Difficult to groom

[suesuesmom]

I have a 1 yr old neutered male miniature Persian who is extremely difficult to groom.His 1st grooming was at 4 mths. and the groomer,my husband and I couldn`t hold him down for necessary grooming.He matts a lot around bum area and refuses to let me brush or even take a wet cloth to him.When I 1st received him last yr. as a birthday gift the seller said he was just bathed and groomed.I find that hard to believe as he is extremely headstrong.Was wondering if his behavior could be the result of rough handling from person who sold him to me.He is my baby and is never mistreated here.He also copies everything my older female himelayan cat does and she loves to lay on my lap being brushed,but he wont let a brush near him.When I first got him at 10 wks old he hated being touched but now loves to be patted only.I`m at my wits end because he matts a lot by bum area.I do take him to the vets to be groomed now but that is getting very expensive as I`m a senior on a fixed income.He was at vets only last mth.to be groomed but now has poop matted in fur.Looking for any information to make grooming easy or I fear I`ll have to rehome him and will always worry he is in a good 1.

[fjm]

Brushing or combing mats and tangles hurts, and can hurt a lot - he has associated grooming with pain and he is understandably reluctant to allow a brush anywhere near him. I think you need to go right back to the beginning, and make it a happy experience, rather than a battle with every attempt increasing his dislike of the process.

First I would ask your vet to shave him down, or at least to shave all the areas prone to matting. That will give you time to work on desensitising and counter conditioning without worrying about more mats forming. Then reintroduce him to the brush and comb. Put them on the floor, give him cooked chicken or something else he cannot resist for going near them. Then for sniffing them (a bit of chicken on top may help). Next day repeat several times - look, they are nothing to be scared of! Then touch him very gently with the brush, and treat. Build up, in several sessions a day, to a brief, gentle stroke with the brush for a treat. Then several brush strokes. Never force it - if he is reluctant or getting stressed go back several steps and take it more slowly. Your aim is not to groom him - his coat will be short enough it won't be necessary - but to change how he feels about being groomed.

If you are very patient and really keep at it, with a high rate of treats to brush strokes, you should be able to change his feelings about grooming by the time his coat is long enough to really need it. Then, of course, it is important to never let it tangle, especially if he has a coat prone to matting. Once it begins to mat it is kinder and safer to shave than to attempt to demat, or even to cut out the lumps.

[MarySkater]

I've never had a Persian, but what fjm says sounds very sensible, especially clipping her coat right down to start with. I do have a semi-longhair Norwegian Forest Cat, who has no fear of grooming but is too fidgety to be groomed much. She mostly takes care of her own coat, but I run my hands over her frequently to check. I have a battery-powered clipper, and if I find a lump developing in her fur, I use food to get her to stand still for a few seconds, then just use the clipper to lift the lump out of her coat. Stress-free for both of us.

When I first got the clipper, I spent some time getting her used to the noise, then stroked her with it switched off, then stroked her with the back of the blades when switched on. She has never had a problem with it.