Les pellicules infernales

We have had quite the weekend at Le Château, with the following events taking place:

1. End-of-the-football-season festivities (although Louis Catorze doesn’t regard this as a celebratory moment as it means fewer men will be visiting us for the next eleven weeks).

2. The Black Cats won the League One play-off finals and will be promoted to the Championship tier next season.

Naturellement Catorze thought this would be an excellent time to churn out as much dandruff as possible, specifically when friends were due to visit on the day of the Black Cats’ match. After the oatmeal incident I wasn’t going to go down THAT route again so, instead, I just spent the entire morning brushing him to try to remove the worst of the dandruff. It didn’t work. All I managed to do was stir up more.

There was absolutely no hope of my visitors failing to notice the dandruff; they have two black cats of their own so they know what normal ones are meant to look like. And, yes, we all know that Catorze is far from normal, but I didn’t think making him pretend for just one afternoon was such a big ask.

Anyway, Sa Maj was a very convivial host, as ever, screaming for his guests’ attention during lunch and always positioning himself in the brightest sunlight for maximum visibility of his dandruff. Our friends hid their revulsion well, although Cat Daddy and I were inwardly wincing every time they stroked the little sod. Dandruff on cats isn’t nice. And dandruff on black cats looks especially awful.

The next morning, the dandruff had vanished as suddenly and as inexplicably as it had appeared.

I suppose I ought to mention this at the vet appointment later this week although, knowing Catorze, his bald patch will also disappear at the time of the appointment, only to magically reappear as soon as we get home, along with the dandruff and the mats.

Bastard cat.

A mixture of dandruff, plant matter, insect matter and other stuff that we daren’t even think about.

28 thoughts on “Les pellicules infernales

  1. Does he groom himself ? My old Blacky (RIP) was too old and achy to groom himself but Catorze seems to be pretty agile. Maybe he just feels he has better ways to spend his time. Good luck on the vet appointment. Better safe than sorry.

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  2. Hi, just a quick suggestion to try and alleviate the dandruff on Sa Maj. rather than brush or comb him (as you’ve said, it just churns up more dandruff) try a chammie leather on him. A mock chammie will do the job. I groom dogs and find that sometimes their skin is just flaky so I use either a soft fry chammie or a vaguely moist one over the dry coat, and it removes the immediately loose flakes. You need to do it a few times a day on his Majesty but it will leave fewer offensive flakes to deal with. Best of luck and lots of love to you and your boys xxCaroline.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Ooh, I’ve never tried anything like that. Can you get pet-specific ones? I will deffo give that a try, and I may well have to revisit the oatmeal idea but find a better way of executing it. Thank you!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I use high absorbency cloths to absorb water from dogs’ coats after bathing to cut drying time, which means they are easily washed in the machine after use and are relatively cheap. They’re found all over the place. I bet if you have a market near you, there will be a stall that sells them! For convenience, a quick scroll through Mr Google will bring lots of options. However, before you spend out, just try a nice fluffy towel and see if you get a similar effect. As I say, some dogs just have flakey skin so a rub over before they go home completes ‘the look’. Doesn’t stop the dandruff, though.

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        1. I’ve seen a few microfibre-type cloths online. I’m quite tempted, as I was thinking of buying something anyway to wipe him down during the hay fever season. Do you use them dry or damp?

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      2. Regarding the application of oatmeal….have you tried sifting over the little sod? Not sure how ‘large’ the oatmeal is but could you use a sieve as if you were dredging icing sugar over a sponge cake? I’d pay money to see that!! Hahahaha!

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        1. It’s very fine oatmeal, like flour. No whole oat pieces in it. 🤣🤣🤣 I might put some in a cardboard box and leave it somewhere for him to roll in. Might have to write “Do not roll in this oatmeal” on the box to make absolutely sure he will do it.

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        2. Microfibre cloths could be perfect. I’d try dry first, I’d expect a better outcome, but for hay fever season, damp may have the dual effect of removing irritants as well as flakes.

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  3. To hide dandruff , dyeing Louis’s hair white could be a solution. Have you already thought about it when friends are due to pay you a visit?
    😺

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Try a small lint roller. It worked on my black cats. Also hyperallergenic pet wipes (after brushing). It may be that his skin is more prone to drying than that of another breed. He is a Bombay, no?Mine looked exactly like him and they were Bombays.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. No, he’s not a Bombay, he’s just a runty mog. 🤣🤣🤣 His skin did improve when we started the Orijen, but it’s taking a bit of a downturn at the moment.

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  5. I’ve never tried this but my cats have their own dandruff issues at times, and I’m wondering if combing a little coconut oil through their hair would help (at least to clean up the dandruff temporarily). Or would you just end up with an oily cat?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. No, I wouldn’t end up with an oily cat … because he would roll off the coconut oil onto our carpets and beds. So we would have oily carpets and beds. 🤣🤣🤣

      Liked by 1 person

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