How clean is your cat?

[MidnightMeltdown]

I've always thought of cats as being meticulously clean animals. I had a short haired male growing up who always kept himself in immaculate condition. I now have two 10 month old kittens, one male and one female. They are not related, but both have medium long hair. The female is very good with grooming, and keeps her coat in lovely condition. The male, not so much. He does groom regularly, particularly his face and bum, but he's definitely more lax with the grooming than other cats I've owned. For example, he will come in from the garden with all leaves and dirt stuck in his fur, and then go to sleep without cleaning them out first. He will clean them out...eventually....in his own time, when he gets around to it!

He often seems to have a slightly greasy patch of fur on his spine, near his back end. I thought that it might be hormonal, but 2 months after being neutered he still has it. He also occasionally gets small clumps in his fur around the back. I try to brush him most days, but he hates being brushed. I have to bribe him with a box of treats, otherwise he sits under the sofa, where I can't reach him, until the brush goes away. The female, who rarely needs brushing, of course loves being brushed!

So I'm wondering, how clean is your cat? Should I be worried? or is he just a bit lazy? Is this a common issue with longer haired cats?

I have a long-haired girl, who adores being brushed, but she does still manage to get matts (sometimes overnight!) and she does have the greasy-looking patch on her lower back all the time. I keep her bib trimmed as otherwise she has great trouble grooming her front. She's rarely stick-covered, despite roaming all day.

I have a medium haired boy, who doesn't enjoy being brushed (doesn't hate it, just doesn't seek it out) - in spring he gets matts in his armpits and over his hips and I have to pull them apart/out most days with him tolerating it. He also spends half his life in the bushes, and comes home covered in leaves/sticks/sometimes mud. I actually bath him sometimes! He also has the greasy lower back though. He does groom all over - the top of the stairs where he likes to sit to do it is always covered in debris.

I'd say they are both clean-enough (although the bath water after I've done boy may not suggest that) - but the spikey sticks are challenging to remove from thick hair, so I'm not surprised they need a hand.

@MrsRussell

Senior Gentlecat is appalling, but then he has that fur going in all directions look that very old cats get, and would rather sleep than wash. We love him very much but he smells like a shed and looks like something from the Zombie Apocalypse.

When he stops chasing bees and stealing food from plates we may consider him past it, but until then we just have to accept that his days of elegance are gone.

😂😂. Actually I don't think that's too uncommon with older cats. The immaculately groomed cat I had growing up looked like an RSPCA neglect case in his final year as he stopped grooming so much, and wouldn't tolerate a brush. He lived until he was about 20, and I regret that we didn't get him put to sleep sooner as I now think that the sudden lack of grooming was probably an indication of illness and discomfort. Sounds like yours is still quite spritely, but keep an eye on him.

@LubaLuca

The short haired one is immaculate, other than when she's enjoying a dust bath.

Long haired is a dirty little bleeder. She usually has a variety of foliage and seeds attached to every part of her, and her 'trousers' need regular attention . We go over her with a Tangle Teaser.

Glad that it's not just mine! 🤣. When it's wet, mine has slugs and worms in his fur as well as foliage!

You have typical teenagers in cat form i sometimes wish my older cats werent so fastidious, the racket from all 4 having a slurping and chewing groom together can be a tad noisy

Oh yes, we get little slugs on her too . She is the only cat we've ever had that is careless about grooming. I must say though, whenever I start brushing her, she'll start giving herself a good clean - it's like we need to remind her of the action.

This is Senior Gentlecat @MidnightMeltdown - with proper bed-fur, as he's just rolled downstairs from a hard day's snoozing on the bed.

He’s gorgeous

Mine spends a lot of time grooming, but can’t reach her back so has developed knotty bits there. She also had dandruff so I bought her a brush. I do wonder if her diet is to blame but I feed her in grain free food.

@Kotatsu

I have a long-haired girl, who adores being brushed, but she does still manage to get matts (sometimes overnight!) and she does have the greasy-looking patch on her lower back all the time. I keep her bib trimmed as otherwise she has great trouble grooming her front. She's rarely stick-covered, despite roaming all day.

I have a medium haired boy, who doesn't enjoy being brushed (doesn't hate it, just doesn't seek it out) - in spring he gets matts in his armpits and over his hips and I have to pull them apart/out most days with him tolerating it. He also spends half his life in the bushes, and comes home covered in leaves/sticks/sometimes mud. I actually bath him sometimes! He also has the greasy lower back though. He does groom all over - the top of the stairs where he likes to sit to do it is always covered in debris.

I'd say they are both clean-enough (although the bath water after I've done boy may not suggest that) - but the spikey sticks are challenging to remove from thick hair, so I'm not surprised they need a hand.

I'm relieved that it's not just my boy who gets the greasy patch on his lower back. I had been thinking of taking him to the vet as I was worried that it was caused by some kind of skin condition. Some days it seems to be worse than others. I guess that like people, cats vary in their greasiness!

Two female long hairs, both fastidious.

@MrsRussell

This is Senior Gentlecat *@MidnightMeltdown* - with proper bed-fur, as he's just rolled downstairs from a hard day's snoozing on the bed.

He is a gorgeous cat! Beautiful colour. The cat I had growing up was much worse when he got old. I wish my parents had taken him to the vet.

@BreakingtheIce

Mine spends a lot of time grooming, but can’t reach her back so has developed knotty bits there. She also had dandruff so I bought her a brush. I do wonder if her diet is to blame but I feed her in grain free food.

I wondered about diet too. I have spent a fortune buying my two all different types of expensive grain free foods which they refuse to eat! I got so fed up with having a daily stand off with them over food, that they now just get Felix.

@Mareofwesttown

Two female long hairs, both fastidious.

Hmmm... I have a feeling that girls are often better groomers. I'll remember to get a long haired girl and a short haired boy next time 😂

her knicker area
Dying!!

I had a cat that used to get a little greasy patch at base of his spine, never gave ot much thought, just gave it an extra good brush when grooming him.

@TroysMammy

Absolutely filthy. Haribo is white with large grey spots and a grey tabby head, rump and tail. He rolls in earth, dusty gravel and crawls under cars. He'd not at all bothered about being a grubster. He's no good at wiping the sleep from his eyes and occasionally his bum is filthy too.

Sounds like my mostly-white cat, total grubster and of course the more affectionate of the two. My black cat, otoh, I tell myself is clean, but they live together, hunt together...