# British Shorthair Grooming Problem



## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

I think this is probably the right forum for this, I am new and was wondering if someone could maybe help me?

I have a beloved British Shorthair called Fat Oscar, well Oscar. I have had him for about four years and I got him of my Aunty who, at that point, bred cats.

He's had all his vacinations and has been nuetered.

I noticed that around October time he was losing a bit of weight, so de-wormed him and our other cats and then kept an eye on him, I realised that he was being sick. He must have been doing it outside to begin with, but then he actually began being sick directly after eating. I took him to the vets and after extensive (and expensive!) tests the vet told me that he had a hairball and to groom him more regularly. I was only grooming him once a week, but I increased it to every two days.

Briefly the problem got better, he was given catilax and passed the hairball, it started up again though and ended up upping the grooming to once a day, I am now grooming him at least once, sometimes twice a day and it isn't making a blind bit of difference! His fur looks matted and clumpy and when you touch him loads just comes out on your hands or clothes. I don't think this is particularly normal, but my vet reckons it's just his winter coat, but it's never been like this before! 

I spoke to my Aunty too, because I thought that maybe his mother had this problem, or his brother (who died) or half-brother. But no, apparently not.

Does anyone have any ideas, I can't stand him being ill and he absolutly hates to be brushed and I don't like putting him through that twice a day! Thanks a million 

UPDATE: On last page


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## ibbica (Aug 9, 2010)

BabyB said:


> Briefly the problem got better, he was given catilax and passed the hairball, it started up again though and ended up upping the grooming to once a day, I am now grooming him at least once, sometimes twice a day and it isn't making a blind bit of difference! His fur looks matted and clumpy and when you touch him loads just comes out on your hands or clothes. I don't think this is particularly normal, but my vet reckons it's just his winter coat, but it's never been like this before!


Poor kitty  From the sounds of things, I'd be tempted to get a second opinion from another vet, if possible. What sort of tests did they do? What possibilities have been eliminated, if any?

What do you feed him? It almost sounds like he may have developed an intolerance to one or more ingredients in his food.

What sort of brush/comb do you use? If you can get your hands on a 'furminator' brush (or knock-off equivalent...), they're fantastic at removing shedding undercoats with only a few brushstrokes :thumbup1:


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

ibbica said:


> Poor kitty  From the sounds of things, I'd be tempted to get a second opinion from another vet, if possible. What sort of tests did they do? What possibilities have been eliminated, if any?
> 
> What do you feed him? It almost sounds like he may have developed an intolerance to one or more ingredients in his food.
> 
> What sort of brush/comb do you use? If you can get your hands on a 'furminator' brush (or knock-off equivalent...), they're fantastic at removing shedding undercoats with only a few brushstrokes :thumbup1:


He had all sorts of bloods taken, they were worried it might have been Lukemia but thank lord it wasn't! They didn't fund anything wrong with his bloods at all, and they sent us away. It was a second vet at the same surgery who felt his tum and said there was definatly an obstruction and it was a hairball, he gave us the Catalax.

I'm not sure about about a food intolerence, he has a mixture of wet and dry food, and I give him fresh meat on occasion too, he likes tuna but I don't give him a lot of that because can be bad for them. He's murder for stealing things like tomato and cucumber though.

At first we had a bristle brush with the fine bristles that are very close together, but it didn't work very well. He has a metal bristle brush now, but I really don't like using it because he hates it so much! He gets really cross with us and hides afterwards, I don't really like that because he normally purrs when I talk to him or he see's me!


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

The Furminator is like NO other comb or brush known to mankind. It pulls out ( gently ) huge wads of the undercoat and loose hair and you can achieve much more in a very short space of time, or a couple of strokes.
It doe sound as if he may have some other issues going on though for the coat quality to be so poor...what is he being fed?


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

I think I need to get one of these furminator brushes.



Paddypaws said:


> It doe sound as if he may have some other issues going on though for the coat quality to be so poor...what is he being fed?


If I am honest I am unemployed atm, so my dad has been buying the food. He buys whatever he is getting for the other two cats, it varies.


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## alisondalziel (Oct 8, 2008)

Good quality food need not cost a lot!!

Foods like Smilia, Amimonda Carny, and Bozita (all from Zooplus) are great and don't cost the earth.

Sorry to hear about your cat, hope you get it sorted soon.


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

alisondalziel said:


> Good quality food need not cost a lot!!
> 
> Foods like Smilia, Amimonda Carny, and Bozita (all from Zooplus) are great and don't cost the earth.
> 
> Sorry to hear about your cat, hope you get it sorted soon.


Think I will start buying Oscar's food, It may be that that is causing the problem. I'm going to look up the brands you said.

Thanks Alison , I hope so too


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## ibbica (Aug 9, 2010)

BabyB said:


> I think I need to get one of these furminator brushes.


Was trying to not oversell it myself but OK... Greatest. Brush. Ever. :thumbup:

Try eBay for sources, they can be pretty expensive brushes to buy from the petstore! There are also other brands that make similar brushes (reverse engineering is a wonderful thing...) for considerably less than the original ones used to cost. Just make sure it looks like the blade on a pair of electric clippers, not just a fine straight-toothed comb. (Look carefully at an actual 'Furminator' brush in a pet store to see what I mean.)

As for food... you might want to take a look at the ingredients list and see what's in it. What are the first three ingredients? If they're not at least animal products of some sort, it might be time for a change. You can also try looking the food(s) up in the "A-Z" stickies in this forum to see where you're at nutrition-wise 

I agree with alisondalziel on her list of (I'm assuming) wet foods  Although I'd add a suggestion to stick with the Bozita tins rather than tetrapacks if you're on a budget; while the tetrapacks look cheap, they include a lot of jelly/sauce so you're not getting as much bang for your buck and may need to feed more per day. They're all high-quality foods, and very reasonably priced... you'll probably find you can feed a bit less of them than filler-filled brands common in grocery stores, so the cost works out about the same (if not less... watch for zooplus' weekly specials!). Plus of course all the likely savings in health-care costs down the road 

Zooplus also carries a selection of good-to-great kibbles, including a number that are grain-free; some of them are quite expensive, but the Porta 21 Feline Finest Sensible is incredibly cheap for the protein content.


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

I would also recommend a Furminator BUT I wouldn't recommend daily or even weekly use of it.

I've only used mine a few times on 1 of my BSH (Rilly). I do think her coat hasn't been the same since. But there is no doubt that 1 good session with it took away all of her coat that was moulting. I suppose unless you show your BSH a slight change to the quality of his coat wont matter too much. Along with a good diet it might not be that noticeable either.


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## alisondalziel (Oct 8, 2008)

I would personally stick to wet foods only, and forget about dry. If you must feed it, get a grain free one. Porta 21 is good if youre on a budget. :thumbup:

Good point Aurelia about the furminator. I wouldn't use the likes of this on a show cat.


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

Thanks everyone you have been so helpful .

That's a really good tip about looking for one on ebay, I will definatly do that. Though I am going to have a look at what one looks like in a pet shop or something first, just so I know. I will have a look at the stickys too, and I am going to check the ingredients of the cat food we have in currently as well. 

He's not a show cat Aurelia but I wouldn't want to brush him too much anyway, he really dislikes being brushed! 

Alison the vet did say last time (when he had all the tests and it turned out to be a hairball) to put fully on wet food and then re-introduce the dry, which we did. But I'll look at just wet again, might be best for him.

Thanks again and I will keep you updated on his progress, I wonder though why the other cats aren't the same.


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

ibbica said:


> I agree with alisondalziel on her list of (I'm assuming) wet foods  Although I'd add a suggestion to stick with the Bozita tins rather than tetrapacks if you're on a budget; while the tetrapacks look cheap, they include a lot of jelly/sauce so you're not getting as much bang for your buck and may need to feed more per day.


Are the tinned wet foods with jelly, because he doesn't like jelly foods. He'll eat a little of them, but if the chunk of meat has jelly round it and he can feel it he spits it out and then scrapes over it (you know, like they do when they have, erm, been to the toilet). He has some funny habits does Oscar, that's why we mix food, he will eat more of the wet when there's dry in it. I'm not sure where we stand on the gravy ones, he will sometimes eat them, but he's highly suspicious.

He also eats cucumber, tomatoes and melon...though not if I know about it.


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

Most of the high quality wet food are pate form rather than chunks in jelly. The bozita tetra packs are chunks in jelly but the tins are not. Smilla, Animoda carny, Grau...they are all pate.


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

Chez87 said:


> Most of the high quality wet food are pate form rather than chunks in jelly. The bozita tetra packs are chunks in jelly but the tins are not. Smilla, Animoda carny, Grau...they are all pate.


Thank you


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## merothe (Jun 4, 2010)

You can also buy dry food that helps with hairballs...lots of brands do a hairball version (sometimes they call it an indoor version)...but I am no expert eg no idea if wet can also have this or if it is as healthy 

You can also buy grooming gloves that some cats prefer to brushes. I also have discovered stroking and running my fingers through their fur with kitchen rubber gloves takes off buckets of hair and my cat that hates brushes doesn't mind it at all :001_cool:


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## BabyB (Feb 11, 2011)

http://www.petforums.co.uk/rainbow-bridge/169993-fat-oscar.html


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