Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 195.93.21.136 (talk) at 10:46, 24 February 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A domestic longhaired cat is the proper name for any cat with medium or long fur, if it is not a pedigreed member of a recognised breed. They make excellent family pets for people who are prepared to give their coat the extra care it needs.

Domestic longhairs come in all the standard cat colours including tabby, tortie, bi-coloured etc. If their fur combines several shades of the same colour they may be referred to as a 'smoke'.

A longhaired cat is not able to maintain its own coat - they must be groomed for at least half an hour per day, and preferably bathed every week or two. The cat may not enjoy the bathing process, but if it is bathed and groomed regularly from kittenhood it will accept it as a standard part of its routine.

Very long-haired cats do not make good outside animals, as their coats are extremely prone to matting. In extreme cases, the mats come to resemble wings, leading to stories of winged cats. The matted fur will usually accumilate in the under arm areas and upper leg region of a long haired cat, in extreme circumstances the matted fur cat inhibit the cats movements and cause irritation and can become caught on outside shrubs and trees forcing a cat to break away and pull large amounts of clumped fur away which can leave bald areas and injuries. If such matting of fur occurs a simple de-matting comb for cats or dogs will be sufficient, at first the cat may be irritated by the comb when the owner attempts to remove and break up the matted fur but gentle brushes each day to ease the fur off will gradually work out the mated fur and then can be kept brushed there after to avoid large clumps of fur apearing again. Many owners of long haired cats espicially new owners may feel tempted to cut the fur away with scissors in lieu of combing out the clumps of matted fur, this should not be done so by the owner and if a de-matting comb doesn't work well enough the owner should take the long haired cat to a groomers or in rare curcumstances a vetinerian who will be able to remove heavy matted fur with scissors, the reason and it is a comman occurances for mistaken owners who cut away matted fur is that a person may not always be able to distiguish between hard matted fur and the skin of a cat, the unfortunate occurance is an unhappy cat and distressed owner, also in extreme circumstances havey matted fur will harbour soil or vegitation which will be infested with bacteria and infect any cuts in a cat when an owner mistakes fur for skin leading to infection and a unessesarly high vet bill to treat.

• Cat types