# Greasy fur (w/pic)



## Oriole

My latest foster kitty is a beautiful, 1-year old semi long-haired cat who seems to have a problem with greasy fur. I am not sure how else to describe it, I have posted a picture below (click on it to see full pic) and as you can see it looks as if the fur is in wet clumps. 

Brushing does not help. I gave him a bath when he arrived but that helped only for a couple of days. His diet the same as it is for my own cats and his health is ok according to the vet. 

He has been with me for almost 3 months now and though there is slight improvement, I am trying to figure out a way to make him look nice & fluffy so that when I start looking for a home, his looks stand out from all the other kitties  He is very friendly, but also very timid in the beginning so he could really use his looks to win over his future owner ;-)

Ideas or similar experiences?


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## doodlebug

Has he been to the vet and had a full blood work up...because that looks like the fur of a cat that's ill.


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## laurief

It looks to me like any or all of several things may be contributing to his coat quality. First, is he shedding his undercoat? Clumping of shedding hair can cause that appearance. Second, a lower quality diet can cause poor coat quality. Thirdly, dehydration can cause the coat to become greasy and clumpy. If you're feeding him kibble, I recommend you switch to exclusively canned food for him, and mix water into his canned food to make it a "soup" that he can lap up. That'll increase his hydration and should help with his coat.

If he were an older cat, I'd recommend having his thyroid tested, but it would be rare for such a young cat to have hyperthyroidism.

Laurie


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## Carmel

Could it maybe just be the length of the coat or that it's really silky or something? Some longer haired cats with particular coat types may end up looking a little odd.

Maybe some kind of gland problem? Is he grooming often?

What food are you feeding? A grain free wet food may make a difference. Maybe try a raw egg yolk once a week?


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## Oriole

doodlebug said:


> Has he been to the vet and had a full blood work up...because that looks like the fur of a cat that's ill.



He has been to the vet but without the blood work. However, he has not been exhibiting any signs of illness in the 3 months he has been with me - he is a typical rambunctious adolescent kitty with no abnormal behaviors.


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## LeeLuMonster

I don't know if you have the original blue Dawn Dish soap out there? I would bathe him in that,let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse really really well. If that helps then maybe the coat was just really dirty from where ever he was before? If the coat goes back to greasy right away (like you said it did when you bathed the first time) then I would get bloodwork done to rule out anything! And I agree with getting him off dry food!!


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## Oriole

Sorry, for some reason I did not see the other replies. As to food - he is eating canned wet food right now. Shedding - no, he is not shedding, in fact almost nothing at all (which makes me believe he might be younger than 1 year). No blue Dawn Dish soap, but I'm thinking that I might give him a bath in the regular kitty shampoo I use and see what happens.


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## RascalDog

Maine Coons tend to have oily coats especially when they are young. We bathed Dixie, our 2 year old, several times for the first year we had her. Now her coat looks great without the baths. Wile E is another story but he is just 17 months old. His coat is still oily but we haven't bathed him in several months, waiting for warmer weather.

I'm not sure about other breeds but if your kitty is part MC, this may be normal.

Beautiful kitty BTW.


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## Mitts & Tess

Its been my limited experience, that cats with fur like that, indicate illness. Most of the time it has been kidney/liver issues when it feels greasy and separates like that. Do you know this kittys background? Where he was rescued from? Loosing weight fast or starving can affect their kidneys and liver. Blood work is in order for this handsome guy.


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## LeeLuMonster

If you have a dish soap that is a "grease fighting" dishsoap then it would work the same. You just need to dilute it with water scrub it in the coat, leave for a few mins, then rinse rinse rinse. My himmie can get pretty greasy and that has always worked. I also use a deep cleaning all natural shampoo and leave the shampoo on for at least 5 mins. Now that she gets bathed every 2-4weeks I don't have problems with the greasys, so I skip the dish soap step and just shampoo. good luck!


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## Oriole

Thanks everyone for the replies!

LeeLuMonster: he was born and lived in a building basement before he came to me. While he did not have an excellent diet/lifestyle, he was not starved as there was an old lady who looked after them.

RascalDog: he does have a slight resemblance to MC, doesn't he? But it's difficult to know for sure as always with strays :wink:

Will try the diluted dish soap bathing, if that doesn't work, then we'll see about the blood work.


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## Oriole

Also, here is a more recent picture (click for more) of him torturing my 2 year old Mikey  You can see the slight improvement in the fur texture, but the greasiness is still there (more around the neck area).


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## Leazie

My Molly has very greasy fur. She has fairly severe asthma, so I think that is the cause of hers. There's nothing worse than trying to pet the greasy cat is there?

Hope your kitty becomes grease free.


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## lyttleravyn

Cats are greasy. Some more than others. Regular bath and blow dry's will keep it under control. What did you use to bathe him before? I use a degreasing shampoo followed by a hypo-allergenic shampoo (both by les poochs, but as long as it says "safe for cats" on the side should be ok). Then a full blow dry. If kitty was allowed to air dry, the hair just dries all clumped together. 

Please please please don't use Dawn or any dishsoap. They are not recommended for use on animals (even the company says they don't recommend it). It is used by rescuers in a life or death situation, because they found that a 10% solution of Dawn would remove the oil and was "gentle enough" - compared to the other options they tried like nail polish remover, paint thinner, etc. They were looking for something that was inexpensive and easily accessible. Dishsoap should never be used on animals in day to day life.


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## lyttleravyn

Here's a picture of a greasy cat I did the other day so you can see how the hair should look before and after a bath. CFA recommends the following schedule for bathing, but keep in mind that show cats are bathed usually weekly depending on their breed standard to keep them in optimum condition:
Short hair: 8-10 weeks
Medium hair: 6-8 weeks
Long hair: 4-6 weeks


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## RascalDog

Oriole said:


> RascalDog: he does have a slight resemblance to MC, doesn't he? But it's difficult to know for sure as always with strays :wink:


He does resemble a MC... the round wide set eyes, the big ears and bushy tail. He's a hansom guy.


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## Leazie

Nuclear groomer would you care to drive to West virginia to groom Molly? You do nice work.


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## lyttleravyn

Leazie said:


> Nuclear groomer would you care to drive to West virginia to groom Molly? You do nice work.


Thank you! If you PM me with your town I might be able to recommend a certified cat groomer closer to you - I know a number of groomers who attended the same cat grooming school as I did.


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## catloverami

I used to have a longhair Manx that had a coat that spiked like that, and she was getting a good diet, was very healthy, but her coat just tended to be on the greasy side. For a quickie freshening I would rub a wipe (not a baby wipe that could have oil in it), but one of those wipes that degrease the hands from KFC. Rub a couple of wipes all over and into the coat. Then take a _hot _well-rung out washcloth and rub over the coat to remove any traces of the wipes, rub with a clean towel that has not had fabric softener or dried with those static cloths. Fluff up the coat with a clean chrome grooming comb, and his coat should be fluffier and not spikey.


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## LilyC

I've got a Maine **** that has that greasy look under his belly, bib and behind his ears. During show baths, I massage a product called Groomers Goop (a degreaser) into the cat while he/she is dry, getting it down close to the skin as possible. Leave it in for a couple of minutes. Then bathe the cat normally using pet shampoo. Making sure you rinse, rinse and rinse. You can find the product on Amazon.


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## Mitts & Tess

Thanks for the tips NJ groomer.


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## partial2persians

I dont know any CFMG's in Latvia. but for the first couple weeks he needs a bath every 10 days for about 5 times in a row.....keep him clean from the skin down to the tips of his fur. Its just a phase, it should pass. go to a major pet store and find a shampoo that is a clarifying or hypoallergenic shampoo....(you want to buy one that says its a shampoo.....not a shampoo conditioner combination. wash 2-3 times each bath then blow dry. I see a fluffier, prettier cat in your future.


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## asrowley

Despite the greasy fur (even then because he looks a little wild) I would totally take him. I would use cat cleaning cloths in between baths. You can find them at pet stores and usually they are for cleaning up the fur a little, not an actual bath. He's a cutie though, I wants him!


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## Oriole

NJgroomer: that is a very nice change for the red cat, you can clearly see the difference!


LilyC: I’ll look into Groomers Goop stuff!


partial2persians: while I can bathe him (though he curses me all the way through), I think blow-drying might be out of the question, the poor thing will get a heart attack from fright 


asrowley: thanks for the tip on cat cleaning cloths – I will look for them either online or in local petstores. I agree that he is adorable (and very loving once he starts trusting you) – would you by any chance like to adopt a European kitty?


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## RascalDog

LilyC said:


> I've got a Maine **** that has that greasy look under his belly, bib and behind his ears. During show baths, I massage a product called Groomers Goop (a degreaser) into the cat while he/she is dry, getting it down close to the skin as possible. Leave it in for a couple of minutes. Then bathe the cat normally using pet shampoo. Making sure you rinse, rinse and rinse. You can find the product on Amazon.


We bathed Wile E this weekend and used Groomers Goop before shampooing. Wow, what a great product. Thanks so much for the tip. He is so soft and fluffy. It also seemed like it took less time to blow dry him.


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## saitenyo

You mentioned you feed canned but I'm not sure if you mentioned what canned it is? (sorry if you did and I missed it)

When I got Athena she had very greasy fur. In her case she was very sensitive to the ingredients in her food. I put her on a half grain-free canned, half raw diet and that solved the problem (as well as a number of other health issues she was having). If the food you're feeding isn't grain-free you may want to give grain-free a shot and see if that helps. For a lot of cats that seems to be enough. In Athena's case it wasn't and she really needed the raw.


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