Moet before brushingDo you like a brush? I sure do. When I first came to my new home I’d never had a brush before, never mind had a proper grooming; you know, knots removed, claws clipped etc. But now I roll over for my brush every time my mum taps it. In fact, I love it so much, I sometimes mistake mum’s lint roller for a brush and even ask to be lint-rolled too!

But I know not all of my brofurs and sisfurs like being brushed or groomed at all. However, did you know that it not only keeps fluff levels down, but prevents knotted fur in us long-haired cats, which many don’t know can be really uncomfortable. Why? Because the knots pull on our delicate skin and it feels all tight and horrid. As for the fluff, well it reduces the amount of fur you ingest when you wash (good for both long and short-haired cats to reduce furballs) and it also stops too much fluff spreading all over your human’s home.  Now you know they’ll thank you for that!

So how did mum get us to love the brush and even love having our knots gently unpicked or cut out? Well, it’s all linked to that magic substance – food! First of all mum used to give us a very gentle brush, you know, something superficial and not too tough. Then she would feed us straight away. After a while, we started to associate brushes with a positive thing and actually, it felt rather good. Then in a couple of weeks, she would focus more on the knotty bits, brushing them with a bit more focus to get some of them out.

Moet after brushingA month later and I can lie there for 2 whole mins while mum brushes out all of my developing knots and gives the rest a nice brush out. It feels so good. I now even like a brush between meals. When I’m kinda sleepy, mum will come over and concentrate on any serious knots, I even let her pull some apart with her hands. But these days they are rare because I get a nice brushing twice a day to keep them at bay.

Claw clipping however, is another story. We are all still learning about that and although I don’t like it much and squeak at mum to stop, I will let her finish them – just about! I can tell you more about that next time.

You can follow Moet on Twitter: @Moetblindcat

Facebook: facebook.com/MoetBlindCat

And on Instagram with Luna and Lily, her two sisters: @Muscats 

A Cats Purr

"Cats make one of the most satisfying sounds in the world: they purr ...

A purring cat is a form of high praise, like a gold star on a test paper. It is reinforcement of something we would all like to believe about ourselves - that we are nice."

Roger A Caras