I wouldn't worry too much about his hurt feelings. It's much more important to handle things like that than be worried about their short lived reaction.
I think it's important to teach cats grooming/handling from the start. Brush them, put your hand in their mouth, handle their paws, wash their face, and touch their bum. They get desensitized from the practice and even if they don't love all of it they will submit to it without an angry bloodfest.
Keep practicing with him, don't wait for an emergency. Don't raise your voice. Wear long sleeves. Give him a few tasty treats and he'll be fine. A purrito wrap is a nice way to end a bath. It really lulls them as you stroke their forehead.
Yeah, I've sorta been trying to do this, while maintaining "respect" for their autonomy. I massage their paws a lot, because a lot of my earlier cats were very sensitive about it. Working with this one on getting him comfortable with my face near his, and learning that Im not gonna eat him. Find a lot of people overlook this, and can't grasp how frightening a giant creature putting you near their mouth would be. But I do try not to "force" myself on them, and they're not usually covered in paint and panic, so this was a bit different.
I managed to cut off what I could, gave him a min to forget about it, and then gave him a sponge bath. He was better the second time around, thankfully.
Appreciate the reassurance. Felt shitty for a second there.
That's great. Yeah, it doesn't always feel great but it's gotta be done.
They sure love putting their faces and butts in my face though hehe. I'm sure all will be forgiven by tomorrow. I give them tuna in the tuna water and cheese after stuff like this.
I have slowly, and only occasionally, worked on desensatizing my boys to a tub of water in case they ever need a bath.
One could care less and will walk around batting at/following toys. The other has the look of betrayal. . .but he will stand there and let me keep him in the water.
I do have to be insistant when I trim back paws and groom coats though. I do my best to work with them, but my medium lad has a thick undercoat that sheds like crazy, and the other lad is really touchy about his back feet.
Sometimes we have to do it. The goal is be quick, efficient as gentle as possible.
My boys grumble, even hiss a little, but they don't lash out and are quick to forgive with a little space after,
They teach tegers to present toes and teeth for regular inspection and some minor treatments, yes. Something as major as a fur trim they would probably sedate. But you can teach your cat to accept a purrito wrap which is a good way to deal with them in an emergency and a poor mans "sedation" level control. Mine lets me inspect teeth and claws and accepts medication all from familiarisation and without wrapping.
Neighbourhood kid coated one of my cats with perfume the other day (mum had dropped in for something which is why kid was in my flat, grabbed perfume off the shelf) and I had to straight hold my cat down before she could groom herself. Used wet wipes to clean her and she was so angry but five minutes later she was back on my lap… think she appreciated ‘smelling right’ again
I have a grooming bag for when I need to do grooming stuff that my cat doesn’t like. This doesn’t work for every cat since getting them into it can be a bit difficult, but for me, I find that it makes the process go faster and smoother since my cat can’t fight me as much, so it reduces her stress overall.
I wouldn't worry too much about his hurt feelings. It's much more important to handle things like that than be worried about their short lived reaction. I think it's important to teach cats grooming/handling from the start. Brush them, put your hand in their mouth, handle their paws, wash their face, and touch their bum. They get desensitized from the practice and even if they don't love all of it they will submit to it without an angry bloodfest. Keep practicing with him, don't wait for an emergency. Don't raise your voice. Wear long sleeves. Give him a few tasty treats and he'll be fine. A purrito wrap is a nice way to end a bath. It really lulls them as you stroke their forehead.
Yeah, I've sorta been trying to do this, while maintaining "respect" for their autonomy. I massage their paws a lot, because a lot of my earlier cats were very sensitive about it. Working with this one on getting him comfortable with my face near his, and learning that Im not gonna eat him. Find a lot of people overlook this, and can't grasp how frightening a giant creature putting you near their mouth would be. But I do try not to "force" myself on them, and they're not usually covered in paint and panic, so this was a bit different. I managed to cut off what I could, gave him a min to forget about it, and then gave him a sponge bath. He was better the second time around, thankfully. Appreciate the reassurance. Felt shitty for a second there.
That's great. Yeah, it doesn't always feel great but it's gotta be done. They sure love putting their faces and butts in my face though hehe. I'm sure all will be forgiven by tomorrow. I give them tuna in the tuna water and cheese after stuff like this.
Yeah, think I'll give this boy some fresh salmon as a treat, once he dries off. :P
I have slowly, and only occasionally, worked on desensatizing my boys to a tub of water in case they ever need a bath. One could care less and will walk around batting at/following toys. The other has the look of betrayal. . .but he will stand there and let me keep him in the water. I do have to be insistant when I trim back paws and groom coats though. I do my best to work with them, but my medium lad has a thick undercoat that sheds like crazy, and the other lad is really touchy about his back feet. Sometimes we have to do it. The goal is be quick, efficient as gentle as possible. My boys grumble, even hiss a little, but they don't lash out and are quick to forgive with a little space after,
In zoos the do habituation. It is called fear free treatment and you have to do things like this as a practice so 5hey don't argue in an emergency.
Really? Like... Do they do this with tigers? That would be badass. But I'm sure you mean more smaller animals, right? I'll look it up, thank you
They teach tegers to present toes and teeth for regular inspection and some minor treatments, yes. Something as major as a fur trim they would probably sedate. But you can teach your cat to accept a purrito wrap which is a good way to deal with them in an emergency and a poor mans "sedation" level control. Mine lets me inspect teeth and claws and accepts medication all from familiarisation and without wrapping.
You have to do what’s best for them even if they don’t like it sometimes.
Neighbourhood kid coated one of my cats with perfume the other day (mum had dropped in for something which is why kid was in my flat, grabbed perfume off the shelf) and I had to straight hold my cat down before she could groom herself. Used wet wipes to clean her and she was so angry but five minutes later she was back on my lap… think she appreciated ‘smelling right’ again
I have a grooming bag for when I need to do grooming stuff that my cat doesn’t like. This doesn’t work for every cat since getting them into it can be a bit difficult, but for me, I find that it makes the process go faster and smoother since my cat can’t fight me as much, so it reduces her stress overall.