Wednesday, September 9, 2026

The Fluff

We missed Jass' birthday, and we have missed the day she found her home with us by four days. Jass' idea of a great birthday celebration would be no food for the day, just treats. We have reduced the treats because she kept nagging for them, in the way that cats do.

She is a strange cat, but perhaps not as strange as I think. While experienced with cats in past, they could come and go as they pleased through the cat door. I can't even if I remember if they slept inside. They found the radiant lounge room heater very attractive, as did our dogs, and during winter, at times they would all be curled up in front. Cats like the radiant heat and don't appreciate the overall warmth that air conditioning gives. Jass is obviously a fully indoor cat, although she can spend time on the balcony but at the moment, she finds it too cold. 

Anyway, when she arrived last year, there was no superfluous shedding of fur. This year, she is dropping huge tufts of fine and soft underbelly fur. Individual hairs float around everywhere. 

If trodden into the carpet, Rover struggles to pick it up and a manual vacuum is needed. There might be five clumps daily. 

I gather is this is a winter coat of soft underbelly fur that is shed. But isn't it curious that she didn't have such underbelly fur at the same time last year, given she was probably in a colder environment than she is here being warm for 16 hours a day, and hardly that cold for the other 8 hours.

Here is Jass displaying her soft underbelly fur, welcoming a belly rub, but at your peril. The claws and the teeth will immediately become active. You can see a bit of her fluff on the carpet on the bottom left of the photo. 

Anyway, all good and no regrets. 

34 comments:

  1. She is living her best life, for sure. :) Perhaps a year ago she hadn't fully developed her adult coat; I've learned a lot from YouTube's Girl with the Dogs pet grooming channel. lol Be well!

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    1. I never thought of that Darla, thanks, and I think you are correct.

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  2. Oh... pass me the antihistamines!
    Pretty fluffball isn't she.

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  3. She is so darn cute:) I've got two longhairs and I'm awash in fur. Take care, Andrew:)

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  4. She doesn't like a belly rub? Most people would pay good money to lie out and enjoy the luxury!

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    1. most cats don't, belly rubs are for dogs, while cats enjoy head rubs and chin scratches.

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    2. Hels, I don't want my belly rubbed. I am not quite a Buddha.

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  5. Jas is cute..Get a long haired dachshund and you will really know what shedding is at this time of the year. A friend has 2 huskies and you could make another one with the fur when they are shedding

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  6. I bet you also lie on the floor like Jass - waiting for a belly rub. That's probably how she learnt that particular habit.

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  7. She's a furry girl and the belly fur is the first to shed!!

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    1. So what Bob? There is more to shed after the belly fur?

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  8. She’s a little cutie, that’s for sure! Bunyip

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  9. Replies
    1. Were they hens? (Sorry, that should be a question from YP.)

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  10. I wonder if the shedding might be age related? Angel didn't shed at all in his first year, but after his second winter it was like an indoor snowstorm with fur everywhere. I managed to clean the rug, then rolled it up and asked my daughter to please take it back as the vinyl flooring was much easier to sweep/vacuum.

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  11. She's probably much better fed now and maybe has more fur available to shed. Who knows? She is a cutie.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps part of it Pixie, a good part perhaps.

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  12. Yup that's why I.m not fussed on cats. Fur and claws and kitty litter. But she is cute.

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  13. Yeah, this shedding is an eternal problem, my 12-year-old pug now has new fur... white, although it's beige in color, you definitely saw it on my photo shelf :)) anyway, the link is in my profile :))
    You have a lovely cat!

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  14. What a darling cat. Perhaps a brush might help.

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    1. Margaret, she does get brushed often, and she loves it.

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  15. Such a sweet kitty. Maybe the top of my head is just a seasonal shedding.

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  16. Better nutrition by now maybe? Happy Birthday Jass!

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    1. Strayer, I think a combination of better nutrition and becoming a fully adult cat.

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  17. Beautiful cat. We have 4 cats here and they are all weird in their own ways but we would never be without them, have a nice week.

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  18. I admit to loving fluffy cats, but oddly never had one. I had the shorthaired variety - all rescues. A friend had two siamese, the most aggressive and nasty cats I have ever known. They would jump onto your head from great heights leaving scars. Mine were all raised with dogs so very canine, walked with the dogs at night, curled up with them to sleep.
    XO
    WWW

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  19. My family used to have a nice and sweet cat as our lovely pet at home. However, the cat disappeared a long time ago and never came back.

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  20. Very furry cat. There's a lot to shed.

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  21. Jass is a very pretty cat but any animal that lives in a house will leave fur around.

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  22. Jass is one of the original spellings of what standardized to Jazz.
    What a delightful looking creature! I'm glad to learn something of her story and that it is working out, Andrew

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Pauline (Bjelkie, Donald, Nigel) Hanson

As has happened around the world, Australia is dangerously close to a swing to the extremist far right, with our political party One Nation....