Mr Blue - greasy fur

[marydoll]

Hi everyone
looking for a little bit of help please. Mr Blue's fur has gone very greasy. He has had full bloods done, nothing found, everything ok. What is the best thing to help his fur ie food/supplement wise and is there any dry shampoo I could get because he would not allow me to shampoo him. At the moment, I am wiping him down with cat wipes and brushing him but it isn't getting any better. He is on a steroid tablet - Medron1 every two days - and he is also on protexin cystophan because there was blood in his pee and the vet thinks he has a lower tract urinary inflammation. Tried antibotics first and didn't help. Have a really good vet so confident about his treatment.

Any way any thoughts and help about his fur would be gratefully received, he is a ragdoll who looks as if he hasn't washed his hair for months.

Mariex

[Crewella]

I have used a food supplement for their coats, but I'm no help as I'm afraid I can't remember what it was!! My personal feeling is that it's best to treat from the inside out, rather than with something like a shampoo, as it must be a sign of something not being quite right. I once had a cat with sticky fur caused by dental problems - her saliva was sticky so of course it was spread to her coat when she groomed herself.

Hopefully others will have some better info!

[lilynmitz]

I had this with my old girl Lily, she was eventually diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism, which was probably making the sebaceous glands in her skin go into overdrive, like the rest of her system. It got a lot better once we started treating her. Has Mr Blue been tested for this? How old is he (ie if he's under 10 yrs, it's unlikely to be HyperT)

[Jane]

The only time I’ve encountered greasy fur is with hyperthyroid cats as well and one of mine was particularly bad. So worth checking with your vet if not already been done. Sometimes thyroid isn’t included in full bloods, but usually is, especially for senior cats. Other than that, I would ask your vet if there’s anything that will help. The same cat I am talking about was also a bit scurfy and my vet suggested some oily fish once or twice a week. Best of luck!

[marydoll]

Thank you everyone, his thyroid has been checked and it's fine. He is a 12 year old Maine Coone x Ragdoll. I tried a slicker brush on him today and he loved it so will brush him with that - he hates the other ordinary brush. Goes to vet this week for his booster so will discuss supplements/fish oil etc with vet.

Mariex

[Ruth B]

We used to have a Blue as well, allegedly a Ragdoll (he certainly looked like one), but he was a rescue and the promised paperwork never turned up, not that we cared as we wanted a pet cat.

His fur did deteriorate as he got older and didn't groom as much himself. Fortunately he loved being combed and brushed so we could take over for him. I also used the cat wipes which did help a bit.

The other thing that always bought his coat up wonderful and soft isn't something I could advise you trying unless Mr Blue would do it on his own. Blue used to love going out in the rain, so much so that we used to keep a towel handy to dry him off otherwise he would sit and let a pool of water form around him. He had a cat flap and could come and go as he pleased, he would just choose to go out and sit in the rain. While I have never been one to advise someone to bath their cats some Ragdolls do enjoy water so you might want to try him and see how he reacts or just to lightly spray him with water and see if that would help his coat, its a technique normally used as a deterrent but our Blue was totally indifferent to it.