my cat hair limp and less in the underbelly

by diana
(new jersey)

should I bath her? have never done that before. she tends to sleep right next to her litter box.

RESPONSE:

You didn’t tell me the age or weight of your cat. Older cats and fatter cats can have difficulty getting into positions to groom properly. You also didn’t mention if your cat is eating regularly or has other health issues. If there appear to be no other problems except the limp cat hair, then it is probably allergies, parasites like fleas, dry winter air or nutrition.

The fact that your cat sleeps near her litter isn’t healthy. She may have an allergy to something in the litter if she’s exposed to it for too long…this could be a contributing factor. One of my cats (I currently have 6) started to sleep next to the litter shortly after she joined our household. I took a fluffy blanket; all puffed up and warm from a few minutes in the dryer, picked her up and gently placed her on it. I had moved the blanket a few feet from where she was positioned near the litter. She loved the warmth and snuggled into it. For a few days I repeated the process, each time moving it further away until eventually it was in the room where her bed was. If that doesn’t work for you, experiment with treats etc. until you succeed.

Good nutrition is vital for a healthy coat. Cats need more protein than dogs and they also need complex carbohydrates and healthy fats as well as taurine. Generic, poor-quality foods can cause limp cat hair. You can switch to a premium brand or try what I do. Caring for six cats is expensive because I also make sure they get their annual checkups etc. so I feed them Friskies wet cat food, supplemented with dry crunchy food like Meow Mix. They get daily treats of "Feline Greenies Dental Treats" and "Feline Greenies Smartbites for Healthy skin & Fur" which adds some Omega 3 fatty acids to their diets.

As for bathing your cat, unless your cat has gotten into something that has soiled her badly, there isn’t a big benefit for your cat or for you to battle the cat to achieve getting it into the water. I’ve bathed my cats when they got older and couldn’t groom themselves and once when I took in a stray it was flea infested so I gave it a flea bath but that was before there were products like Advantage and Revolution whereby the fleas are killed while on the cat and you can use a fine tooth comb to get rid of the residual gritty bits.

I have some of my article links listed below that may give you some additional information regarding your cat’s limp hair. I hope that one of my ideas can assist you with your problem. Good luck to you and your cat.

Healthy Cat Fur

Cat Skin Health

Allergies in Cats

Cat Hair Loss