The best grooming tools?

[Philip]

I guess I'm lucky in the fact that my raggies are mostly placid (except Christian when grooming of course).

[Millies mum]

I've ordered a trimmer thanks Gillian, Phil i have wrapped him in a towel to try and groom him but still no good he just hates being groomed!
i may end up clipping him all over with these trimmers and turn him into a spynx  ( only joking )

[Gillian Harvey]

My raggies hate the sound of the trimmer I have 

My local pet store sells a near silent one purpose built for pets but its £30.00.

Hope to get it eventually.  Gillian...

I don't find the Wahl trimmer too bad noise wise, and its so quick - on, trim, gone lol! 

[Philip]

My raggies hate the sound of the trimmer I have 

My local pet store sells a near silent one purpose built for pets but its £30.00.

Hope to get it eventually.  Gillian...

[Gillian Harvey]

This little trimmer is brilliant for removing small knots http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=wahl+pocket+pro&wrapid=tlif129910174746810&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3716400122896015664&sa=X&ei=PbhuTZP5CKGShAexx_U0&ved=0CDgQ8wIwAA#  - ooh, sorry, long link! 

A trimmer would probably be better for now, as it won't tug at the knots, you can remove them quickly and then start again with the regular grooming. For that I'd just use a small metal comb, followed by wire slicker brush, like these



The Mikki Mat Breaker is good for removing the loose undercoat (its no good for big knots and mats) but used like a comb you can get a lot of the loose fur out and prevent matts occuring.

[Philip]

I use Mikki thinning scissors if I get any really bad matts.

Delphi used to suffer badly from them.

Try wrapping him in a towel so you can access the bad matts, but he isn't uncomfortable and gently/slowly try and pull it apart.

Use thinning scissors if you cant pull it apart. remember if the matt is all the way through the fur to watch you are not cutting skin.

You could try the dematting tool. Use it in a gentle see-saw action and try and get you're fingers underneath so it doesn't pull as you do it. then it wont hurt.

Ragdolls are notorious for getting bad matting under armpits, their ruffs, around their rear end.

[Philip]

My Christian hates them all and its fun and games with him.....

My other raggies become purr engines when its grooming time. 

[Millies mum]

I have these too thanks Phil they are great it's just that Casper hates them 

[Philip]

For my ragdolls I use:

Mikki undercoat rake.
Mikki Slicker brush (retractable).
Mikki medium tooth comb.

For Matts I use the Mikki matt remover.

and the furminator.

Plus flea combs to check those bug*ers are not returning.

[Dawn F]

worth waiting for Gillian to reply, she is a goddess on grooming matters 

[Millies mum]

Hi all i'm back for more grooming advice 
I went out and brought new combs and brushes as advised below they are really good too even my short haired babies like them.
Casper on the other hand tolerates me brushing him especially his back end! he used to love being groomed when he was a baby now he hates it!
He absolutely hates me brushing his back end he now has a couple of matts on the inside of his back legs and scratches and moans at me when i try to brush them out,i had my sister try and cut them out whilst i held him the other day but he wriggles that much we couldn't do it 
Any suggestions please he is only 2 years old so i need to sort this out before he gets worse i thought about taking him to a cat groomer to see if they could help ???

[Millies mum]

Thanks for the tips i'm off shopping 

[Gillian Harvey]

As Gill mentioned, metal comb with small and medium spaced teeth, followed by a slicker brush (wire pins - don't like the ones with the bobbles on the end, they tug the coat of longhairs).

For undercoat removal - Mikkie Matt breaker is brilliant - use it like a comb and it will take out a lot of the loose fur. Furminators not good for longhairs. 

[Mark]

These slickers are great and the cats love them - Alice & Lazarus rub their faces against it. It really does get a lot of undercoat off. These ones have tiny bobbles on the end of the pins to stop them scratching skin.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002Z2QZD2/ref=ox_ya_os_product

(Don't forget to change the postage to 'free' if you order one as the default is 1st class which is more than the price of the brush  )

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I found furminator useless on a long haired cat with a very thick coat.....Misa. Its also no good if there is a knot or a tangle

The best tool is a comb with two length prongs 

[Tiggy's Mum]

I don't have long haired cats so it might be different for longer hair but the furminator is brilliant for shorthaired cats - have never seen so much fluff! You can get them quite cheap from Amazon, I got the medium sized one (yellow) which is meant for dogs but is the same as the cat one only a bit bigger.

Gillian is a groomer so hopefully she'll see this and have some tips 

[Millies mum]

The time is coming for Casper's grooming session for this week anyway 
Any good ideas for grooming very long haired cats who don't really like being groomed?
i have looked at the furminator and thought i'd ask for reviews if anyone has one please