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Cat Grooming by Breed

Why a cat that grooms itself can still be matted to the skin

Cats of many breeds and coat types being groomed

Most cats need less grooming than most dogs, and the ones that need it need it badly. A British Shorthair is a weekly brush. A Persian mats to the skin without daily combing, and a hairless cat needs bathing every week or two, because skin with no coat has nothing to move its oil along.

A cat that grooms itself meticulously can still be pelted underneath, because the places it cannot reach are exactly the places that mat. That is the part most grooming advice leaves out.

The coat types are shared with dogs. A Persian and a Maltese have the same silky coat and the same problem, a Maine Coon and a Golden Retriever carry the same double coat and the same warning against clipping it, and a Devon Rex and a Poodle both have a curl.

The groups sort cats by coat and build rather than by job, because no registry groups cats by what they were bred to do.

Every Cat Breed, A to Z

69 breeds, page 1 of 3

An Abyssinian, a short ticked coat that needs almost nothing

Abyssinian

A ticked coat that needs almost nothing, on a cat that would not sit still for it anyway

Abyssinian
An American Bobtail, a third tail gene with no health problems attached

American Bobtail

A short tail from a third gene, with no spinal disease and a shaggy coat

American Bobtail
An American Curl, whose backward curling ears have rigid cartilage

American Curl

Backward curling ears with rigid cartilage, and none of the Scottish Fold's skeletal disease

American Curl
An American Shorthair, a hard working coat that asks for almost nothing

American Shorthair

The working cat that became a breed, and one of the least demanding coats there is

American Shorthair
An American Wirehair, the only cat carrying a genuinely wire coat

American Wirehair

The only cat in the world with a genuinely wire coat, and the one you must not brush

American Wirehair
An Australian Mist, a spotted coat under a misted ticked overlay

Australian Mist

Australia's first breed, developed deliberately to be a contented indoor cat

Australian Mist
A Balinese, a longhaired Siamese with no undercoat to mat

Balinese

A longhaired Siamese with no undercoat, so the coat lies flat and barely mats

Balinese
A Bambino, hairless skin that needs washing on legs that cannot reach it

Bambino

Hairless skin that needs washing, on legs that cannot reach half of it

Bambino
A Bengal showing the short pelted coat that barely needs work

Bengal

Almost no coat work, and all the difficulty in the handling

Bengal
A Birman, a silky coat with almost no undercoat

Birman

A long coat with almost no undercoat, which makes it the easiest longhair there is

Birman
A Bombay, a patent leather coat and a cat heavier than it looks

Bombay

A patent leather coat on a cat heavier than it looks, and a color that hides everything

Bombay
A British Longhair, the same plush coat at a length that mats

British Longhair

A British Shorthair with a semi long coat, which changes the work completely

British Longhair
A British Shorthair, a dense plush coat that sheds heavily and rarely mats

British Shorthair

A short coat that is denser than most long ones, and sheds accordingly

British Shorthair
A Burmese, a satin coat over a cat far heavier than it looks

Burmese

A satin coat over a cat considerably heavier than it looks, and two head types worth telling apart

Burmese
A Burmilla, a silver tipped coat from an accidental mating

Burmilla

A silver tipped coat that came from one accidental mating in 1981

Burmilla
A Chantilly Tiffany, a longhaired cat with no undercoat, so it barely mats

Chantilly Tiffany

A long silky coat with no undercoat, so it barely mats at all

Chantilly Tiffany
A Chartreux, a woolly blue coat that mats where a Russian Blue does not

Chartreux

A woolly blue coat that breaks and mats, where the other blue cat does neither

Chartreux
A Chausie, a genuine jungle cat hybrid with real caveats attached

Chausie

A genuine jungle cat hybrid, with the legal and dietary caveats the others do not carry

Chausie
A Colorpoint Shorthair, a Siamese in the colors Siamese do not come in

Colorpoint Shorthair

A Siamese in sixteen colors the Siamese standard does not allow, and the same easy coat

Colorpoint Shorthair
A Cornish Rex, undercoat only and no guard hairs at all

Cornish Rex

The only cat coat with no guard hairs at all

Cornish Rex
A Cymric, the longhaired Manx, with the same rear to handle carefully

Cymric

A longhaired Manx, with a heavy double coat over a rear that needs careful handling

Cymric
A Devon Rex, a curl on a cat and a coat too fragile to brush hard

Devon Rex

A curl on a cat, and a coat too fragile to brush the way you would a dog

Devon Rex
A Donskoy, hairless from a dominant gene rather than the Sphynx recessive

Donskoy

Hairless from a DOMINANT gene, so some are born coated and lose it later

Donskoy
An Egyptian Mau, the only naturally spotted domestic cat

Egyptian Mau

The only naturally spotted domestic cat, with the spots on the skin as well

Egyptian Mau

Cat Coat Types

The coat decides the work: what tools it takes, how often, and what a groomer will and will not do to it. These pages cover dogs and cats together, because the coats really are the same.

A Siberian Husky and a Maine Coon, both carrying the dense undercoat that defines a double coat

Double Coat

Never clip · High matting risk

A soft dense undercoat under a coarser weather-resistant top coat. Huskies, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats.

Grooming a Double Coat
A Poodle and a Devon Rex, tight curl and soft wave, both coats that trap shed hair instead of dropping it

Curly Coat

Clips safely · Severe matting risk

Tight curls or a soft wool texture that traps shed hair instead of dropping it. Poodles, Bichons, doodle crosses, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex and Selkirk Rex.

Grooming a Curly Coat
A Miniature Schnauzer and a wire haired terrier showing the harsh jacket a wire coat is stripped to keep

Wire Coat

Strip rather than clip · Moderate matting risk

A harsh bristly jacket over a soft undercoat. Most terriers, Schnauzers, Brussels Griffons, the wire Dachshund and the American Wirehair cat.

Grooming a Wire Coat
A Maltese and a Persian, long fine coats that keep growing rather than shedding out

Silky Coat

Clips safely · High matting risk

Long fine hair with little or no undercoat that keeps growing rather than shedding out. Yorkshire Terriers, Maltese, Shih Tzus, Afghan Hounds, Persians and Turkish Angoras.

Grooming a Silky Coat
A Beagle and a Bengal, short flat coats where shedding is the issue and matting never is

Smooth Coat

Clips safely · Low matting risk

Short hair lying flat against the body with little or no undercoat. Beagles, Boxers, Vizslas, Bengals, Siamese and British Shorthairs.

Grooming a Smooth Coat
A Sphynx and a Chinese Crested, skin care rather than coat care

Hairless

No coat to clip · Low matting risk

No functional coat at all. Sphynx, Peterbald, Chinese Crested and the Xoloitzcuintli.

Grooming a Hairless

Cat Breed Groups

Sorted by coat and build, because no registry groups cats by the job they were bred for.

A Persian, a Maine Coon and a Ragdoll, the cats that genuinely need a professional groomer

Longhaired Cats

Persians, Maine Coons, Ragdolls and the other full-coated breeds.

Longhair
A British, an American and an Exotic Shorthair, dense plush coats that shed heavily and rarely mat

Shorthaired Cats

British, American and Exotic Shorthairs and the domestic short coat.

Shorthair
A Sphynx, a Devon Rex and a Cornish Rex, skin care rather than coat care

Rex and Hairless Cats

Sphynx, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Peterbald and the other coat mutations.

Rex and Hairless
A Bengal and a Savannah, short pelted coats where handling is the real skill

Hybrid and Wildcat-Descended Cats

Bengals, Savannahs, Chausies and other breeds with recent wild ancestry.

Hybrids
A Siamese, an Oriental Shorthair and a Burmese, fine close coats over a lean frame

Oriental and Asian Cats

Siamese, Oriental Shorthair, Burmese, Tonkinese and the Balinese.

Oriental

Why Cat Size Does Not Change the Groom

Cats have no size index here. Outside the genuine outliers the practical difference between a nine pound cat and a fourteen pound one is close to nothing: the same table, the same equipment, the same appointment. What changes a cat groom is the coat and the temperament.

The one place weight does matter is indirect: a heavy cat cannot reach its own back, sides and base of tail, and the areas it stops reaching are exactly the ones that mat. That is a coat problem with a weight cause, and it is covered on the silky coat and double coat pages.

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