Long Haired Cats in Hot Weather

[BabyBerlioz]

Hi again,

Berlioz is my first long haired cat and he seems to be struggling in the hot weather. I have bought a fan and a cool pad and I had thought about getting him trimmed. I have only been able to find one place that grooms cats and I made an enquiry with them. She said they don't give cats hair cuts because it can cause a lot of problems with their fur matting as it grows back in. The do offer to do a full groom which includes a bath, a bum trim (I do manage to do this myself in a hap hazard kind of fashion!) ears cleaned and de mat and full brush out (whatever that is?).

What are anyone's experience of long haired cats in hot weather and whether or not he needs all that other stuff?

[Janey]

Hi, I don’t currently have any long haired cats, and only had a semi longhair. I found that he would take himself to a cool spot outside when it was hot (just as other cats) and like yourself put a fan for them to get near when it was hot indoors. This link has information though on how to help cats and other pets in hot weather:
https://www.catchat.org/index.php/hot-w ... s-wildlife

[alanc]

I have never found Tilly (or Badger) to need a hair cut in hot weather and she is more fur than cat! She goes out in the early morning when it is reasonably cool, then comes in and flops down in a cool place indoors and doesn't do much all day. I keep her well brushed and combed to keep loose hair to a minimum, but I do that mainly to stop hairballs and tangles.

[Ruth B]

We never made any special arrangements for our Ragdoll when we had him and he coped fine. In the recent hot weather even our current short haired cats seemed to be feeling it a bit.

My advice is pretty much just common sense, make sure there is a good supply of water available, after all when a cat grooms themselves they leave a thin damp layer on their coat which helps cool them as it evaporates, so don't be surprised if he seems to drink more and groom more when hot. Giving a bit of a hand when grooming will help make sure he doesn't ingest too much fur. Also make sure that food isn't left down too long to attract too many flies.

With the fan and the cool pad I am sure he will be fine.

[PeanutandFriendsJill]

Mine laid in the tub to keep cool. You can buy cooling pads too.

[vanilla]

A friend of mine had a long haired cat in Singapore. She always shaved her cat to keep it cool. I don't remember her having any issues when it grew back.

[Baggypants]

I think the thick fur is actually supposed to insulate them from the heat (and cold also)?

Here in Portugal it gets very hot and the air-conditioning is expensive to run for long periods of time so I tend to give the cats a 'hand-wash' - I get my hands damp and stroke the cats, repeating several times - lots of fur comes off them and they end up quite sodden which cools them down for a bit. Once or twice over the summer I will give them a cool bath (which they hate!) but it cools them down and they seem to appreciate afterwards....

[BabyBerlioz]

Thanks all,

I think I'll leave the idea of shaving him on the back burner for now. My daughter had been having a water fight in that really warm spell and left a pile of damp clothes lying on the kitchen floor. When I went to get them I found Berlioz lying on them and he stayed there for the best part of the evening! He preferred that to the cool pad.

It's funny though because the thought of him lying on damp clothes, my head kept whispering that that CANNOT be good for him but I just trusted he was doing what worked for him.

[Judy Barnett]

I recently brought my cat back from the cattery. When I got there and stepped out of the car it was like a blast furnace. I was thinking 'i hope Georgie is ok in there, but there was no need to worry. The lady who ran it saw me coming and opened the door almost pulling me in. 'its ok ', she said, 'i don't want the hot air to get into them'. It was lovely in there. She'd got several electric fans on the go and most of the cats, including Georgia were pressed up against their enclosure bars with an expression of ,aaahhhhhhh on their faces.

[Kay]

do they have human pens too? I like the sound of that cattery

[Lilith]

It's terrible at the moment isn't it?

I have a ceiling fan in my bedroom that's never been off; the back door is open and the garden shady but the cats have been coming in. I tried to put up some flyscreens but although the velcro stuff stuck to EVERYTHING, at the first breath of wind it blew down, d'oh!

My Muslim neighbours are in the last week of Ramadan and it's apparently 30c in Wakefield - and they have to look after the small kids all day (children don't fast of course) and feed them and not even have a sip of water until dusk ... Needless to say I don't sit out with a cooling glass at the moment, it would be tactless.

Roll on the cooler weather tomorrow - and Eid on Sunday!

Molly has just come in, looking disgusted, and is up on top of Shahi python's vivarium to get a nice draught ... HIS heating's turned itself off completely.

Hope everyone's coping

[Ruth B]

We're rather having 'fun' at the moment. As mentioned previously in other threads, my garden has Asbestos contamination. Liability has been sorted out, and at the end of last year we were told to expect work to start in late February, then in Feb it was late April etc. Thursday I got a knock at the door, they were here to remove all the garden stuff ready to start. They took a lot of it, and were meant to come back Thursday afternoon to empty and dismantle the shed.

They didn't return.

Nor did they on Friday.

I decided that over the weekend I would get the fish from the pond to their holding tank regardless, I had been wanting to leave the fish out as long as possible, and to get the cats in and on lockdown, thinking they would definitely be here today.

Saturday morning, Saturn has gone AWOL, still no sign of him on Sunday morning, and by Sunday evening I am starting to think that today i would be having to put the notices up. 8.00 Sunday night in he wanders. So the cat flap gets shut, except that Freyja is still outside and enjoying herself, so I leave the cat flap set to in only. By half past ten, Saturn and Tiggy are munching their way down their supper and Freyja is still playing about in the garden.

I can't leave the cat flap on in only overnight as we have a large fluffy tabby that seems to be visiting occasionally at the moment and I don't want to get woken up in the middle of the night by world war 3 as it can't escape back out again. So i have to take the chance and open the flap.

This morning, Tiggy and Saturn are both hanging around the kitchen and Freyja is just out side the back door, but no she is still playing about and won't come in.

So as i have been home, the cat flap has been set to in only all day all windows and doors shut, Saturn and Tiggy have been confined to barracks and Freyja is still happily asleep under the Bamboo, and there is still no sign of anyone coming to empty the shed, and the house is feeling like a sauna.

So at about 3.00 I decided sod it, I was opening up, back door open, fly curtain up, windows open. It is actually starting to feel reasonable and we do have an aircon unit for the bedroom that at least means we get a good night's sleep. I am just praying this weather breaks before the diggers arrive and we have to go into full lockdown mode. I really wish it had been done in February.

Oh and Tiggy is at present asleep on my mouse mat meaning i can hardly use the mouse at all.

[alanc]

Judging by the state of her fur when she came in, Tilly has been sleeping under the bushes all day. Just given her her daily brush and comb to remove all the vegetation and she is stretched out on my bed, paws uppermost, with a look saying "It's too HOT daddy"!

[mr_frisky]

It's too hot for any cat at the moment - in the high 80s (30c) in the SE. Mine don't want to come in, even though it's cooler inside.

Once the sun sets they get active again.

Sadly I don't have a fan (or aircon in the car - fun for a 110 mile round trip every day on the M25 to get to work!)

They don't seem to be drinking that much, and are eating less. I understand the latter is normal in hot weather, never really noticed before.

[Lilith]

110 mile round trip? Wow, you have my sympathies, Mr Frisky!

My bedroom fan got passed on to me by my ex who didn't like it when he moved to his present house; it's one of those retro 'Casablanca' thingies and only cost me the price of installation.

I looked in on Shahi this evening and was horrified to find him sitting in a nasty mess - snakes do do this. Usually he gets out of his hide and asks for chambermaid service, but not this time. I put him in his plastic holding box while I did the necessary, then gently poured the water bowl over him, since it was of the perfect temperature; swilled him about and fussed him, turned round to grab some kitchen roll to dry him - and turned back to find a nice clean dripping python zooming out of the box on to my pillows.

One way to cool down!

He stayed on the bed with me, cruising up and down, looking very fit with his iridescent skin and his sweet sensitive little face - royal pythons smile!

Blimey it's still hot tonight - time to go and get one of my friends out of the fridge again, Abbot Ale ...

[Judy Barnett]

Yes mr_frisky Georgia isn't eating very much, not like her at all. It's a pity I can't make her a salad!

[bobbys girl]

Willow has just finished off some ice cream

I don't know what everyone is on about. This is Northern Ireland, we seldom get extremes of any sort of weather ..... apart from rain and that is not so much extreme as continuous. Well it IS the Emerald Isle.

It is very still at the moment - lovely midge weather

Cats are all stretched out asleep. Purdy is on the compost bin on 'rat watch'. But other than that they are chillin'.

[Lilith]

My lot haven't been eating much conventional food, but craving snacks - tuna at midnight, if you please. Yesterday I left some frankfurters and Mouse spotted them. NOT the most nutritious food for cats and thieving shouldn't be encouraged, but she looked so comical, with her great solemn eyes and a length of sausage dangling from her mouth like a cigar, I didn't have the heart to stop her

Thunderstorms and hail possible today - good luck to us all