Breed with Love and Passion
Grooming your cat can be very beneficial as it removes grease, dead skin, and dirt from her coat. It also helps with promoting blood circulation and overall condition of her coat. We recommend grooming your kitty once or twice per week to keep their coat healthy and glow. As your cat grows older, you will want to increase the frequency as they become less willing to groom on their own. .
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Check your cat’s coat condition before grooming. Healthy hair will have a natural gloss and you would be able to spring back the hair under your hand. Watch out for any bald patches, wounds, signs of ticks and fleas and unusual bumps.
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Indoor long hair cats need grooming every couple days as they shed all over the year. This will help remove dead hair and prevent tangling. You can start on the legs or abdomen, brushing the fur towards upper body. Comb the neck fur upward, toward her chin. Make a part down the middle of her tail and gently brush out the fur on either side. You can sprinkle talcum powder over knots and gently use your fingers to tease them apart. If the knots don’t come out by hand, try using a mat-splitter.
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Keep an eye out for signs of flea or ticks, wounds, tangling, and bumps when you groom your cat. You can also take a look under your cat’s tail to see if any feces is attached. Remove it by snipping it with scissors. A rice-sized, tan object in your cat’s anus might be an indication of tapeworm.
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Grooming can significantly reduce hair tangles. If you are noticing your cat coughing out hairballs or the presence of hairballs in their feces, you might want to increase grooming frequency. Consult with a vet if the situation worsens even with frequent grooming.
While cats will groom themselves they still need bath if they get dirty. We recommend bathing your cats every two months or so even if they appear to be clean.
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Follow these steps when bath your cat.
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1: Brushing
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Before the bath, make sure to thoroughly brush your cat’s coat to remove all tangles or mats.
I recommend using the Chris Christensen #000 comb, or any wide-tooth comb that you feel comfortable with — but it must be a comb, not a slicker or fine-tooth brush. This step helps prevent knots from tightening during the bath.
2: Degreasing
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We use Goop Degreaser for this step.
When the coat is completely dry (do not wet it yet), start by applying a small amount of Goop at the base of the tail and gently massage it in. Then move along the back, rubbing evenly along the spine.
Next, apply to other greasy areas — this varies between cats, but common spots include:
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Base of the tail
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Behind the ears
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Under the chin and around the neck (especially if your cat tends to get food residue there)
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3: Emulsifying the Grease
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Since Goop is oil-based, it cannot be rinsed out with plain water.
You’ll need to “emulsify” it using a diluted pre-wash shampoo — we use Chris Christensen Prewash (or Clean Start as an alternative).
How to prepare:
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Pump 1-2 times into a small container
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Add 3–4 times the amount of warm water (around 105°F / 40°C)
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Pour this mixture directly over the areas where you applied Goop
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Gently massage to blend and lift the oil from the coat
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4:First Rinse
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Once you’ve massaged the prewash thoroughly, start rinsing.
Important: avoid using a showerhead sprayer — cats often find the spraying sound stressful.
Instead, use a gentle running stream of water. (If possible, remove the showerhead for a softer flow.)
At this stage, you don’t need to rinse completely clean — just remove most of the Goop.
5: Main Bath (Shampoo)
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Now the actual bath begins!
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Prepare a basin or tub with warm water, deep enough to reach just above the cat’s legs when standing.
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We use Chris Christensen Spectrum One Shampoo.
You can apply it in one of two ways:
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Mix shampoo and water 1:1 in a foaming bottle and apply the foam to the coat.
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Apply shampoo directly by hand.
Massage the shampoo evenly through the coat — every part of the body should be covered (avoid eyes and face).
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6: First Rinse-Out
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Do not rinse with running water yet.
Instead, use a ladle or cup to pour water from the basin over the cat, rinsing along the direction of hair growth.
Apply light but firm strokes so that the water helps remove dirt and soap residue effectively.
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​Empty the dirty water and refill the basin with clean warm water (again, just above leg level).
Repeat the rinsing process 1–2 times, until the water runs clear.
Finally, use a gentle running stream of water to rinse the entire body once more, making sure:
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The coat no longer feels slippery to the touch
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There are no soap bubbles left in the water
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7: Conditioner
Empty the basin again and refill with fresh warm water.
Apply conditioner (we use Chris Christensen After Bath) evenly over the cat’s coat — avoid the head.
Let the conditioner sit for about 5 minutes, using pouring technique to let the conditioner stays for 10 more mins
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8: Final Rinse
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Finish by rinsing the cat completely with clean water.
The coat should feel light, not oily or slippery.
You’ll know it’s clean when:
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The water runs completely clear
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The coat feels fresh and soft to the touch
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9: Ear Cleaning
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Pour a small amount of ear cleaner into your cat’s ear canal, then gently massage the base of the ear for a few seconds.
Release and allow your cat to shake out the excess liquid naturally.
After that, use a cotton pad to wipe away any remaining dirt or oil from the outer ear area.
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All the products we use in this tutorial can be found in our Prepare List.
Simply click on each image and it will take you directly to the Amazon link.
You can access the Prepare List page here: https://www.redechoragdoll.com/preparelist
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Try using "cat toothbrushing gloves" to dip the cat's toothpaste, touch and rub the cat's teeth, and guide the cat to lick.
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This process may last several times to a week, and snacks can also be used to make kittens more receptive to tooth touch.
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After the cat is proficient in your fingers, its time to try toothbrush.
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“Burrito” the cat by wrapping their boy firmly in a towel(including all limbs) will be a good way.
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Use one hand opens your cat's mouth from the one side, and quickly brush their teeth.
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If your cat starts to resist at this time, stop brushing and pet the them.Repeat the brushing action, do not need to brush it once, you can divide it into multiple times.
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A complete brushing process can be controlled in about 30 seconds.
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After brushing your teeth, you can also take out the cat’s favorite toys, play with the them for a while to relax their mood. It will help you with your brush next time.
You can find whether your cat ear is clean or not. If inside their ear is color of pink, and there is no earwax, debris or smells, you can tell your cat ear is clean, if your cats have clean ears, there is no need to clear their ears. If not, you need to help them clean their ears.
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Make sure your cat is relaxed. Most of the cat doesn’t like people to help them clean, you might need someone to help you while you clean their ears. “Burrito” the cat by wrapping their boy firmly in a towel(including all limbs) will be a good way.
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Place a some of the Virbac Epi-Otic Advanced Ear Cleaner(or any vet suggested liquid ear cleaner) liquid onto a clean cotton ball or Cotton pad. Gently use cotton ball to wipe away any debris or earwax that you can see underside of their ears. Please remind water cannot be used as an earwax cleaner because it may stay in the ears and allow yeast to grow.
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Drip ear cleanser into their ear and massage 20-45s per ear, give them a minute or two to let them shake their head to further remove the earwax and other secretions in their ears.
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Reward your cat with endless praise—and her favorite treat.
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Find a place that your cat can sit on your lap or find a time with their best mood on.
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Pinch the cat's claw and gently squeeze out the nail. Pay attention to the cutting edge to be perpendicular to the side of the cat's nail, cut from the thin side, if you cut the nail from the thick side, otherwise it will split.
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Cut only the tip of the claw, the transparent and colorless part, and never cut to the pink part. The pink part of a cat’s nail, called the quick, is where the nerves and blood vessels are. Do NOT cut this sensitive area.
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Do not be discouraged. Cat may be protested, meowing or even wants to scratch you. At first, you can call a success while you done cut one or two nails.
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Rewards them with special rewards, that they will think of the special tastes when you are cutting their nails. They might not like cutting nails but if they want the rewards, they won’t be so resistant to cutting their nails next time.