I am wondering if there is some dietary supplement or additional grooming aid that my kitten needs for her coarse fur:

My new 9 month old female Maine Coon kitten has the softest fur on her face, shoulders, legs and tummy, but about midway down her back her coat becomes coarse and stiff/dry feeling. The coarseness continues on out her tail. On her tail, the fur seems to stand straight out from the ?vertebrae? It is also coarse and dry/stiff with a very slight frizz to it. Her tail has a plume like appearance and is about 4-5 inches in diameter. On some of these individual coarser hairs there is a fine white banding near the tips of the fir. This female is overdue to be spayed as she has the sniffles. My other new kitten, a 6 month old neutered Maine Coon male, is totally soft all over. But his tail, while shaggy, doesn't have the plume-like appearance I associate with Maine Coons.

Is the coarser fur on the back and tail typical of some Maine Coons - or is there something that I should be doing form this precious kitty?

-- Anonymous, December 31, 1998

Answers

Dear Kate, The maine coons fur does vary from cat to cat according to what type the parents had. I will try to answer your question the best I can. I have a maine coon female who also has the coarser hair on her back and also on her tail. Yet, in other areas her hair is fine in texture. That's pretty much the norm with the maine coons. Since I show my girl in shows, she is getting bathed quite often. What I have noticed is that before a bath the coarser hair on the back and on the tail, although appears to be dry, actually gets quite greasy at the skin level, which will make the hair separate and stand up as you say. Maine coons are known to have a rather greasy coat and have to go thru quite a routine of baths prior to each show. And even at that, I have noticed even after the 2nd day at a show areas starting to become greasy. Not actually oily, but the hair starts clumping and separating behind the ears and chest area. So I would say that your kitty sounds quite normal in the hair department and I'm sure beautiful in every other way also :--)

-- Anonymous, May 20, 1999