Nature has blessed the Scottish Fold with thick, luxurious hair, despite the fact that the Scottish cat sheds heavily. Hair loss is often profuse and threatens to deteriorate its quality, forming areas of baldness. The causes of this condition may be stress, lack of calcium, medications or shampoos that cause allergies in the pet. To eliminate the root cause of hair loss in a cat, you need to observe the animal and then consult a veterinarian.
The main root cause of severe and constant shedding is improper, unbalanced nutrition, when the pet’s body lacks vitamins, macro- and microelements or fatty acids. To eliminate this pathology, it is necessary to correct the diet.
Causes of excessive shedding
So, you noticed that your beloved cat sheds a lot. What to do? First of all, you must realize that he lives in an apartment. The usual place is the sofa. Of course, it doesn’t happen on the street. And why? After all, food is always served to him. He even sometimes allows himself to choose his food. He eats one, turns away from the other.
Moreover, it is interesting that it is in winter, when the fur coat of animals should grow, that your cat sheds heavily. What to do? Why does this happen the other way around?
The answer is simple. In cats, “self-deception” occurs. Dry and warm air coming from radiators, plus bright artificial lighting - here you have the real summer! Excess fur on a cat's body only gets in the way. She's hot and uncomfortable. And the fur reset function starts working.
What affects the frequency of coat changes?
Pronounced molting in animals that have free or outdoor ranges occurs with the change of weather season: spring and autumn. Changes in environmental temperature and changes in daylight hours are natural causes of the loss of warm undercoat with guard hairs in an animal and a new beginning of their restoration.
But other factors also influence the hair growth cycle, such as:
- nutrition;
- age, skin condition and health of the pet;
- stress;
- hormonal background;
- genetic predisposition;
- violation of the apartment microclimate.
How to “convince” an animal
So, decide, if a British cat sheds a lot, what to do? What should you do correctly to avoid making mistakes?
Do not let the animal close to blazing heat radiators. Buy and install an air humidifier in your rooms. Open windows and doors often to ventilate the room. Don't be afraid to let in the cold, fresh air. By the way, this is also useful for people.
And on the loggia or balcony you need to arrange a “winter” house for the cat. Install a claw point fixture there. And all sorts of ladders, shelves, stands. Then the purr will be interested in going out onto the balcony.
Shedding all year round
There are cat breeds with thick undercoat. These are, for example, Siberian and British. They shed fur throughout the year. This comes naturally to them. Therefore, if nothing bothers you during the molting process, and there are no obvious changes in the fur, then there is no need to sound the alarm.
However, there are other reasons for this phenomenon. If a cat sheds a lot, what should you do in such cases?
Those animals that sit in an apartment all winter and are transported out of town in the summer, for example, to a dacha, are characterized by increased hair growth. It's warm outside, you can run freely everywhere. The fur is growing. And as soon as they return to urban housing, increased hair loss begins.
What to do?
The young girl now knows the answer to this question. But a year earlier...
After returning home, the cat team lost a lot of undercoat and guard hairs, even excessively. What's happened? Why? What to do?
Yana listened to my advice and immediately went to the veterinary clinic.
The doctor examined the animals and reassured the owner:
- the skin is clean, there are no blood-sucking insects;
- there are no bald spots or separate areas of baldness on the body of fluffies;
- a stool test did not reveal infection with worms, and a blood test for bacteria and fungi gave a negative result;
- Males and females are sterilized, which means they do not suffer from hormonal imbalances.
What if it is still a disease?
What to do if your cat sheds a lot in the spring? Some owners mistake skin diseases for traditional shedding. But it is caused by an allergy either to food, medications, or fungi.
You also need to seriously think about the situation if hair loss is associated with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Or even with hormonal imbalance. Often this externally looks like redness, itching, and the appearance of bald patches on the cat’s body.
Do not try to treat your pet yourself. Do not read treatment methods on the Internet. You can only do harm. Take the animal to the veterinarian. The veterinary clinic will do all the necessary tests, determine the diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment.
Does a British cat shed a lot? What to do? There are probably not enough vitamins in his diet. Then the doctor will select the ones your cat needs.
Usually, those who have clearly visible focal lesions are prescribed fairly simple but well-functioning vitamins. For example, brewer's yeast. If all other indicators are normal for the cat, then only two weeks will pass and you will see how much her hair has improved.
Symptoms of skin and endocrine system diseases
External signs will tell you about skin diseases. If redness, scratching, bald spots, or abscesses appear on the skin, this is a significant reason to consult a veterinarian. The causes of such diseases are numerous - from banal allergies to parasitic and oncological ones. Only a veterinarian can install them.
Diseases common to humans are also observed in cats. In the field of endocrinology, these are obesity, diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus, acromegaly, hypothyroidism, etc.
To diagnose these diseases in animals in a timely manner, you need to pay attention to their behavior. Even the smallest details that are not typical for a pet are a reason to go to the veterinary clinic.
If your cat drinks or eats a lot, goes to the toilet frequently, doesn't move much, or has lost his appetite, all this indicates the need to visit a doctor. The doctor, having done the necessary research, will be able to determine why your cat’s hair is shedding a lot.
It is impossible to determine the cause on your own, without additional tests and other diagnostic methods.
Change your diet completely
This is the situation: it is clearly visible that the cat is shedding a lot. What to do? You are looking for the reason, and it is quite simple - you offered the cat new food. So, exclude certain foods from the animal’s diet and don’t experiment anymore! And adding vegetable fats to food will only help to quickly restore the shine and beauty of your beloved cat’s “fur coat”.
It is recommended to brush the coat regularly. There are cats that are predisposed to hair matting. The same Persian or Siberian ones. It is best to brush them every day. And not just an ordinary comb, but a special one - a furminator. It significantly reduces shedding and prevents the formation of tangles.
Arch-comb
For sale on the Internet you can find such a device as an arch for combing wool. This is something like a curved brush that is placed on the floor on a special stand. An animal, eager to scratch itself, begins to rub against this arch, thereby putting itself in order.
But whether your cat wants to use such a device is purely individual. To attract the animal to the unit, it is recommended to use catnip.
However, in any case, the arch is only an additional, and not the main tool when combing cats. She cannot comb it properly.
Take care of your coat
You are a caring housewife. You do everything for the beauty of your mustachioed friend. Do not forget that if washing the cat does not solve the problem (with excessive shedding), then a special conditioner will restore the fur that is damaged. It will also eliminate dryness of the cat’s skin and relieve it from flaking.
Due to their short hair, Scottish cats (or Scottish shorthair cats) do not require any complex care for their coat. True, during the period of hair loss, cats need to be combed more often to remove dying pieces of hair and provide an incentive for the growth of new ones.
In a situation where a cat sheds heavily, “what should I do?” - this is a very serious question. After all, the cat licks itself, and can thus swallow pieces of fur. Fur balls will accumulate in her stomach. The animal may vomit or the accumulated hair may cause an intestinal blockage.
Outdoor cats, for example, cope with this complication simply - they eat grass. And the family members try to nibble flowers and other indoor plants. Not understanding the reason for this, the owners simply drag them away from the green spaces.
Be careful when your Scottish cat sheds heavily. What to do? Consult a veterinarian, because the wrong decision can harm your pet.
By the way, food manufacturers today produce them with such ingredients that they prevent balls of hair that have entered the cat’s stomach from rolling off. Moreover, they facilitate their natural elimination from the body. Of course, natural green grass is healthier and more effective. Therefore, in the summer, let your cat out for a walk and enjoy the street grass to his heart's content. Or grow it at home.
Pet stores sell special pastes. They help remove hair from the cat's stomach. They can be used too.
Hair, especially in long-haired cats, can also accumulate behind the lower canines. The animal itself, of course, cannot get them. This is your concern. Otherwise, inflammation may occur.
Care depending on color
Depending on the color of the Scottish cat, coat care may vary. So, for example, black cats are given certain shampoos to enhance their color, while white cats are given different shampoos, and so on.
There are also some nuances in combing. It is highly not recommended for smoky cats to use slicker brushes with furminators, because... they damage the undercoat - as a result, the color deteriorates.
In addition, if you comb a solid-colored cat (white, black, blue, etc.) at the wrong time, causing it to develop tangles, they can be cut out. But cats of smoky and point colors cannot do this, because... leads to the formation of spots of a different color. For such cats, you can only carefully separate the hairs in the mat so that it disappears.
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All cats are so different
The coat of Highland cats (that is, Scottish, long-haired cats) needs more careful care. But don't worry - it's not difficult at all. Highlands do not have such a voluminous undercoat as Persians, for example. That’s why there are no tangles. And you don’t need to comb the cat’s fur often, but from time to time.
This is how difficult it turns out to be to keep an animal at home. But if you do it with love, then you get a lot of joy in return.
Scottish Fold: Questions and Answers
Before asking your question, please make sure that this question has not already been asked
- A kitten up to 2-2.5 months should not leave its mother’s house!
Buy a kitten from a clean home, with deworming (that is, when the kitten was given an anthelmintic drug), with vaccinations and documents (veterinary passport and birth certificate or pedigree from the club).
Only in this case can you be relatively calm about the health of your pet. The normal age for buying a kitten is 2.5 months or more. - Before asking your question, look for a similar question and its answer in previous posts.
- All questions about the health of your pets should be directed to the vet.
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Remember that sometimes it is very difficult to give an answer about diagnosis and treatment in absentia
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Experts may not answer your questions:
— about the health of the kitten, if you took it from its mother prematurely, unvaccinated and without documents; — about how to feed a kitten, how much it should weigh and other questions to which answers were given repeatedly.
Answers to questions on the topic:
Compliance with standards and colors
CATS catalogue. Scottish fold
Sale of British and Scottish fold kittens.
Professional nursery Phyllis offers British and Scottish fold kittens of a chic breed type. From titled parents. Colors from traditional to rare. All kittens are litter box trained and vaccinated according to age. Details on the website. We are happy to help you choose a pet. E-mail Website https://www.phillis.ru Tel. 8-499-732-63-83 (after 16 hours); 8-903-754-03-08 any time
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