Groom and clean a cat or dog

Equipment-

• A variety of brushes (e.g. soft bristle, etc.).
• Some scissors and/or a seam ripper (sewing tool).
• An electric animal shaver/razor (optional).
• Detangling spray (optional).
• Animal tear stain remover (optional).
• Animal nail clippers.
• Some balls of cotton wool (optional).
• Some luke warm water.
• Animal shampoo (optional).
• A towel (optional).
• A hair dryer (optional).

Method-

1. Get your pet into a quiet spot and make sure they are relaxed and not agitated in anyway, if they are I suggest that you try grooming them on a day when they are relaxed.
2. If your pet has any matted fur or has something stuck in their fur, then use a brush, your fingers and some detangling spray to try and remove the knotted fur but if this is not possible you should try using some scissors or a seam ripper to gently and carefully remove the knots and if the fur is still matted after you have tried these two methods then you should use an electric animal shaver/razor to remove the matted and knotted fur but only use the electric animal shaver/razor if you know how to properly use one on animals.
3. Now that you have removed the tangled fur, you can use a medium, coarse animal brush to brush the large parts of the animals body and then use a soft bristle brush to brush small, sensitive areas such as around the animals face, ears, paws, tail, etc. If you find anymore difficult, matted knots on the animals body then use one of the techniques in step two to remove the tangled fur.
4. If your animal is dirty then bathe it in some animal shampoo and then dry them with a towel and/or hair dryer and then brush them again before continuing onward with step five.
5. You may now use the nail clippers to remove the animals nails if they are long, only use nail clippers if you know how to do so and have previously, successfully done so before, because it can be quite tricky. Put the animal on your lap, possibly on its back or on its side to make it easier for you, use the animal nail clippers to only clip the tip of each nail and never clip anywhere near the pink quick of the animals nails. For cats you only really need to clip the nails on the front paws but if your cats nails are really long then proceed to clip the back nails and for dogs usually all the nails need to be clipped. Try to clip the animals nails quickly but gently and carefully.
6. Now you can use some balls of cotton wool to remove any discharge from around the animals eyes, if you find it difficult to remove then dampen the balls of cotton wool in some luke warm water and then try removing the discharge from around the animals eyes.
7. Get the tear stain remover if your animal has tear stains around its face, especially near their eyes, mouth and nose, and dampen some balls of cotton wool with the animal tear stain remover and gently rub over and around the tear stain, especially near and around the animals eyes but do not put it close to or in their eyes, mouth, nose, etc. Now use some dry balls of cotton wool to lightly rub over any damp areas of the tear stain remover.
8. Now check inside your animals ears and use some balls of cotton wool that have been dampened in luke warm water and clean away any ear wax or ear mites, be extra gentle and don't use much water when dampening the balls of cotton wool.
9. You have now successfully groomed and cleaned your animal/pet.

 

Tips-

• Be gentle, careful and patient when grooming and cleaning your animal.
• Be especially careful with cats.
• If your animal does not like being groomed then try completing only one step of the method each day until you have fully completed the entire method.
• Do not use any of the tools or products used, if you do not know how to use them or have never used them before. Just get a professional animal groomer/cleaner to do it for you or show you how to and then supervise you whilst doing it.
• Groom and clean your animal regularly, especially if you have a long and thick haired animal.
• Be extra careful when grooming and cleaning sensitive areas of your animal, e.g. their face, paws, tail, etc.