I will absolutely ask about it! Haha. Do they shed a lot? The cats I’ve had have all been decently short haired, so no fibres you could really work with.
Our Maine Coon came as a rescued “present” by the local police, who did not know what to do with her. So I was not at all prepared for a long-furred creature.
Summers here are really hot, but her hair is so long and wooly that it felts in place before it can work its way out. In the first year, I had to cut her hair with a mower. ;)
The second year, I was prepared and started combing her. She enjoys it, and I get a lot of harvested hair that way. Sometimes in winter I pull out my tiny 16g top spindle and spin a bit of it. You can’t go too fine, or the thread will unravel. For sturdy and fluffy, I recommend spinning around a thread of sewing yarn or mixing in some crimpy wool fiber.
Oh my goose! That’s really cool! Did she take to being brushed quickly, or did it take a while? Teeko is still not super fond of me brushing him, or trimming his claws. I have a groomer I go to for assistance with that, but since we’re moving I’ve started doing it more and more by myself. It’s much better now compared to three years ago, when he wouldn’t even let you touch anything below his “shoulders”, but he’s still really uncooperative.
The story of her ending up with you also sounds kind of bonkers. Did you know someone in the force or did the police just show up like a fairy-godmother and go all “you have a cat now!”