Persian cat with fleas

[VerityBrulee]

About 6 months ago a gorgeous Persian cat walked through the back door and curled up on the sofa. She has a very gentle nature and is great with the dc. She visits every day and most evenings we have to put her out when we're going to bed otherwise she'd never go home.

We have asked around the neighbours but no-one knows who owns her. The problem is her coat is a mess and she has fleas. I have been grooming her regularly and have treated her fleas, but over Christmas when the weather was terrible we didn't see her for about 10 days (she hates getting her paws wet!) and no-one had groomed her and she is in a dreadful state. Dh and I are contemplating washing her and cutting out the knots, but she's not our cat so we can't really. On the other hand, her owner doesn't take proper care of her.

Also, the treatments I got from the petshop, a liquid put on the nape of the neck wasn't very effective, I think she might need something stronger. TBH I think dh is right when her says she needs to be shaved and start all over again

Poor kitty, she is so lovely, but such a mess.

Just do it, and adopt her as your own. Matted hair is awful for cats and is very uncomfortable.

Definitely shave, best to do it about march when it's warmer.

My darling 1/2 persian got terribly matted no matter how much I brushed her (her hair texture is different to her son's who has lovely silky hair!) so we had to shave her and it grew back lovely! Still quite thick and can matt in places but much better!

I'd have no regard for the owners but would advise that you are careful about taking her in just in case the uncaring idiots rear their ugly heads. As much as it will grieve you to do it I'd recommend that you contact Cats Protection or breed rescue in order that they can have her vet checked and sort her fur out etc, spayed if necessary, vaccinated and - and this is the relevant bit - rehomed further afield.

I'd hate there to be a situation whereby you take her in and then the so-called owners turn on you or re-claim her (even if by just taking her back and not letting her out so she can't find safety in your house) and allow her to suffer again.

If she IS indeed a stray of course this doesn't apply, but if she isn't, you may be looking at problems ahead. I'd be prepared for a bloody huge row with the "owner" if they turned up, they WOULDN'T get the cat back unless they could prove she'd strayed and that they hadn't been negligent. Not everyone's as bolshy as me though, hence a referral to rescue might be more your preference. The alternative is to wait and see - if the owner doesn't turn up, fine, if they do, have an emergency plan where you can get the cat away to safety and deny all knowledge fast.

I'd also be very concerned about shaving a cat, particularly in this weather and certainly not unless you were able to keep her in with no chance whatsoever of her getting out - which, with DC in the house is hard. It would be wise if you consulted a vet before embarking on anything of this sort, imho. Equally she will need worming - Drontal should do the trick, which can be bought cheapest ime from Petmeds online, as can Frontline flea drops. Really though, if she's uncared for, I'd be taking her to the vet for a thorough once-over.

Thanks for that advice. I'm not sure I could bear to shave her, but in the meantime I might try to snip out some of the knots. Certainly it would be no problem to keep her indoors, she is the laziest cat I have ever met. Dd gave the cat her dolls moses basket and she happily spends the day there or sprawled on the sofa.

Valhala, I think you're right, a trip to the vet might be a good thing, see if she's microchipped, she probably does have worms as dd had them recently and we all had to be treated.

I wonder if she is owned by an elderly person who just can't look after her properly, there are a lot of old people in the area. I can't understand why someone would have such a beautiful, and presumably expensive, cat and then not look after her.

Will have a look at that website. Thanks again

Please please do NOT use scissors, we regularly see pets whose owners think they are only taking a matt and end up taking skin. Persians are particularly prone to this.

we had the same thing hapent to us too but had never seen her around before and she just sat outside our house for days we took her in but our Siamese at the time was very stressed about this. We found her a loving home in the end with a fosterer who kept her - poor thing was in a right state - she needed shaving! I have had a persian in the past who went missing for 2 weeks, obviously been kept in somewhere as he was a mess when he came back, with a lot of very careful grooming we managed to get him back on form - but he was on form went he went missing and that was only for 2 weeks - I am guessing the cat you have will be much much worse!