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Breed guide · Cats
He leaves half his coat on the sofa. I brush the other half every Sunday.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
On the sofa, your clothes and the rug, in every month of the year.
What's going onIndoors, with the air conditioning on, their coat never gets the signal to change with the seasons, so it sheds all year. A few short brushing sessions a week keep it off your sofa and out of their stomach.
At home
A retch, a cough and a damp tube of fur, usually on the cream rug.
What's going onThey swallow loose hair every time they groom, and some comes back up. Hairball-related stomach upset is common in longhairs, and a few minutes with the brush is the cure.
At home
Happy to be brushed everywhere except behind one ear, or under one leg.
What's going onMats form behind the ears, under the legs and round the back end, and they pull on the skin. If they flinch when you brush one place, part the fur and look.
At home
The same fluffy outline every month, whatever is happening underneath.
What's going onUnder all that fur, weight gain and weight loss are hard to see. Put them on the scales once a month and feel their ribs with your hands.
At home
Ambushes from behind the sofa, and feet attacked under the duvet.
What's going onThe coat changes nothing underneath. They need short play sessions that end with something to catch and then a meal, the same as any cat in a flat.
At home
A coat that turns greasy or matted over the back end as they get older.
What's going onAn older cat with sore joints stops reaching their back end to groom. A messy coat there is worth mentioning to your vet before you put it down to age.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their coat
Built for: A street hunter, with a coat they did not ask for.
In Dubai: A flat where it sheds all year.
Their grooming
Built for: Keeping their own coat in order.
In Dubai: Hair that mats, and ends up in their stomach.
Their body
Built for: A lean hunter's body.
In Dubai: Changes hidden under all that fur.
The coat is your job more than theirs.
Brush the coat, and weigh them under it. The ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around what a Domestic Longhair is prone to at every age, from their coat and teeth to their kidneys, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
A laser dot never lets them catch anything, so they end up wound up rather than satisfied.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 2 years
Why
A laser dot never lets them catch anything, so they end up wound up rather than satisfied.
What to do
Use a wand toy and move it like prey, away from them and behind the sofa. Five to ten minutes, two or three times a day. Let them catch it at the end, then feed them.
Weight gain is a risk from their junior years, and under a long coat you will not see it coming.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 10 years
Why
Weight gain is a risk from their junior years, and under a long coat you will not see it coming.
What to do
Split their daily food into small meals, some in a puzzle feeder or hidden around the flat. Weigh the day's food, so anything they hunt for comes out of it.
Cats fall from balconies and windows far more often than pet parents expect, usually chasing a bird, and injuries are a risk from their junior years.
Every age, most of all kittens and juniors
Why
Cats fall from balconies and windows far more often than pet parents expect, usually chasing a bird, and injuries are a risk from their junior years.
What to do
Keep the balcony shut unless it is fully enclosed with cat netting and checked for gaps. Fit restrictors or screens on every window that opens.
Their wildcat ancestor never shared a meal or a den, and a cat who avoids a shared tray can end up with a bladder problem.
Every age, low-sided trays from 11 years
Why
Their wildcat ancestor never shared a meal or a den, and a cat who avoids a shared tray can end up with a bladder problem.
What to do
For each cat, a litter tray, a water bowl, a food bowl and a scratching post, plus one spare, in different rooms. Use a large, open tray, so litter does not cling to their back end. As they get older, choose one with a low side they can step over.
Height and cover are how they cope with the doorbell, the lift and visitors.
Every age, add steps from 11 years
Why
Height and cover are how they cope with the doorbell, the lift and visitors.
What to do
A cat tree or a cleared shelf with a way up, and a box or covered bed, in every room they use. Never pull them out of a hiding place. As they age, add steps so they can still get up there.
They have a weak urge to drink, and bladder trouble is a risk from their junior years.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 10 years
Why
They have a weak urge to drink, and bladder trouble is a risk from their junior years.
What to do
Some wet food every day. Two or three wide, shallow water bowls away from their food and tray, washed daily. Wide bowls keep their whiskers and ruff out of the water.
Bladder trouble shows up in the tray first, and it is often mistaken for bad behaviour.
Every age
Why
Bladder trouble shows up in the tray first, and it is often mistaken for bad behaviour.
What to do
Scoop daily and notice the number and size of the clumps. Call your vet if they go more often than usual or pass blood. A male cat straining, crying or going in and out of the tray with little or nothing coming out may have a blocked bladder. That is an emergency: contact your vet now. If a female cat is straining, contact your vet the same day. A baseline urinalysis (a urine test) is in your plan in their junior years, so your vet knows their normal.
Brushing and the carrier are both easier if they learn them young and get a treat each time.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Brushing and the carrier are both easier if they learn them young and get a treat each time.
What to do
Brush a few times a week, a minute at a time, with a wide-toothed comb for the ruff and a soft brush for the rest. Never cut out a mat with scissors: the skin sits right underneath. Leave the carrier out, door open, with a blanket inside. In their junior and prime adult years, your vet sets a grooming plan with coat-care advice, as part of your plan.
Dental disease is the first thing to watch from their junior years, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Dental disease is the first thing to watch from their junior years, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
What to do
Lift their lip and look at their teeth and gums. Start brushing as a kitten, with cat toothpaste. Tell your vet if they drop food or chew on one side. An annual dental evaluation (teeth and gum check) is in your plan from their junior years.
The coat hides weight gain and weight loss, and both can be early signs of trouble.
Every age, most of all from 7 years
Why
The coat hides weight gain and weight loss, and both can be early signs of trouble.
What to do
Step on the scales holding them, then without them, and write down the difference. Once a week, run your hands through the coat along their ribs, spine and hips. A baseline weight and body condition score are in your plan in their junior years, with weight and body condition monitoring from their mature years.
Four of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 6 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
11 to 14 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
15 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Not a breed
A Domestic Longhair is a long-haired cat of mixed ancestry. One is a cuddly shadow and the next a dignified loner. Take their personality from them, not from the coat.
Colours
Every colour and pattern a cat can have, from solid black, white, grey, ginger or cream to tabby, tortoiseshell, calico and bi-colour, often with a ruff round the neck.
The first months
A kitten who is brushed now is an adult who lets you. Start with a minute a day and a soft brush, and keep it short and kind.
Getting the home ready
A large, open litter tray, so litter does not cling to their back end, wide water bowls that keep the ruff dry, and a comb and a soft brush in the drawer before they arrive.
From the street or a rescue
Long-haired kittens turn up in street litters and in rescues. Before they meet any other cat in your home, test them for FIV and FeLV, two viruses cats pass to each other.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
If it's a kitten: First 30 days with a new kitten · Kitten vaccinations in the UAE
When it is not behaviour.
He'll still leave half his coat on the sofa. If he stops letting you brush him, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
About 10,000 years ago
Nobody bred your cat. Like every house cat, they come from the African wildcat, which moved in around the first farming villages of the Near East.
What they still carryThe whole hunter, under a longer coat.
No known date
Long hair comes from a single gene, and it is recessive, so a kitten needs it from both parents. That is how two short-haired street cats can have one fluffy kitten.
What they still carryA coat that mats, sheds and ends up as hairballs.
The 1600s onwards
Long-haired cats from Turkey and Persia reached Europe as curiosities, and were later bred into the Angora and the Persian.
What they still carryLong-haired genes that may still turn up in mixed cats, here in the Gulf too.
Today
Long-haired kittens turn up in street litters and in rescues across the UAE.
What they still carryAn unknown history, any temperament, and FIV and FeLV status to test.
Today
Many longhairs in the UAE live indoors for life, in an air-conditioned flat.
What they still carryA coat that sheds all year, because the seasons never change indoors.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Domestic Longhair suits you, so might these.
Domestic ShorthairThe same kind of cat: no pedigree and every kind of personality, in a short coat that needs only a weekly brush
Turkish AngoraThe same kind of cat: an old natural breed from Turkey, slim and busy, in a silky single coat that mats less
Maine CoonThe same easy balance of play and company, in a far bigger cat with a quiet chirp and a coat that feels the summer
British LonghairA similar long coat to comb a few times a week, in a bigger, calmer, rounder pedigree
