost has shifted the room and now the doors don't shut right) and that was the end of the cooperation from Eli. Made doing the other ear a bit more difficult. but with some cooing and some promises of treats, we got through the second ear, and of course he shook his head before I could get the towel over his head so I ended up with ear flush and gobs of black goop on me. Silly kitty. I'll probably flush his ears one more time toward the end of the week, then see what happens. if it continues to get dirty, then I'm going to assume its something other than the end of a bad case of mites. Since I had the treats out, I found all my teeth cleaning supplies. The little ones took to it okay. it wasn't their favorite activity, but they didn't run away once I let them go. The power of the treat is an amazing thing. Ollie HATED it. he bit me a couple of times.. at least the 'brush' prevented it from hurting. I also think he wasn't all that interested in hurting me, just getting my finger out of his mouth. Em was the worst. Her teeth are the worst.. but considering she is 12 years old... they aren't that bad. But her gums did bleed. she wasn't too happy about it. I can't blame her. I'm sure after a few weeks it will be much easier. Did some combing as well. Em went rather easily compared to last week. Ollie will never get used to it. so I decided to use a small comb on him, and got a nice pile out of him. One of these days he has GOT to realize that its good to be combed. Has to be better than hairballs. Although I wouldn't be totally shocked to find out he knows that now, I think its more of a not wanting to be restrained.

I have totally been forgiven for all the horror *smirk* Behold.. the power of the kitty treat.