An Ode to Hairballs
Oh, fluffy kitties you are so nice
Your fur coat would keep you warm in ice
But since we live in more temperate climes
You’re always shedding all the time
What do you think? Am I the next William Carlos Williams? No? I didn’t think so either.
But I am a good cat mommy who brushes her little treasures *almost* every day. At least every other day. That has got to be acceptable. It is enough to keep them from developing matts on their fluffy behinds (a lesson I learned the hard way) so I feel like I am doing a good enough job.
In addition to their regular brushings with the slicker brush, they get attacked with the FURminator once a week (as per the official FURminator instructions). Now you would think that since they are getting brushed out pretty often, their weekly FURminator sessions would not be a big deal. I would think so.
And then here is what I wound up with after this weekend’s groom-a-thon:
From Sally 
From Anabel
Yikes, right?
I probably could have gotten more but official FURminator instructions are very explicit about not over grooming with the tool because it could cause skin irritation.
Now, in spite of all of this brushing, someone (Sally, I’m looking at you) still gets hairballs! Don’t think that I didn’t want to take a picture of the latest one to share with you, but Mr. Man assures me that hairballs are gross and no one wants to see that.
Their favorite grooming implement are the gloves with the silicon nubbles on them. Anabel will actually come up to me when I bust these guys out. They are nice to work with because you can grab the cat with one hand and groom with the other. You can also get all sorts of places that are tricky with a brush. She really just wants her chin scratched, but she doesn’t mind when I get after her tummy and her arm pits as much as she does with the brush.
I suppose all this grooming is the price that one must pay to have happy, fluffy kitties around. It is a small price to pay. I can’t say that I do a very good job, judging by the state of my furniture but at least this is one of those things that just doing it is almost good enough. Boy, I’ll tell you what though, they sure do feel and look nice once we’re done.
The kitties always groom themselves
They do not think they need my help
But when a hairball I find
We all know it’s brushing time