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Fuzzy Uglies

Good grooming practices are essential for maintaining health and happiness for you and your cat. This is a forum to exchange tips and advice for proper care of your cat's hygiene needs.

  
Kinako

carpe carp =^^=
 
 
Purred: Thu Feb 19, '09 11:29pm PST 
Hi~!
Well, Savannahs go through a stage called the fuzzies (or fuzzy uglies) where they grow long white hairs to help camouflage them in the wild. It is a trait that many wild hybrids have (Bengals, Chausies). I'd like to know if any other breeds also experience the fuzzies and if anyone has any suggestions on how to quicken the process. Most kittens lose all their fuzzies by 6 months (some up to a year) and Kinako is shedding his fuzzies, although they aren't coming out as fast as I would like. Any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!


kitty
Kinako + Moet
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Lola

Proud mother of- the Fab Four!		 
 
Purred: Fri Feb 20, '09 12:21am PST 
Well, since it's a natural trait, and will cure itself eventually, I'd just say you'll have to wait it out.

My first litter, Leila's kittens ("The Magnificent Seven") were my first experience with newborn and extremely young kittens. They're four months old now, and while they still have their kitten fuzz, finally the classic tabby boys are starting to show that they have rather nice markings (when they were born they were all just grey), and the colors of the tortie girls are becoming brighter. Eventually, Maine Coons should develop (as my adults all have) a coat that is described as "silky but shaggy." I'd always thought that MCs had rather coarse, lusterless hair, but my crew have very fine, soft, shiny fur that is shaggy where it should be--the neck, the stomach, and the britches on the hind legs. Harvey has the longest fur, and is still going to cat shows, so he gets a show bath regularly; I'm always amazed at how much brighter his gorgeous red fur is after a bath! Leila hasn't been bathed since she went for her stud appointment in August, and yet she doesn't look particularly ungroomed. Everybody expects Maine Coons to be long haired and shaggy, but mine have fur on the shortish side (sort of a medium length), which is considered an acceptable variation (the Number Three MC internationally last year with the CFA has a relatively short coat).

Anyway, back to kittens. You already know that kitten coats change to a great degree when they become adults. With my MCs, they went to being fluffballs to being long, sleek cats with silky fur that doesn't mat. Since my present kittens that I'm working on finding families still have their kitten fluff, I like to show prospective clients how silky and manageable their fur will become, and how the colors will deepen as they mature.

So...my advice is to be patient. What else can you do?
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Bumpurr

RESPECT The- Star!		 
 
Purred: Sat Feb 21, '09 4:09pm PST 
Some LH breed cats "blow" their coat, which at that time, the people will
just leave them home, it is usually around this time. big grin

And learned, that MC cats coats, can change over time, actually over the
next 5 years, which is why Bumpurr's coat is different this year, than it
was last year. big grin

And, having been around the show circuit, for quite awhile, have learned
things done to cats and horses, to enable their coats or performace, which
I consider to be cruel. As with showing any animal, when there is big
money involved, unfortuantly, there are short cuts taken, not always to
the animals best interest. cry

Harvey, I am sure, you are aware, of what is done to MC's. You wouldn't do
it, I wouldn't do it, but some do. And, not going to put it up here. wink
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Stella

Stella- Felinis--Queen- of All Kitties!
 
 
Purred: Sat Feb 21, '09 10:27pm PST 
It's Stella. I was a kind of different kitten. When I came inside from the wild, at about 11 weeks, I was not fuzzy but fairly sleek. My markings were all clearly defined and had sharp edges. I am named the way I am because I have a star-shaped mark on my tummy--well, it looks exactly like an asterisk, but that's no name for a kitty.

After a couple of months, I started to get not so much fluffier as my fur just got longer and thicker, all the same length, not varying lengths like a longhair. All of my markings became much blurrier, and you can't really see my star any more, it's just a whirl of gray fur. My fur is two inches long evenly all around and very thick--lots of hairs per square inch. So I am now what we call a "plushy" cat. The cat we think is my father is part Angora, but he has kind of wispy fur. Queenie is somewhat like me, her fur is very thick but not as long or quite as dense as me. But Queenie was a normal fluffy kitten. So was Fluff, a very fluffy kitten, hence his name, but now that he is grown up he is a very sleek coated cat with quite short individual hairs, even though he is marked like a Maine Coon. We are a strange family--at least we all had the same mother!

I can't imagine any kitten at any age being ugly, though. Kittens are all beautiful in their own ways.
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Harvey

Has been COTD!		 
 
Purred: Sun Feb 22, '09 11:48am PST 
Gee, Bumpurr, I wonder what you mean about what's being done to Maine Coons...the worst thing I do to my gang is shampoo them using something like five shampoos and two rinses, and then using white vinegar to get out the residue, and THEN blow-drying them, but they put up with it. And believe me, cats being cats, they do enjoy being clean after a shampoo, as long as there is not too much shampoo odor.

Even if I didn't show them, they'd still need the occasional shampoo to get rid of the dead fur and keep them clean. I just had a cat show this weekend, and entered all three of my adult Maine Coons (oh! the expense!), and so everyone is now squeaky clean.
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Hermes

I'm not a cat,- I'm satan!		 
 
Purred: Sun Feb 22, '09 1:02pm PST 
Get lots of pictures of those fuzzies! It really is one of the cuter things about a kitten and you'll miss it when he's all grown up.

Adonis was a very fuzzy kitten and now that he's a very large, slightly shaggy adult, I wish that I had had a good camera when he was little. Both Calypso and Hermes have always been very smooth and sleek so there was no fuzzy stage with either of them. The next kitten that I get (many years from now since my current cat limit is 4) will most likely be a ragdoll or some other long haired large breed.
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