Tips for Giving Your Pet a Healthy Coat - excerpt article from Anna's Tips

A healthy pet has a healthy coat

by: Laura Thomas

Your cat's coat is a reflection of your cat's overall health. If you are not giving your cat a healthy diet or if your cat is sick, your cat's coat will become dull and limp, and his or her hair will lack any shine.

You can help your cat have a healthy coat by feeding him or her a healthy diet. The following foods can help improve your cat's coat:

• Protein -- fish, poultry, meat, eggs, yogurt, cheese
• Vitamin A - milk, oily fish, eggs, carrots
• Vitamin B - whole grains, eggs, meat, fish, wheat germ
• Vitamin D - oily fish, fish liver oils
• Vitamin E - wheat germ
• Iron - kidneys, lentils, liver
• Calcium - eggs, cheese, milk, sardines, yogurt
• Iodine - dried kelp, seafood, iodized salt

When added to your cat's diet once every week, organic coconut oil can improve your cat's skin and promote a healthy coat. To prevent your cat from shedding too much, add zinc in the diet and also up the protein levels. For thickening your cat's coat, feed your cat a balanced diet. An unbalanced diet can dull the hair and coat. This happens if you add too much of the wrong supplements in the wrong amounts in your cat's diet.

Aside from feeding your cat a healthy diet, you also need to regularly groom your cat so that it has a healthy coat. A healthy diet and regular, proper grooming will prevent your pet from shedding, let your pet's coat to grow longer, thicker and healthier. Be aware that dry weather and blow drying can strip the moisture off your cat's coat. In the same manner, frequent shampooing and using shampoos with harsh ingredients can dry cat hair and cause split ends.

If your cat's coat is dry:

• Use mayonnaise. Before giving your cat the final rinse, apply one tablespoon of mayonnaise on your cat's coat and let it sit for about five minutes and then rinse off the mayonnaise. Mayonnaise treatment is actually recommended to be done for an hour. If you go with this method though, don't rinse the mayonnaise off. Dry your cat's coat with the mayonnaise still in the coat. Your cat's coat will absorb the oils in the next few days.
• Spray beer on your cat's coat. If the mayonnaise treatment doesn't do anything on your cat's coat, spray beer on the coat like a setting lotion. The beer will give your cat's coat a look that is shiny, crisp and healthy. Spray beer on your cat's coat after shampooing your pet. Towel dry and then blow dry your cat's coat.

If your cat's coat is extremely oily:

Make this recipe and use it on your cat's coat for three consecutive days. You will need:

• 1 oz. shampoo
• 1 oz. liquid dish detergent
• 4 to 6 oz. water

Mix shampoo, detergent and water. Shake well. Use this mixture on your pet as shampoo for three consecutive days. Do not use any other shampoo. Wash your cat's coat with this shampoo once per day.