Slightly greasy fur and over sensitivity!?

[Art's Girl]

Hi All - am stumped with Arthur's recent behavior so i wondered if anyone has experienced it?

Its not all the time - but he seems to get random periods of greasy fur. The weird thing is its the specific area down his spine. The greasiness might last a week and then it seems to clear of its own accord.
In conjunction with this the fur on his rear legs seems a little shorter and he's majorly oversensitive if you attempt to look at it.
He's always been sensitive on his back and rear legs but i've tried to get a clear view of his skin by fighting back the fur and he doesn't much like me poking about.
There is no obvious soreness, he's not scratching - so i'm just interested to know if anyone else has seen this?
I do brush him - although probably not as frequently as i should. I'm thinking maybe a bath might be a good start but having made only one prior attempt at this i don't want to attempt it again light-heartedly! Me and my bathroom got VERY wet last time!
As an aside - whats the best thing to bath him with shampoo wise?

Thank you all for anything you can offer
x

[jckkerrison]

Could just be when he has a coat change that he goes a bit greasy that would also account for his fur being shorter on his legs too,don't know why he should seem so sensitive all the while though that normally goes along with a skin irritation as well. You could try just putting some powder in his coat & brushing it out to try & absorb some of the grease,I always use grooming powder but a lot of people get on fine with talcum powder,I think I would use a baby powder though as it is fine & less scented, I tried ordinary bathroom powder once & I found it soo heavy it actually made it worse.If he will let you brush the coat up the wrong way after putting the powder in & then brush it back it will get right to the base of the coat for you.
Hopefully that will work & you won't have to put yourself & bathroom at risk again,if it normally comes right anyway I think I would try & avoid the big wash....x

[elsie_gilmour]

We use powder for our Ragdolls where they get a bit greasy/straggly fur on their ruffs and that works fine. However, MCs can get seriously greasy fur, the best thing for this that I have found thus far is Groomer's Goop. It's widely used on the show circuit for degreasing coats, but it does involve bathing!

As far as bathing goes, it does get easier, for both you and your feline fun factory! Good luck with the blow drying though, that's where I find the fireworks can really begin! LOL

I hope this helps, I'm afraid I have no advice to offer as to the sensitivity on the hind legs. Perhaps it's nothing more than he doesn't like to be touched there?

Luisa xx

[H&SWells]

my red boy hates being touched between his back legs and crys like a baby when i groom him there - i am in the process of trying to desensistise him by just stroking him between the legs when he lies next to me and just telling him he is 'such a good boy' . Does seem to be working , but very slowly and is taking a lot of patience on both sides!

[candes]

Ok you said he... Is perhaps your male being lazy at times? My narcoleptic male was always a bit lazy in the groomin dept. If that is the case, just brush him extra . Myself I rarely bath a cat. My cats, ( except Sasha) only got bathed once in each of their lives. (Well at least when it was my idea. )

Some cats are more sensitive to being touched in certain areas. Just slowly acclimate him to being used to it. Stretch the boundaries and amount of touch a tiny bit here and there. I can touch every one of my cats anywhere I like, and they love it!!