The Fur

Marshall has a thick coat, he's neutered so his coat doesn't drop in the summer time. Unfortunately this means that if we are lucky to get nice weather its a big pain for marshall as he gets too hot.

This summer we had a heatwave, its also my first summer with Marshall as a big boy ( last summer he was a fuzzy kitten). The heat has played havoc on poor Marshmallow and tomorrow we will be visiting the vets to have his armpits, belly and trousers shaved down as they have some major matts in them. This also means we will be missing the september show as he will be so bald underneath ( we hope we can still make the Ulster Siamese and all Breed show in November though!)

A Maine Coon's coat consists of a fluffy undercoat and a longer, heavier but silky top coat. Its the undercoat that causes the bother! Its like cotton wool and so soft and fluffy, but with regular movement and the heat it just matts up. I brush Marshall and Zelda everyday to help get rid of the loose hair but I think from now on we will be getting summer haircuts to help as little me on my own against a huge cat its pretty impossible to cut them out myself.

Marshall will also be going for a heart Xray tomorrow. Just over a week ago I came home to a very quiet and pathetic looking Marshmallow who had been sick in the hallway. He curled up under the living room table and wouldn't move, he didn't even want cuddles which is totally unheard of for my boy.

Eventually he came up for cuddles but he was trembling so much and breathing really heavily and fast. A trip to the out of hours vets confirmed that he wasn't doing too good and they gave him some shots to stop the nausea and some antibiotics to fight any bugs and calm his temperature. The next day we went to our normal vet who checked him over and put him on a two week antibiotic to help his temperature and general miserableness. Thankfully Marshall has totally picked up but both vets were concerned with his heart rate. Maine Coons can suffer from heart problems and in his blood line there have been a few issues with hearts so and Xray tomorrow will see if there is anything we need to be concerned about.

Zelda will also be going to the vet on friday for her post spaying check up. The opp hasn't phased her at all, she's actually even more mental than she was before! the area is a little swollen but that is to be expected. Yesterday and today she has finally taken some rest time and even come for snuggles!