As beloved members of homes, pets deserve a lot of love, care, and attention. Additionally, a key responsibility that comes with being a pet parent is grooming the pets. This doesn’t mean dressing them up in fancy bows and collars. Rather, grooming is the simple yet continuous practice of keeping pets clean and healthy by regularly brushing and trimming their fur, clipping their nails, and caring for their overall hygiene.
Importance of pet grooming
One of the biggest benefits of pet fur grooming is that it helps eliminate fleas and ticks, reduce shedding, and prevent certain health conditions. Irrespective of whether one chooses to groom their pet’s fur at home or hire a professional for the job, the act of grooming helps one identify any underlying health conditions early. This is because while grooming, one can check for signs of infection and any lumps, inflammation, lesions, and rashes on the pet’s coat.
Grooming also keeps a pet’s fur clean. As a pet cannot jump into the shower to rinse the dust and grime off its body, the pet parent becomes responsible for ensuring that the fur coat is clean. The brushing process also helps avoid matting (tangled clumps of fur), which can become a source of great pain, abrasions, and ulcers for the pet.
Common grooming mistakes
Shaving the pet in summers
While this may seem like a good way to give pets some respite from the summer heat, shaving all the fur off can do more harm than good. Most animals have thick coats for a reason and use them to regulate their body temperature in all kinds of weather. So, trying to shave the coats can make them more prone to sunburn and sunstroke. It can also cause damage to their hair follicles, resulting in poor growth, patchiness, and a lack of shine when the hair grows back.
Washing the inner ears
Just like humans, dogs and cats have extremely sensitive ear canals. When bathing them, it is best to keep any liquids away from the inside of their ears, as the moisture could get trapped there and allow bacteria to grow. Over time, this can increase the risk of infections and also cause inflammation, swelling, or discomfort.
Brushing while the coat is wet
Before using a brush to remove dirt from the pet’s coat, pet parents must ensure the coat is dry. Wet hair tends to clump together, making it more difficult to brush. So, brushing the wet coat can lead to a lot of hair tugging, making it painful for the pet. This may also worsen matting and knots.
Bathing pets too frequently
Everyone wants their pets to smell nice and clean. As a result, people often make the mistake of bathing their pets too frequently. This can damage their coats by stripping them of their natural oils and proteins. Generally, it is safe to bathe them once a month or as often as the vet says.
To make fur grooming easier, one can also take their cats and dogs to PetSmart’s Grooming Salon, which offers carefully curated services for every pet’s needs. Its pet fur grooming services include bathing, brushing, full haircuts, special puppy and kitten care, and de-shedding.
Pet grooming tips and tricks
Grooming a pet’s fur can seem like a lot of work, but certain tips and tricks can make the process much easier.
Know when to groom
Every pet has different grooming needs, and understanding these unique requirements can make pet care easier.
- For dogs with a short, smooth, or wiry coat, a once-a-week brushing routine is ideal. The best grooming method here would be using a rubber-bristled brush to distribute the skin oils throughout the fur. Monthly baths should also be a part of their cleaning routine.
- Dogs with long, silky, or curly coats need to be brushed once a day with a rubber-bristled or wide-slicker brush. If there are a lot of tangles or debris, one can use a steel comb. These dogs can also be given a full grooming session (bath and haircut) every four to eight weeks.
- Double-coat dogs should be brushed daily. Their de-shedding should be done once a week with an undercoat rake or de-shedding tool.
Follow the right order
It is important to brush and comb the pet’s fur before bathing them. This allows the shampoo molecules to percolate to the skin easily, enabling a thorough cleanup.
Avoid exposure to extreme temperatures
It is best to use lukewarm water to bathe pets, as their skin is more sensitive to hot and cold temperatures. Additionally, one should not use a human hair dryer to dry the fur, as the heat could burn pets’ skin. Instead, one can rely on towels, drying mitts, or a specially-made dog dryer or let them dry off naturally.
Invest in the right tools
A grooming table to make it easier to take care of the pet’s needs. Not only does this keep them in place, but it also reduces the strain on one’s back. If buying a table isn’t possible, one can consider adding a rubber mat to the cleaning surface, as it will encourage the pets to keep standing.
