Self grooming/washing

[Velvet]

Does everyones cat/kitten wash themselves? Amber rarely if ever washes herself whereas Tim grooms himself a fair bit & does Amber too

Just curious if there could be a reason why Amber doesnt self groom/wash - any ideas folks?

[angieh]

That seems rather odd ..... am I right in saying that you don't really know much about Amber's early days? It could be that she didn't receive much grooming from her mother and therefore does not see it as a normal behaviour.

Many years ago when my Merlin came to me as a 12 or so week old kitten, he did not groom himself - he may have been taken from his mother too young, I never knew. I had an old fairly rough face towel which I used to dampen with warm water and wash his face for him. I did this regularly and it did seem to stimulate grooming behaviour. The warm roughness I thought might seem like mother's tongue. Perhaps you could give it a go - it's rather nice to do!

[pamela81]

both Harris and Skye are quite pernickity when they groom themselves.

[dandysmom]

Is it possible she's doing a bit of grooming when you're not around to notice it? Some cats do groom more than others; but Dandy and Sultan did much less than the girls. And Patches was a compulsive groomer, maybe a bit obsessive ... she groomed for hours.

[lynz85]

pip does groom himself, when he was a kitten he would always leave a big wet patch where he licked!

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by dandysmom

Is it possible she's doing a bit of grooming when you're not around to notice it? Some cats do groom more than others; but Dandy and Sultan did much less than the girls. And Patches was a compulsive groomer, maybe a bit obsessive ... she groomed for hours.

It really is rare Eileen and then its only a quick lick and flip over one ear

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by angieh

That seems rather odd ..... am I right in saying that you don't really know much about Amber's early days? It could be that she didn't receive much grooming from her mother and therefore does not see it as a normal behaviour.

Yes you are right, she was picked up straying as a young kitten and taken to a vets with a too tight collar. Goodness knows how long the poor little thing had been on the loose - another thing i always found odd was the fact she had absolutely no fear whatsoever of the dogs. Tim hissed for a week after we got him and steered as far away from them as he could. Mind you after that he had obviously sussed them out and quite happily bossed them about Tim washes her regularly so maybe she feels she has no cause to?

Many years ago when my Merlin came to me as a 12 or so week old kitten, he did not groom himself - he may have been taken from his mother too young, I never knew. I had an old fairly rough face towel which I used to dampen with warm water and wash his face for him. I did this regularly and it did seem to stimulate grooming behaviour. The warm roughness I thought might seem like mother's tongue. Perhaps you could give it a go - it's rather nice to do!

I tried today and she tolerated it for about 5 seconds flat and then struggled to get free with a loud yell of indignation

[angieh]

I'd keep at it Velvet - little and often.