Have you ever shaved your cat?

Have you ever had to shave your cat because he or she is matted? We have had to shave our maine coon once like a lion. It was a cute look but let me tell you ringo was not happy at all. At all I tell you. He hissed and growled the whole time he was getting shaved and the whole way home!

 

lovely thing is that i shaved my cat every year ;-)

 

Is it a normal thing to shave your cat when they are matted? Does that make it easier than trying to brush them? I can see how the cat would not be happy about it though!

 

I think it will be itchy in their part once the fur starts to grow. I'm not so sure since I didn't tried it with my cat. But I'm sure they won't be happy about it and their furs are really important especially during cold weather conditions.

 

Our cat is almost 4 years but we have never shaved her. once she had a swell on her left lower side so she had to get a shave so that she can get some minor operation. She kept scratching the place because I think she was feeling itchy. I don't think we will ever shave her at all.

 

I have to say this,
Have any of you ever worked at a grooming parlor?
I have and still help out at my friends grooming parlor.
Let me tell you what your cat goes through...

Cat lays in the window looking outside you scoop him/ her up and cuddle till you stick the cat in a crate, if you are not successful you have scratches and have to hunt for a cat that now knows that you are putting it in the carrier. Carriers are associated with vets and grooming parlors if this is not the first time then they know whats going on and they not happy.
You drive them in the car they are meowing. You are saying "It's okay I know it's okay..." no it's not.
You bring the cat into a strange place with stranger smells so many it confuses them. They are set in their carriers in a room where they hear Buzzing clippers, dogs whining, air dryers whirring, water which they have heard from your attempts at bathing them before long long ago. If they are attached to a petstore they also hear the vast amount of people going in and out and strange animals sounds.

Finally the carrier is opened and the cat is sat on a table. If it is one person grooming and one bathing then they probably will use a groomers noose, it really is like a noose a cat or dog moves too much the rear falls off the table and is hanging by the noose, but yes the staff do try to not allow it and if it does the dog or cat is up on the table in half a second. If their are 3 people in the parlor then normally one holds the animal and a noose is not required.

The clippers start going for the rough cut and are sat on the cats skin, the vibrating feels weird. A little tip about cat fur and clipper blades, cat fur dulls clipper blades QUICK, you can do 100 dogs with a clipper blade to one cat that's how much they dull the blades, dull blades pull hair and irritate the hair follicles and causes itching, rashes and infection. The clipper blades don't take long to get hot, last cat I helped with my friend touched me with the blade and I told him that it was hot. Lets put something 180 degrees against your scalp and see if you ever want to do it again. The cat gets tired of the vibration and the heat and starts hissing and growing. You think running clippers over a animal is easy but there are places that get missed and places that can be cut easily, best example is the armpit area, the skin is paper-thin and can get caught in the blades, another is the hocks you have to pull the skin of the ball of the hock to one side and trim it so it is on a flatter surface. Rough cut done now it's time for a bath, most cats don't like this part and scratch the first time they attempt to bite the get the muzzle...



Yes they are now blind they don't fight alot cause the dark calms them cause they can't see whats going on and they can't bite. If the Bather isn't very bright the little hole in the muzzle might not be over the cat nose so they have a hard time breathing. The bath resumes...
Ears and nails done the cat is now toweled off the muzzle removed and put in a crate or cage bank and a forced air dryer is put on the door. These are load and feel like you are standing in front of a high velocity fan that blows air 120 -140 degrees. During this stage the cat is checked to make sure it isn't too hot don't want heat stroke happening.

Okay one dry cat later the cat is taken back to the table and re-noosed or held again and now to start the finish cut the clipper go and go and go till they get hot then left for them to cool time to work on the feet a bit. The person holing the cat is petting gently and talking quietly, the groomer has the sharp scissors (groomer shears are razor sharp remember that) trying to clip the feet so it looks, making sure to not cut the paw that is jerking away. Good... okay 1 down 3 to go next foot the cat gets ticked and nips the person holding the cat " Ow hey"

Groomers says "Are you okay did he bite you?"

"Not not ye AHHH! That time he did." the groomer holds the cat as the assistant runs out the door to go to the first aid kit trying to find rubbing alcohol. Finding none they go for the alcohol that is used for the ear cleaning. Ever had alcohol on a deep bleeding wound, yeah it hurts but cats carry a bacteria in their mouth that can cause you to lose hands, fingers etc. so you don't do it then it will get infected. Band aid on the hand they start on the now muzzled cat the cat still tries to bite trough the muzzle the assistant makes sure to keep the muzzle in the proper place so the cat can breath even though the cat just bit them. They start the clippers again and finish that part they start again on the feet.The assistant holds the leg firmly trying to not hurt the cat in the process.
With the other 2 feet finished they check the cat over and get any scraggies that were misses the cat is then de-muzzled and cuddles and petted till it is time for the carrier. The cat happily goes in the carrier. You come pick up the cat about 10 minutes till closing and your cat has been here since morning so from lets say 10 am to 5:50 pm. You pay and complain cause it is $65 for the cat the cat is carried to the car and taken home, once home your cat darts for the water bowl then the litterbox then sulks cause of the fact your cat is sore from a day at the groomers.

On the other hand the assistant is still in pain and their hand is swollen, red and hot to the touch. The person douses it on alcohol again and goes to the store to buy latex free band aids since regular ones contain rubber which will break them out, they also get triple antibotic ointment. By midnight the swelling was worse and the person was bit on the ball of the palm and now their thumb won't move cause it is swollen and painful. The next morning the hand is even more sore and swollen to the size of a small orange and red as a beet, they take a shower and when they get out they press around the hole and it pours out pus. FYI animal saliva contains pasteurellosis, strep, staph and capnocytophaga and infection can result in amputation. They go to the doctor (by the way they do not have insurance) they are written a script for amoxicillian and pay for the doctor visit. They work a second job at at restaurant cooking food, cooking food one handed is not easy. The swollen hand is now bandaged up and completely useless, so they get register duty meanwhile doing everything with one hand and keeping the hand hidden as much as possible to keep customers from asking.
The hand is swollen for nearly a week and keeps oozing for most of that time. All that just cause someone didn't take the time to groom their cat or purposely bought a long haired persian, himalayan, ragdoll etc. and just didn't feel like dealing with the fur.
Meanwhile the poor cat is itchy and obviously not pleased but the owner says "Aww you look so cute I don't see why so many groomers don't do cats?"

My thought is if you don't like fur then get a sphynx or peterbald it may cost more but well worth it to not put them through that...

And by the way my hand did heal up, so yes I have 2 hands. But there is a nice scar about 1/4 inch long, It really sucked to cause I couldn't do my dishes till it closed so nothing to eat off of and my hand was useless for three days couldn't move it.

 

LOL It's not even close to being that bad.

I make an account to share this one post to all the other cat lovers out there:

This is everything I've learned and know from owning a cat:

*SAFE ROOM: A small room with little noise and very little human traffic where a newly adopted kitten or cat can stay. You have a litter box in one corner. A water dish in another. Then in another corner, away from the door, it needs a safe spot to hide. Not a uber luxurious soft cushion. A safe spot. It has to have a low roof like under a couch or bed and it must be deep so that it knows it'll bar hard for you to reach it. I used a shallow long rectangular cardboard box. I taped up the cracks so no light got in and cut a whole out of one of the ends. Placed it in the back corner with the whole facing the door of the room so that it could easily watch the door while hiding (it will appreciate this). Keep the door to this room shut at all times when not going in or out until you see that it used the litter box. This will ensure you don't find poo on your carpet. It's also important to gently place it inside the box a few times so it knows what's in there.

Bathing/Nail trimming
This should be done as soon as it's brought home as it's going to be scared anyways so you might as well get it over with. Also, this will get your cat accustomed to these events and it will eventually calm down during each bath or trim. Trim first. Sit it in between your legs in front of you like you're doubling on a bike. Now trim away and file too. Don't trim too much. Just a bit of that sharp tip and then file it down. The idea is to get the sharpened tip off, not as much nail as possible.

Have a towel layed down away from the tub and have a dryer plugged in beside it. (For future baths, remove the litter box if you keep it there as it already thinks of it as a safe place so will dart in there if it escapes your hands. Grasp the cat on the back of the neck firmly but gently. This will not hurt it. It will also stretch the skin back so it'll be much harder for its legs to scratch you even though you've trimmed its nails. Pick it up hold it just above the base of the tub so the hind legs can still touch if you're scared and spray it down with luke warm water. A little water on its head won't hurt either. Don't like to people who say it's bad. Like a cat never gets in the rain? Now while still holding it with that same grasp, hold it down towards the tub like it's laying down. Use your free hand to soap and lather then rinse. Watch out for the eyes and genitals with the soap. Now take the cat out and put it in the towel and dry it as much as possible as it will make the blow dryer process much quicker. Use the towel to help hold it down to protect yourself. Remember that once you're done and you let it out, it will run and hide. Make sure it's as dry as possible so it doesn't get sick and dirty too. It's be best to place it into the *safe room and shut the door if you've just brought it home.

It hates you now. You are in its eyes, EVIL. LOL don't worry though. This is normal. It won't last. As long as you don't yell or hit it, it will come around. A cat will NEVER understand why you are yelling at it or hitting it. As angry as you are to find your new couch ripped up, yelling at it will do nothing in terms of a lesson. Nothing. Cats are different from dogs that way. If you have yelled at it before and it's really scared of you now, don't worry. Your cat is scared of you right now because it thinks that if it comes near you, you're going to yell at it again. Same goes with the bath. It thinks that there's a good chance it'll get a bath when it comes near you so it hides. Go into these hiding spots and pick up the animal. Talk to it gently and pet it for a minute or so or until it gets spooked then gently place it back into the same hiding spot. This will start to develop some trust in it towards you as each encounter lowers its guard a little more. If you yell at it or you bath it again in a few months or whatever, you will have to start this process over again. It's much easier if you are the one that feeds it.

ONTO FOOD:
I tried the raw diet. It's not worth the time and effort. Trust me. I understand it might live a year longer and poos less but it won't be as happy as it would be on cat food. It'll take up so much of your time, it'll take time for it to get used to it and it's almost impossible to make a balanced diet yourself. Go get good food at a good store. I don't mean Whiskas. I go to Global Pet Foods here in Toronto and they have all the good brands on their site so you can find a store with some too. I'd measure out a days portion of good dry food according to the guidelines on the bag and leave it in a dish next to its water. Now if you see that it eats it way too fast then you're going to have to feed it regular meals at regular times so that it doesn't go over weight. If it eats it rather slowly then you're one of those lucky cat owners who can leave out a days portion and know that it won't starve. I also like to give it a small meal of wet food once a day but not too much or it'll want only wet food and then you'll never be able to leave home for a few days like a you would be able to with a dry fed cat. Your cat will quickly realize they get that wet meal at that same time everyday. They'll wait for it. Don't increase portions just because it wants more. Treat it as dessert for the day. If you notice that it doesn't even touch the dry food and waits for the wet. Feed meals of mixed wet and dry and it'll get used to that crunch again. After things have calmed down in a couple of weeks or so, your cat will nibble at the dry food throughout the day and wait for that mixed or plain wet meal at the same time each day. They will even wait in the kitchen or come get you at that time. I feed mine its wet meal every morning so that she wakes me up for the day.

EVENTUALLY your cat will like you enough to come lie down beside you or on your lap. If your cat will come up and do that, you're already doing everything right. A cat's love is always earned. Always. They can't be bribed like dogs. If it still hasn't warmed up, be patient and do the things I've mentioned.

 

No, I have never shaved any of my cats. I do have a old neighbor who did shave her cat due to fleas. Poor cat, I felt so sorry for that kitty.

 

I had a cat that matted really bad. Brushing didn't help. It got to the point that the matt was so bad it was standing up off her body. While I was at work one day, my dad called a mobile cat groomer who came out and shaved her. She was not happy about the process but I think she was much happier with no hair than the nasty matt.

 

Here's a couple of Sphynxes trying to hide from a bath:

 

I did not have to shave my cat, but when my ex's cat was getting old, we often had to cut off the matted areas on his fur- otherwise he would just get brushed and that would keep most of his fur ok. When he was younger, he didn't mat up so much, but when he was old, it became an occasional problem. He was really calm, though, so we could do it ourselves holding him. My two have never needed it- not much matting at all- one is a short hair and the other does fine with just a daily brushing. Any mats she gets I can usually just work loose with my fingers and then brush her hair smooth.

 

No, but I did think about doing it one year. But, my husband would not let me shave her. He said she would look like a rat. LOL

 

I think your cat wouldn't be too impressed either. Like this one here: