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The sulk face
Yesterday evening was a dreaded night in our home, one that left my husband and me stewing in the heavy reproach that afterward permeated throughout the house. We’d perpetrated grooming night.
Because each of our pets makes such a fuss, albeit in their individual ways, about grooming we figure it’s easier to do it all at once. They each get their coats brushed and nails clipped all in one go. Lately we’ve been doing the former outside, which keeps our hardwood floors cleaner and the house freer of dander allergens.
It’s this outdoors grooming that really upsets my cat. Cole enjoys being brushed, though he’s strange about it. He purrs and makes happy chirps while the comb slides through his fur, but he’s so happy about the process that he likes to strut around the room about it.
Cole will flop over and curl into himself while being brushed, and then he’ll get up, move over a few spaces, and do the same thing. It’s not that he hates being brushed; I’ve seen cats that hate it, and trust me, the fuss is quite obviously different. No, Cole just can’t seem to contain his joy at being brushed.
All this ceases, however, if we take him outside to do the deed. All of my attempts to get Cole to appreciate outside time have, strangely, failed. He hates being outside and nothing, not even his love of being brushed, overcomes that.
Trying to brush Cole outside is almost a two-person job. One person can hold him in place and brush him at the same time, but he squirms so much that that person won’t be able to groom everywhere.
Another pair of hands is needed to hold him so the other can comb him on both of his sides. He yowls his loud displeasure and squirms nonstop during the entire process. As soon as we let him go he runs for the door and cries to be let back inside.
Chihiro’s more placid while being brushed, though she doesn’t enjoy it. She just doesn’t mind being outside the way the cat does. No matter where or when we brush her, however, she gives us what I like to call the “sulk face.” Her eyes convey her sincere disapproval of what we’re doing to her, and she does try to get away from the brush, though not as avidly as Cole when he’s getting an outdoor groom.
Neither of them cooperate too well for the other aspect of grooming time: nail clipping. Nail clipping the cat is definitely a two-person job; while Cole doesn’t become aggressive during the process, he fights the hold so much that one person is needed just to hold him while the other does the clipping.
Chihiro can become violent during the clipping process, or she just waits in quivering anticipation for the moment she’s allowed to feast on her bribe of treats for her good behavior. It all depends on how recently she’s been nicked by the clippers. Her dark nails make it harder to see her veins, so once in a while she gets a little nick.
If that’s happened recently, she fights and snarls against the nail clipping. A few pain-free sessions, however, make her calm, if disapproving.
That condemnation continues from both feline and canine quarters for the rest of the evening. They’ll forget it soon enough, just in time for the next grooming night.
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