How important is grooming?

How important is grooming to your pet's comfort? Consider a simple mat, so easy to be overlook. A mat will feel like a constant pull on the skin. Try to imagine those all over your body, and you have a good idea how uncomfortable an ungroomed coat can be.

Your dog need never know what a mat feels like if you keep him brushed and combed -- but that's just the start of the health benefits. Regular grooming allows you to look for lumps, bumps and injuries, while clearing such things as tangles and ticks from his coat. 

• For shorthaired breeds, keeping skin and coat in good shape is easy. Run your hands over him daily, a brush over him weekly.

• For other breeds, grooming is a little more involved. Breeds such as Collies, Chows, and Alaskan Malamutes are "double-coated," which means they have a downy undercoat underneath harsher long hair. The down can mat like a layer of felt against the skin if left untended. To prevent this, divide the coat into small sections and brush against the grain from the skin outward, working from head to tail, section by section. A tip: Yes, you can keep these long-haired dogs clipped short to keep grooming easier -- and you'll be rewarded with a dog who sheds the least of all, owing to the longer grow-and-shed cycle of long hair. 

• Silky-coated dogs such as Afghan hounds, Cockers and Maltese also need constant brushing to keep tangles from forming. As with the double-coated dogs, work with small sections at a time, brushing from the skin outward, and then comb back into place with the grain for a glossy, finished look. Coats of this type require so much attention that having the groomer keep the dogs trimmed to a medium length is often more practical.

• Curly and wiry coats, such as those on poodles and terriers, need to be brushed weekly, working against the grain and then with it. Curly coats need to be clipped every six weeks; wiry ones, two or three times a year. (But clipping every six weeks will keep your terrier looking sharper.) 

Good grooming is about more than keeping your pet looking beautiful and clean-smelling, Regular grooming relaxes the dog who's used to it, and it becomes a special time shared between you both. A coat free of mats, burrs and tangles, and skin free of fleas and ticks, are as comfortable to your dog as clean clothes fresh from the wash are to you. It just makes you feel good, and the effect is the same for your pet.

Grooming your cat on a regular basis will reduce the amount of hair that ends up on your clothes and throughout the house, both as shed hair and hair balls. It'll also help allergy sufferers to better tolerate sharing their lives with cats, especially if you add a weekly bath to your cat's regular routine. And if you make nail clipping part of the grooming regimen, you'll see less destructive clawing around the house.

• Your cat will benefit too. Keeping your cat well-groomed will help you spot health problems before they become serious. Is your cat's coat thinning? Is his weight where it should be? Are there wounds, lumps or bumps? When done gently and with a positive approach, grooming will also help strengthen the bond between you and your pet. 

• The amount of time you'll spend grooming your cat depends on a couple of factors, primarily the kind of coat your cat has. With their long, silky coats, Persians and Himalayans need daily brushing, combing, detangling, frequent baths and even professional grooming on occasion. You may bring your cat into the office and we can do a lion cut for those cats that need it.

• Cats with medium or short coats are fine with weekly brushing and a bath now and then -- more frequently if you have allergy sufferers in the home or if you're especially sensitive to finding hair everywhere.