Why is my cat losing hair?
Written by Edith |
Shedding is a natural process in cats. Twice a year, your cat will go through a shedding period. This is related to the changing of the seasons between summer and winter. Many cats are kept indoors, so they experience less variation between warm and cold weather. As a result, they may shed more or less continuously throughout the year, leading to a kind of chronic shedding where hair is found around the home year-round.
How can I help my cat with its coat care?
Your cat will try to keep itself as clean as possible. By grooming with its rough tongue, it will remove loose hairs from its coat on its own. Especially during the shedding period, it can be helpful to give your cat a hand. A good brush and comb are essential for this. With a comb, such as the Trixie Metal Comb, you can detect tangles in the coat. This is especially recommended for semi-longhaired and longhaired cats.To remove loose hairs, you can use a brush. The Mikki Bamboo Slicker Brush is a great example. It mimics the action of a cat’s tongue and removes only the loose hairs from the coat. An added bonus is that the wooden handle helps prevent the buildup of static electricity!
Oh no, a hairball! Now what?
Yuck! You come home and there’s a turd in the room?! On closer inspection, it turns out it’s not a turd, but a hairball! Your cat grooms itself with its tongue, which means it swallows a lot of hair in the process. Sometimes, the amount of hair is so large that it can’t pass through the digestive system properly and is instead vomited up.
In some cases, the hairball is so compact that it really does look like a turd; other times, it appears more like a soft clump. Longhaired cats kept indoors are especially prone to hairballs. Regular brushing is essential in these cases. For more difficult coats, scheduling a visit with a professional groomer can be very helpful. If your cat is suffering from a buildup of hair, you can support it by helping the hair pass through the digestive system via the stool. You can do this by giving a malt paste, such as Kat-a-Lax.
There’s also special food designed to help with hairballs, like Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hairball.
How can I improve my cat’s coat quality?
The shedding period can take quite a toll on your cat’s overall coat quality. Caring for and maintaining a healthy skin and coat is an important task for cats. They spend several hours a day grooming themselves, but coat maintenance also happens from the inside out. Hair growth is a continuous process and requires a lot of energy.
During periods of excessive hair loss, such as the shedding season, it can be helpful to give your cat a little extra support. A supplement can help restore or maintain good coat condition. Examples of such products include Bogavital Shiny Coat Cat, Dermazyme Zinc, and Dermoscent Keravita.
View our full range of Cat Washing and Coat Care products here.
Do you have any questions about your cat’s coat care? Feel free to contact us at veterinarian@vetsend.co.uk
