I am hoping to get some advice on the best shaver for a long haired cat. I have taken him to the groomer periodically because he has ridiculously long hair that tends to mat and he is a bit overweight (okay, he’s a lot overweight) which makes it impossible for him to groom himself.
Unfortunately, he is a scaredy cat. He is afraid to be outdoors, afraid of the car, afraid of the groomer, etc. So, he just cries. And it is so pathetic, it breaks my heart. Having helped with his grooming for years, I feel it would be feasible for my daughter and I to just groom him at home, except that I have no clue as to what type of shaver to get. I assume I will need a professional quality shaver, but there are so many on the market that I don’t know what to get.
Does anyone else shave their cats? Can you recommend a good shaver?
On a side note…any hints on slimming him down? I have a fat cat and a skinny cat and they both eat similar quantities of dry food, so I’m guessing the big guy has metabolism issues. He is getting exercise, as the little guy is rambunctious and chases him all over the house. Any suggestions?
Not sure how it would work on a cat though. I think it would be fine. I would go talk to the groomers at PetsMart or something. They will know for sure.
Do you free feed the cats? If so, stop. You have control over how much food he eats, as well as what kind. Get a low-calorie cat food and only feed him the recommended amounts. If he does not eat it in a single sitting, pick it up. Don’t feed him again until the next mealtime.
Thanks. That does look like a solid shaver. I am going to stop into Petsmart and get some advice.
As for the feeding schedule… each cat gets a scoop of food (about 3/4 cup) once a day. My vet suggested putting him on a wet food (low carb) diet, but when I tried that he was always hungry. If anyone walked by the kitchen, he would literally attack them trying to get more food. Once he stuck his foot in his bowl and dragged the bowl all the way to the living room.
I really think it has to do with metabolism or breed or something. Both my cats are male. Both have been fixed. Both eat the same amounts of food, and get roughly the same amount of exercise, as the thin cat’s favorite sport is chasing the fat cat. The fat cat is long haired and five years old. The skinny cat is short haired and three years old. Both are adopted strays.
I would post pics, but I don’t know how to do that yet.
I’ve got the exact same problem and I really do think metabolism must play a large difference. If anything, it seems like my little cat eats more than the big guy. I"ve never had much luck trying to put my big guy on a diet, he gets so obnoxious that I always cave.
I get my little guy shaved by a groomer. He does really hate it but the trauma is over fast and I think he’d be just a traumatized if I tried to do it.
If you are shaving him for sanitary reasons you don’t have to do the all-over clip every time. A “sanitary” clip is just shaving around the bottom and the back of the legs to facilitate the cat’s grooming efforts. That way you only have to do the all-over as needed. Shorter shaving time and less trauma for you and the cat.
I wish I had some advice about weight loss - I have a couple of fatboys and a couple of plumptious girls. With 9 cats, portion feeding is not a option.
I’ve never tried to shave a cat, but it’s great fun just to clip her nails. Honestly, I put this degree of critter grooming in the “best tool for the job is a checkbook” category. One thought - is there a mobile grooming service in your area? They cost a bit more than a brick-and-mortar groomer, but you don’t have to traveling trauma, nor do you have to learn how to do it yourself and risk hurting either groomer or groomee or assistant(s).
When I was a teen, we had poodles and I used to clip their hair, but they were pretty mellow and their claws weren’t near as sharp as cat needles.
We have to shave our dogs sometimes in the summer to keep them cool (and to avoid nasty hot spots on their skin), I will see if I can find out what type of clippers we have.
True about not free feeding, but you need to cut back on grain products, and feeding the low calorie stuff is not the best thing to do - that stuff is junk and can make the cat hungrier. From this very good cat site:
I much prefer a grain-free dry (like Wellness Core) or just canned. Cats are supposed to eat meat, not grains. You may need to separated them to feed them. I have a fatty that I’m trying to slim down, too.
I took Katie-the-cat to the groomer a year ago to get her shaved, as she had mats (she’s a medium hair Maine Coon cross).
The groomer let me stay there, as I wasn’t sure how Katie would react. I was amazed–she just sat there and let us move her around and shave her without so much as a grumble.
The groomer did a modified lion cut. Katie looked adorable. One of my friends thinks that I should get her groomed like that all the time.
Sorry, no pictures…haven’t figured that out yet.
I might try that sanitary clip. His butt is so much easier to keep clean when it’s shaved. Of course, I would need to do the tail and the part above his hind legs that tends to mat. I’m thinking of just doing to back half of the cat. If I do that, I will really need to figure out how to post pictures.
We have an Andis AGC 2-speed . It’s a good shaver, but it gets warm, and we have to stop and let it cool down. It takes two of us to shave her and anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. We shave her body and leave her tail and head. (Here’s a pic pre-shave.) After the shave is also a good time to bathe them, too.
If you happen to get a 30 or 40 blade with your clippers don’t use them, 40 is a surgical cut and 30 isn’t much better. If you clip that close you risk razor burn and extreme itchiness. A 10 blade is your standard grooming blade.
If you do that, make sure you check for mats up under his front legs. If they get bad, they can actually restrict the cat’s movement. Mats are prety much why I get my guy shaved, he keeps pretty clean otherwise.
I did buy a shaver. It is a higher end Wahl with a 16 foot cord and a stay-cool feature. It was recommended by several people at the pet store and two of them were not employees, so I decided to give it a shot.
I actually did shave the back half of the cat because it was getting late. Hopefully we will get the front of him shaved this evening. He quite enjoyed the process except for that one area. I did him by myself for the most part with my daughter helping for the tricky part.
I do think this will be the solution to his grooming. No more crying jags on the way to the groomer. Now if I could just get the vet to come to my house.
I would love to post pictures if somebody will tell me how to get them from my computer into a post. This is the most ridiculous haircut I have ever seen on an animal.
The easiest thing is to set up an account on one of the photo hosting sites like PhotoBucket or Flickr, upload your kitty pics and then post a link on the board.
