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Pet Grooming: Mats, Tangles and Daily Maintenance

July 13, 2018 By [email protected]

One of the biggest problems I see pets owners face when it comes to grooming their pets has to be dealing with tangled coats of their long coated breeds. Given everybody’s busy schedule, what can we do? While I’m in no position to teach people how to manage their time (I think even the worst time managers are able to teach me a thing or two), I’m able to offer some advice on how to minimize the problem and make it less painful for you and your furry ones.

But what causes those tangles in the first place? Luckily, it’s not as mysterious as how earphones play boy scout knots in your pockets and there are only four factors:

  1. Moisture
  2. Pressure
  3. Dirt
  4. Friction

The one thing advertising is right about

Dog hair under microscope

I believe you’ve seen TV commercials for shampoos and hair treatment products and they’ll show you the difference between the damaged hair and healthy hair under the microscope. If you haven’t, imagine that our hairs are covered with fish scales, all pointing towards the tip (the fish head is at the scalp and the tail is the tip). So dog and human hair alike, when the hair shaft is exposed to the elements they will open up creating barbs and with a combination of the aforementioned factors, the coat sticks to each other, very much like Velcro fasteners.

Now recall the places where tangle usually forms on your pet:

  • Is it because it has not been dried thoroughly after the coat got wet (Moisture)? e.g. The overall body, feet, beard, paw pads.
  • Does it form on places where it has contact with resting surfaces (Pressure)? e.g. Neck, four legs.
  • Easily soiled areas (Dirt)? e.g. Beard, legs, between the legs.
  • Or does it occur on places where hair rubs against each other or against other objects often (Friction)?

Friction is everywhere this is usually the main culprit that brings all the factors together and makes it worse (it’s also the main reason why your earphones gets tangled in your bag). Therefore, it is imperative that your pet gets a good brush every other day to prevent mats from forming, paying extra attention to inside of the legs, armpits, behind the ears and neck. These are usually the areas where tangles form quickly, as well as areas we tend to neglect when grooming.

It’s too late…

So, if you are reading this but you pet is already in bad shape, what can you do?

Well, if it’s really in bad shape, please, have it groomed and use this opportunity to let you and your pet get accustomed to frequent grooming. More importantly, de-matting the pet is a very uncomfortable process. Always put humanity over vanity.

But if it’s only a 2-3 knots here and there, you could do the following:

  1. I would suggest getting a bottle of de-tangling spray from your pet store.
  2. Spray the matted areas and let it sit for half an hour.
  3. Try to loosen the mat with your fingers, separating it in all directions.
  4. Use a slicker brush and brush in all directions. Use small strokes to minimize damage to the hair and skin.
  5. It’s going to take a while, so be patient.
  6. Prevention is better than cure. Brush your pet every other day.

Maintenance

With the proper technique, your pet can maintain the look straight of a magazine every day. It’s not that difficult!

What you’ll need:

  1. Brushes (Pin brush for long coats >8cm. Slicker brush for coats between 1-8cm. Any shorter, use a grooming glove or curry brush and that’s all you need.)
  2. Metal comb (Choose a medium to wide toothed)
  3. Spray bottle filled with water (If you feel you pet deserves better, get a grooming spray preferably something lightly scented or fragrance free. I use Fabulous Grooming Spray from #1 All Systems. If your pet is suffering from skin problems, you can add a little of Zymox enzymatic rinse or Rejuvenating Bath from Chitocure into filtered/distilled water and use it as a grooming spray.)

The how:

  1. Lightly spritz the coat. Making the coat slightly damp will help reduce static and friction while brushing.
  2. Using one hand to control their limbs and body, hold the brush with the other hand. If you’re using a slicker brush, make sure the face of the brush is parallel to the skin to minimize abrasion. If your pet struggles, make sure you communicate what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Reward and reprimand accordingly.
  3. Brush against the lay of the coat, using short bouncy strokes, rather than one long pull. This will help reduce friction and prevent you from using too much force. The section of the coat is completed when you feel no resistance from the brush.
  4. Note that you should brush the coat layer by layer, using your hand to hold down part of the coat and only moving on when one section is completed. This ensures that the whole body and full length of the hair is covered.
  5. If you find a sizeable mat, follow the aforementioned instructions.
  6. Finally, go through the whole body with the metal comb. If the comb gets stuck (Girls would get this. Hurts doesn’t it?), comb out the tangle, then check with the comb again.
  7. You’re done and great job.

Well the whole thing sounds long because I want to get into the details of it. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll do everything like it’s second nature. Besides, it’s just brushing. It’s really not that hard.

Anyways, I’ll try to do a instructional video soon. It’s tough visualizing instructions like these isn’t it? Everybody has their own interpretation right?

So if you have any tips, questions or thoughts, do leave me a comment below!

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Cat Grooming, Dog Articles, Dog Grooming, Pet Articles Tagged With: brushing, daily, dogs, grooming, instructions, maintenance, mats, pet care, pets, tangles, the grooming table

Pet Grooming: Mats, Tangles and Daily Maintenance

July 11, 2018 By Sunny Lim

 

One of the biggest problems I see pets owners face when it comes to grooming their pets has to be dealing with tangled coats of their long coated breeds. Given everybody’s busy schedule, what can we do? While I’m in no position to teach people how to manage their time (I think even the worst time managers are able to teach me a thing or two), I’m able to offer some advice on how to minimize the problem and make it less painful for you and your furry ones.

But what causes those tangles in the first place? Luckily, it’s not as mysterious as how earphones play boy scout knots in your pockets and there are only four factors:

  1. Moisture
  2. Pressure
  3. Dirt
  4. Friction

The one thing advertising is right about

dog hair under microscope

I believe you’ve seen TV commercials for shampoos and hair treatment products and they’ll show you the difference between the damaged hair and healthy hair under the microscope. If you haven’t, imagine that our hairs are covered with fish scales, all pointing towards the tip (the fish head is at the scalp and the tail is the tip). So dog and human hair alike, when the hair shaft is exposed to the elements they will open up creating barbs and with a combination of the aforementioned factors, the coat sticks to each other, very much like Velcro fasteners.

Now recall the places where tangle usually forms on your pet:

  • Is it because it has not been dried thoroughly after the coat got wet (Moisture)? e.g. The overall body, feet, beard, paw pads.
  • Does it form on places where it has contact with resting surfaces (Pressure)? e.g. Neck, four legs.
  • Easily soiled areas (Dirt)? e.g. Beard, legs, between the legs.
  • Or does it occur on places where hair rubs against each other or against other objects often (Friction)?

Friction is everywhere this is usually the main culprit that brings all the factors together and makes it worse (it’s also the main reason why your earphones gets tangled in your bag). Therefore, it is imperative that your pet gets a good brush every other day to prevent mats from forming, paying extra attention to inside of the legs, armpits, behind the ears and neck. These are usually the areas where tangles form quickly, as well as areas we tend to neglect when grooming.

It’s too late…

So, if you are reading this but you pet is already in bad shape, what can you do?

Well, if it’s really in bad shape, please, have it groomed and use this opportunity to let you and your pet get accustomed to frequent grooming. More importantly, de-matting the pet is a very uncomfortable process. Always put humanity over vanity.

But if it’s only a 2-3 knots here and there, you could do the following:

  1. I would suggest getting a bottle of de-tangling spray from your pet store.
  2. Spray the matted areas and let it sit for half an hour.
  3. Try to loosen the mat with your fingers, separating it in all directions.
  4. Use a slicker brush and brush in all directions. Use small strokes to minimize damage to the hair and skin.
  5. It’s going to take a while, so be patient.
  6. Prevention is better than cure. Brush your pet every other day.

Maintenance

With the proper technique, your pet can maintain the look straight of a magazine every day. It’s not that difficult!

What you’ll need:

  1. Brushes (Pin brush for long coats >8cm. Slicker brush for coats between 1-8cm. Any shorter, use a grooming glove or curry brush and that’s all you need.)
  2. Metal comb (Choose a medium to wide toothed)
  3. Spray bottle filled with water (If you feel you pet deserves better, get a grooming spray preferably something lightly scented or fragrance free. I use Fabulous Grooming Spray from #1 All Systems. If your pet is suffering from skin problems, you can add a little of Zymox enzymatic rinse or Rejuvenating Bath from Chitocure into filtered/distilled water and use it as a grooming spray.)

The how:

  1. Lightly spritz the coat. Making the coat slightly damp will help reduce static and friction while brushing.
  2. Using one hand to control their limbs and body, hold the brush with the other hand. If you’re using a slicker brush, make sure the face of the brush is parallel to the skin to minimize abrasion. If your pet struggles, make sure you communicate what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Reward and reprimand accordingly.
  3. Brush against the lay of the coat, using short bouncy strokes, rather than one long pull. This will help reduce friction and prevent you from using too much force. The section of the coat is completed when you feel no resistance from the brush.
  4. Note that you should brush the coat layer by layer, using your hand to hold down part of the coat and only moving on when one section is completed. This ensures that the whole body and full length of the hair is covered.
  5. If you find a sizeable mat, follow the aforementioned instructions.
  6. Finally, go through the whole body with the metal comb. If the comb gets stuck (Girls would get this. Hurts doesn’t it?), comb out the tangle, then check with the comb again.
  7. You’re done and great job.

Well the whole thing sounds long because I want to get into the details of it. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll do everything like it’s second nature. Besides, it’s just brushing. It’s really not that hard.

Anyways, I’ll try to do a instructional video soon. It’s tough visualizing instructions like these isn’t it? Everybody has their own interpretation right?

So if you have any tips, questions or thoughts, do leave me a comment below!

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Cat Grooming, Dog Articles, Dog Grooming, Pet Articles Tagged With: brushing, daily, dogs, grooming, instructions, maintenance, mats, pet care, pets, tangles, the grooming table

How to remove urine odors naturally and effectively

August 23, 2013 By [email protected]

 

How to remove urine smells

If you’re unlucky enough to have your pet pee on upholstery and carpets, you’d realize that as much as you try to blot or
wash the fabric, you could never seem to remove the smell and even if you think you did, you’d still find your pet going back to pee at the same spot, even on easy to clean hard floors! The only thing I hate about their acute sense of smell.

And I hate that their skin seems to allergic to everything

You can try bleach, Dettol, Febreze for all you want, but it’s not going to do a thorough job and worse still the chemicals used might cause adverse skin reactions in pets with sensitive skin. On a side note, most pets are sensitive to synthetic phenols in detergents and disinfectants so if there’s a need to use surfactants on the floor, add a little dish soap into the water used for mopping the floor and mop as usual. Following that, add around 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a fresh pail of water and mop the floor again. This will neutralize the soap and at the same time deodorizing and disinfecting the floor as well!

Instructions:

  1. If the accident is on your your bed, carpet or sofa, first try to blot the fresh stain with dry cloth and continue until you’ve removed as much of the stain as possible.
  2. What I like to do with soiled fabric is to wash it with normal soap first. From experience, skipping this step and going straight to deodorizing agents wouldn’t work quite as well. Mix dish soap with water into a spray bottle and try this mixture on an inconspicuous area to make sure the fabric is colorfast. If the color doesn’t run, spray on the stained area and blot it up again. Do it a few times.
  3. All purpose enzyme cleaners, found in organic stores are usually great in removing smells. You can spray onto the stain and leave it to dry. Enzyme cleaners are also usually safe on fabrics, but as a general precaution, it’s always good to spot test. If your pet goes back to pee at the same spot, repeat steps 1 & 2, and proceed to step 4.
  4. Mix a solution of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda and again do a spot test first. Then spray onto the stain and let it do its work. The mixture works with the urine and releases oxygen which cleans and deodorizes, works very much like Vanish Power O2.
  5. When the surface has dried, you may want to spray a diluted solution of white vinegar to neutralize any leftover alkali and odor.
  6. With hard floors, it’s much easier as you’d only need to wipe up the stain and spray with deodorizing agents like Enzymatic cleaner, Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda mix or vinegar and leave it to dry. However, if you’re using a cloth to wipe up the stain, remember to soak the cloth with any deodorizing agents afterwards.

*Warning* 

Whatever you do, don’t be Kiasu and add whatever you can find together thinking that it’ll give it extra cleaning boost. Combining Hydrogen Peroxide and vinegar in particular produces a strong oxidizing agent known as Peracetic acid and produces toxic fumes which is harmful to the lungs with long term exposure. However, spritzing one after the next would not produce any harmful byproducts. Chemistry.

Here you go, no need to be spending $15 on a small bottle ‘urine odor removal’ or whatever from pet shops. Let me know how it’s working for you and leave me a comment if you have any questions!

Filed Under: Cat Articles, Dog Articles, Pet Articles, Tips Tagged With: cleaning, pet care, urine odor

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