Haggred's Love/Hate Relationship with Grooming

We have 2 long haired cats:  Sidewinder and Haggred.  Sidewinder is always impeccably groomed, never a knot or mat found on her!  If she needs assistance removing a burdock or other thorny item from her fur, she will begrudgingly come to us for help.

Haggred is another story.  Being a stray for the first part of his life, apparently grooming wasn't as important to him.  We have had him for over 2 years now, and every time I bring out the comb he's still very wary.

For the longest time, the only part he would allow me to comb was his "mustache" and maybe, if he was in a good mood, his mane.  After a while, he would let me groom his back as long as I let him beat up the comb afterwards. 

Now, I always start a grooming session letting him sniff the comb.  I start with his face, mustache, mane, top of his head.  He'll start purring and drooling, so I know he's comfortable with this part.  Haggred becomes a little wary when I start on his back.  As long as I take only a couple of runs through it and then go back to his mustache, he's fine.  He doesn't start to get cranky until I start on his sides, tail or butt.  Unfortunately, these are the areas that generally require the most attention.  He will allow me to get a mat out only so far, then pulls it out himself.

Grooming a long haired cat who is not accustomed to it takes a lot of patience.  Forcing it will only make the next time that much harder, because cats do remember such things.  With Haggred, taking the grooming problem at his own pace has taken years, but we are getting there.  I have tried to make the grooming sessions at the same time every day, so he knows when to expect it.  He has responded very well, even to jump up on his perch several minutes before as if to say "I'm waiting - what's taking you so long?" 

We still have to hold him down to remove burdocks, but at least Haggred makes a point of showing me that he has them now.  He'll hiss and jump down as soon as he's released, the jump right back up again waiting for his mustache to be combed.  Go figure!

Haggred Has Lost His Dog

About 6 months after we adopted Haggred, we adopted an older Lab/Husky mix from the same shelter.  This poor dog was afraid of everything and everyone, and seemed to have forgotten how to play.

Haggred decided that he was going to adopt Nikki, as she was named.  He would bring in live mice and moles to watch her play with them.  When I would bring Nikki for a walk, Haggred would come along as well.  I'll tell you, the looks I got from the neighbors from walking a cat and a dog at the same time were quite incredulous. 

Nikki passed away from congestive heart failure one Sunday morning.  Haggred went over and sniffed her, rubbed up against her, then disappeared outside.  He came back in shortly with a flying squirrel he had killed and dropped it as close to her as he could get. 

It was a very touching scene.  Haggred lives on, still bringing us all kinds of local wildlife as gifts, but Nikki is very much missed.