Furballs!

Star has the softest fur. She has very few guard hairs, she's almost all the soft downy underfluff. What's surprising is that she rarely ever gets furballs, matts, or tangles. Probably because she's meticulous in her upkeep (aside from that recent Clingon issue, but even with that, I think it might have been only the second one of those she's had in the 11 years she's been with us).

She's been especially fluffy and soft since her bath. Probably a combination of the kitty shampoo and the extreme humidity we've been having. She's got the kind of fur you want to stuff your face in! However, if you did, she'd slice said face to bits more than likely..

Star has the kind of ruff/side face hair that comes out to the side to a soft point. When you fluff it that way, she tends to keep it very neatly combed into the rest of her fur, every hair in place. But she does not have a ruff under her chin or on her chest like Leo does, he's got the full lion ruff. I made the difference show on their avatars.

Since she keeps herself so neat and matt free, I was surprised the other day to see one of the side points of her ruff sticking out to the side a little. I tried getting my fingers on it, but she was more interested in rubbing back and forth on my ankles so it was hard to tell. But once I did get my fingers on it, she underwent a change.

Whoops.. had to interrupt writing this post because Star went nutso running back and forth and wanted to play. See:

Oh! I see Da Bird!

Got it! Ha!

Ok, where was I... Oh yeah. Once I got my fingers on her ruff, she walked away and sat with her back to me for a moment. Then she came back and sat in front of me, facing sideways. The funny side, of course, was away from me... But I still reached around to see what was going on. Yup, she had a little matt or furball.

She scooted away before I could do anything other than confirm the issue. But she came back and I pet her then got my fingers on it and gave it a tug to see how tight it was in there. It was not attached close to the skin so I thought I might be able to pull it out. She took off again. She came back and I gave it another tug, she sat still while I gave it a good pull then, yup, she took off again.

She came back and I pet her, and she put her paws up on my leg. She only does that when she wants to be lifted up to the sink for a drink. So I picked her up. The only time she doesn't freak when I pick her up is when it's her idea. And that's something she only started recently. She's had a harder time jumping up and I think she appreciates the boost. Obviously, since she now asks for it.

So now that she was up where I could really see the matt, I gave it a pull. It was really in there and I decided that it was going to have to be cut out. But she turned and looked at me, almost like she was offering the thing up to me. She wasn't running off, and she wasn't getting a drink. Ok, I'll give it one more shot... I tried using my nails to separate it, it was tough! But she sat still and let me so I kept going.

I was sure I was going to get the claws.. Man do we need to have a nail trimming party soon! She sat so quiet and let me work and finally! I got it out! Whew! Once I pet and smoothed the rest of her fur down, she jumped down and left, having never gotten a drink or anything. I can only conclude that she wanted that thing gone as much as I did and was willing to sit still and even make it easier for me to get at it so it could be taken care of.

Is she that smart? Am I just seeing this behavior because I want to? Somehow.. I don't think so. She's always been a smart baby.