Cat Grooming
We offer a grooming service for cats under sedation at McMaster and Heap Veterinary Practice. Patients are admitted for the day and we can brush out, clipout knots or do a lion groom. Nails can also be clipped.
If you want other small procedures like ear cleaning, blood and urine testing, lump checks etc, these can also be performed at the same time.
Grooming in cats is an important daily part of preventative healthcare and overall wellbeing. As cats age, their ability to groom effectively decreases leading to large matts that can be painful and are a good hiding place for fleas. They can also get dermatitis and infected skin lesions.
Overweight and arthritic cats also struggle to groom themselves. Many breeds of long haired cats just can’t keep up with the amount of hair shed. Some cats will allow their owners to groom them awake, but many cats won’t have a bar of it.
If your cat gets “ stressed” and anxious in a clinic environment we can administer Gabapentin, which is a medication to chill and calm your feline pets, before the sedation is administered.
We encourage owners to introduce brushing gradually and positively (treat rewards) so as to improve tolerance to this and to strengthen the human/animal bond.