dry dusty feel to fur

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thats great 

[Kay and Penny]

thought I would just resurrect this thread long enough to say that Tosker now has lovely glistening glossy grey fur

all it needed was lots of stroking from a human, and luckily that turned out to be his favourite thing in all the world ........... eventually

[Mark]

An egg yolk once a week might help coat condition. Alice loves hers. When we have bacon & egs, it is the egg she wants 

[Gillian Harvey]

genetics must play a part in fur quality too, I suppose  

Was gonna say that  It could just be that his coat is coarser making it feel dry.

[Kay and Penny]

thanks for all the advice - time and oily fish it is then - sardines in tomato sauce is a favourite

it will have to be human fish, as he won't eat any of the fishy cat foods, even the really good ones - but it won't be for ever

funnily enough, Tiffany has wonderfully soft plush fur, and she will eat almost no wet food at all

genetics must play a part in fur quality too, I suppose  

[Janeyk]

yep, forgot to add it's mainly the ones in brine which are salty but I avoid those - or rinse them

[Fire Fox]

The maximum daily allowance of salt for an adult human is 5g: I don't know whether you can calculate down for a cat, but if you did the desirable amounts would be very small. You can buy wet cat foods which contain high proportions of named meat or fish (as opposed to just flavours), if you were to choose an oily fish variant cat food then the salt content should be safe. Also many of the premium quality dry biscuits contain added fish oils, it's something I have looked at for Noah as I think the potential health benefits are great. AFAIK fish oil supplements (capsules or bottled oil) are salt free.

http://www.fish4dogs.com/Categories/Cat-Shop/cat-salmon-oil.aspx

[Janeyk]

When I have had cats who have been a bit of scurfy/dandruff my vet has said give them oily fish so sardines, pilchards, salmon, mackerel etc should be fine - occasionally.  I was also given an oil supplement in a plastic bottle from CP when we adopted Smokey and Timmy (it was from their vets) can't remember the name though.  You may find that the coat will improve in time by itself but a bit of oily fish on occasion does help too I think.

[Bazsmum]

Dont know about the sardines, but with anything like that it has to be given in moderation anyway....I personally would leave it a little longer as Im sure this is just an in between stage of how his coat is gonna change into a beautiful silky one! 

[Kay and Penny]

he likes sardines - will they help without doing too much harm?

I know they are salty (wish we could buy the low salt ones available in the US ) but he is young and a good drinker

[Janeyk]

Excess vitamin A can be toxic to cats, you have to be careful with liver too as that is a rich source of vitamin A

[Fire Fox]

Just going to second what Mark said about fish oils, not cod liver oil, containing high levels of the essential fatty acids (aka omega-3) that are necessary for the health of all cells (work in physical activity/ nutrition). There is also evidence in humans that omega 3s are important for heart and brain health and for weight management.

[Mark]

I wouldn't use cod liver oil - I can'r remember exactly what it is but I believe it is too high in vitamin A which depletes the vitamin E - could be wrong but (whole) fish oil is much better as it contains the long-chain EFAs.

[Bazsmum]

There coats definitely do change...When I took Satine in earlier this year she even had quite bald ears, now all the fur has grown back and they feel like velvet!

The fish will hurry his coat condition along too! 

[Kay and Penny]

he doesn't roll around outside at all, and there is no actual dust, just the feel of it

I didn't know their coats change; he has been living mostly indoors for 6 weeks now, and his blanket does seem to be slightly less grubby-looking than it did, so is this a sign that protective secretions in his coat are drying up?

but I'll try him on cod liver oil, and he likes salmon, so could put more of that his way too

[Janeyk]

Has Tosker been indoors long? because if not his coat will change eventually from outdoor to indoor, they are a different texture when outdoors all the time.

[Bazsmum]

Do you notice if he rolls about on the floor outside Trigger? My Blackie does this whilst sucking up to Gizzy! 

Im glad you are getting further on the stroking front! 

[bonnielass]

I had this problem with Eddie when he started with his dermititus and i put him on 1 cod liver oil capsule a day and his fur has now gone back to being soft and silky

[Kay and Penny]

Tosker is now permitting lots of strokes - sometimes - but his fur has a dry dusty feel to it, quite unlike the silky sleek feel to Trigger's and Tiffany's coats

does anyone know why this might be? is it just lack of being stroked? he certainly grooms himself regularly