this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2026
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cats

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Well yeah. Cats are superior beings. All hail our feline overlords.

[–] X@piefed.world 76 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

We can thusly induce that cat saliva has all kinds of shampoo, hair conditioner, nutrition

Conclusion: harvest cat saliva for human use

[–] Sailing7@lemmy.ml 3 points 11 hours ago

I read that last sentence in Satisfactory voice libne woman ^^

HARVEST

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Let your cat bathe you, it’s cheaper

[–] X@piefed.world 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Plus you get exfoliation for free

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 42 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What cat exfoliation feels like:

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 21 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I do not like this picture.

[–] jestho@lemmy.zip 10 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] X@piefed.world 9 points 1 day ago

Damn, they’re like surgeons with their tongues! Look at that precision!

[–] concerned@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago

Kash? That you?

[–] Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 16 hours ago

I think the fine brush that's built into their tongue also helps a lot. Maybe sleeping 16h a day too.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 42 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Guaranteed that cat is getting it's weight in salmon skins weekly

[–] this_1_is_mine@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

And healthy amounts of human contact to help smooth the hairs by polishing with contact and distribute more oils onto the fur. Pet your fuggin cats people

Is gourgous.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Probably brushed frequently as well

[–] Malica@lemmy.zip 2 points 13 hours ago

You have to in order to prevent mats

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 6 points 23 hours ago

Funny enough, I just found out wild mustelid white hair is different than cats. A local wildlife rescue has an ambassador skunk that is black and yellow cause of all the pets he gets, absorbing the oil on our hands.

[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don’t know about that. Anytime after petting my cat he looks at me like I offended him and has to start bathing all over again.

Doesn’t stop me from petting him, or him wanting pets though.

[–] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

When they clean themselves after you touch them they're actually spreading your smell around, not trying to wash it off. If you watch closely you'll see them alternate between licking the place you touched and licking various other places around their body.

[–] nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 6 points 22 hours ago

Well that's just creepy. Let's not make this more than what it was, cat.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

I was betting that nutrition has a lot to do with it!

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 6 points 1 day ago

Our black cat's coat is that shiny, and she just gets kibble.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago

Some cats are just like that, provided regular brushing. Our late girl had fur similarly shiny and soft as a cloud even though she lived on a medicated diet and freeze dried chicken treats. It’s still kind of surprising to me how coarse our current boy’s fur is by comparison!

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That or olive oil, the cat we had when I grew up loved olive oil and her fur became lovely after eating it.

[–] undecidedyellow@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

Olives have compounds similar to catnip. My cat can't leave discarded olive seeds alone

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Humans naturally have oily hair, if you just don't wash that out. Takes a few really uncomfortable weeks if you stop shampooing cold turkey, though.

[–] jestho@lemmy.zip 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Can confirm. Depression is great for your hair

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 5 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Or poverty! Don't forget poverty.

[–] FundMECFS@piefed.zip 3 points 5 hours ago

Also severe disability. ✨yay✨

[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net -3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Unless you are homeless, you can afford to wash.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 5 points 18 hours ago

I'm using less shampoo and conditioner because it's an expense. A small one, but still.

[–] Aqivex@fedinsfw.app 11 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Is...is there another way other than cold turkey stopping shampooing? Legit question. My thick mane of curls and I are always on the lookout for ways to stay in balance against the environment.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 20 hours ago

Yea, if you shower every day, start with 2 on 1 off then transition to every other if that goes well. My routine is less rigid in that I avoid shampoo unless I did something gross. Your natural oils help thicken up the curls, but even (especially) on the days you don’t shampoo you need to wet comb your hair in order to dristeibute the oils out from the roots to the tips.

[–] nadram@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Regarding long curly hair, and according to my barber: use hair cream and shampoo twice a week. Otherwise wash/rinse your hair with water only. I've been doing this for the past year.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 1 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Can confirm this works. Had long hair and went biweekly to a barber for a beard trim / hair wash. Otherwise I washed it daily with water, added a hair nutrient mix my friend made to the scalp after showering, and only used shampoo more than every 2 weeks as needed.

[–] Nouvellalia@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago

You can switch to co-wash (only conditioner) and see if that helps. There are various levels of this, from every day to once a week. You can use just water every day or every other day if you go once a week.

You can also use heavier oils in your hair for a week or two, still shampooing every few days, and just replenishing with heavy oils after. To get through your "two weeks of oily hair".

What is happening with a constantly scrubbed scalp, is that it is always in crisis mode. It is sensing it is completely free of oil and producing large amounts of oil to compensate. This is not only too much oil, but it is quickly produced, substandard, emergency oil.

You need to convince your scalp that it is safe, and that it can go back to producing smaller amounts of higher quality oil. This also means that after you get things right, when you do wash, you put some oil back in. This will keep it from going back into crisis mode.

If you can't roll around with super oily hair for two weeks, which is understandable, you can slowly try to get your scalp into this state, using limited washing, co-washing, and oil replenishment.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I... actually didn't think about it too much when I wrote cold turkey but I imagine it involves switching to less strong products that leave some oils. If anyone has a product in mind though, maybe they can chime in.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 20 hours ago

If you can stand the fake coconut smell, Kirkland conditioner works great for my curls and is a quarter of the price of anything else.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 0 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Switch to Dr Bronners Magic soap. Doesn't' destroy all your natural oils afaik. It's been my go to shampoo for growing hair out twice.

[–] verifiedbyme@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

What I read is that being a common misconception which can lead to fungus growth. So maybe do your own research before making decisions based on comments in the internet :)

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 7 points 23 hours ago

With long hair, yes. I shave my head so I actually have to oil my scalp, 1 for that fresh looking shine, and 2 without it my skin will flake and crack and in general make me look like a resident evil zombie from behind.

[–] kgbbot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 22 hours ago

As a guy with short hair, I didn't wash my hair regularly for years and it was fine, but I don't have very oily or greasy hair

[–] kettuli@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Hence why I have adopted licking myself.