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With the age, your cat can have some difficulty having a wash because he gained weight, because he has osteoarthritis, because he has teeth problems, or because he is sick. His hairs begin to clump, his rear and his ears begins to smell, and he can develop other diseases.
To prevent discomfort and health problems bound to the lack of hygiene, the bean of an old cat has to help him to wash if he does not manage to do it alone.
- Observe your cat when he gets older : don’t wait until he’s disgusting to ask yourself if he needs help for his wash.
- A daily attention is absolutely necessary.
- Brush your old cat softly every day ; this brushing can be followed by a passage with a warm wet dish mop if your cat doesn’t finish to groom himself all alone.
- Our angel Isis had dingleberries all year long : with round-ended scissors, Claire delicately cut the hairs of her rear to have a well cleared zone around her “rosette”. That made the veterinarian laugh when he saw this magnificent Persian cat with her rear all flat, but that allowed to avoid having every day droppings taken in fur. Trim regularly his rear, and maintain the zone clean by brushing it and by cleaning it with a wet dish mop.
- Once a week, also check more attentively his eyes, his ears, his mouth, and the general state of the skin to spot the first signs of an affection which could require a veterinary treatment. Our angel Hercule adored that we clean him the auricle ! You can use a compress soaked with camomile to clean eyes which flow a little.
- Once a month, clip carefully his claws.
- If your old cat struggles, don’t take the risk of hurting him and ask for help the veterinarian.
A last word about baths : if your cat has already had baths regularly, why not to give him one from time to time, but should the opposite occur, especially not : it would be far too stressful for him !
That sounds like good advice for older kitties.
Quite often, they do need help.
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ
Excellent advice to help the older kitties.
That is really good advice for taking care of the older kitties. We will keep all that in mind. We have three here getting up there in the years. Enjoy your Monday.
a great post pixie & zorro….lots of good advice; even though sauce was not old, he was ill and he needed
help grooming ♥♥♥
These are fantastic suggestions for older cats or cats that are not well. Mom can help Kali better now.
Licks,
Shoko
Some really good advice. We all are pretty clean as we are young but our Rumpy needs a little wipe on the bum now and then.
Lately more then so that is good
Timmy and Family
This is great advice – thanks for sharing!
This is a tremendously useful and knowledgeable post. Thank you for the care and time you have taken over it. We brush Peanut (18) but not as often as you say, (we will now). She still goes outside every day but we will check claws (altho’ I think we will risk our lives if we try to clip!).
Thank you and we will share this a lot!
Harvey, Miranda and Silver.
My Auntie Primrose recently had some fur shaved. She wouldn’t let the peep do it AMAZINGLY, she allowed the doctor to. I think my doctor was super pleased. After all, it IS Prim we’re talking ’bout here.
Purrs,
Nissy
What excellent advice for those with older cats. Lily is now 15, and still taking good care of herself, but we will take this info to heart. Thanks. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Very good advice.
Very good advice for tending to an older cat.
Gweat posty. Altho’ meez a yungun’ and alweady needs a little help wiff keepin’ meez bloomers clean. MOL Seems meez usually has a mess almost daily. Mommy can only magine what it might be when me gets old. MOL
Luv ya’
Dezi
Great info for owners of older cats.
Everyone needs a little help sometime! Those are really great tips. Elderly kitties deserve to live out their golden years as happily as possible.
Great tips!! Growing up, I had a shelty dog, and when she got old we had to clip the hair around her rear to prevent dingleberries too. It helped a lot!