Top Reasons to Groom Your Dog and Cat
As a pet owner, you want to make sure your furry best friend is always in tip-top shape! We have put together a list of wonderful reasons why you should groom your dog and cat frequently. A happy pet is a happy life!
Dog
Prevents Double Coating:
With the summer heat coming in full swing, regularly grooming your puppy will help prevent them from overheating! By simply brushing their hair daily, it will remove unwanted hair, decreasing shedding and help with the removal of dead skin. You can pamper them and keep the unwanted shedding out of your house!
Grooming can Increase Circulation:
Who doesn’t love a relaxing massage? They are therapeutic and have great health benefits for your body! By giving your furry friend a massage, it helps improve blood flow, increases circulation, and increases the flow of oxygen to your pet’s soft tissues.
Spending Quality Time Together:
We know how easy it is to get caught up in the craziness of our everyday lives. Grooming your pup frequently is the perfect opportunity to give them the love and affection that they deserve! Quality time with your furry best friend will leave you both feeling happy and healthy, it’s a win for both of you!
Helps build trust:
If you are wanting your fur buddy to be more social, grooming them frequently can help ease them into the routine of allowing physical contact with other animals and humans! For the best results, try to get them used to physical touch as a puppy. We know that can’t always be attainable if you are rescuing or fostering your dog, but you can try this at any age. The older the dog is the more time it will most likely take to get them to trust you, but don’t worry – all good things take time!
Reduces Anxiety
Just like humans, pups can suffer from anxiety! Every dog is different, but gentle grooming sessions have shown to reduce cortisol levels which is the main stress hormone. Lowering their day to day stress levels will leave them wanting to spend more time being active and enjoying the outdoors for this beautiful summer!
Cat
Keeping fur in good condition:
There is nothing better than a fresh, healthy fur coat! It is a great idea to frequently keep up with brushing your kitty’s hair so that it looks luscious instead of matted and tangled. The areas that typically tend to be the most knotted are between the legs and armpits, and under their tummy!
Keeping shed hair to a minimum:
As the weather gets increasingly hot during the summer your cat will start to shed like crazy, and your home might start to look like it is made of fur! Taking your furry best friend outside every day and brushing them will lighten your chore load and leave them feeling lighter on their paws!
Checking for lumps/bumps:
Grooming your cat frequently gives you the ability to detect any medical irregularities they might have. Paying attention to your cat’s skin, body and fur can present smaller issues like fleas, ticks and mites or something much bigger like a tumor or growth. The faster you detect the medical issue, the faster your adorable kitty can be back to normal!
Making your cat more comfortable with handling:
Cats are known to be more reserved when it comes to petting and touching, let’s just face it – most of them are straight-up sassy! If you are a cat owner that wants to have a social cat that is comfortable with handling, make sure to be consistently grooming your kitty. The more that they get used to getting picked up and examined, the gentler they will be in the future. It will even make your future vet trips easier! A small tip that might make grooming easier, is using a soft rubber comb with gentle strokes.
Strengthening your bond:
As a cat owner, you want to build a significant bond with your little fur buddy. There are ways to make grooming a time of relaxation instead of total dread. This is a great quality time to give them love and affection which will strengthen your bond! Just make sure not to force them into anything or try to intimidate them, doing that will result in negative results and a break in your bond. If anything, just try one minute of brushing a day and slowing increase the time and they learn to trust you!
Maddy Hughes
