# I vacuumed my cat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794 "2006-04-22T22:21:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/1 "2006-04-22T22:21:38Z")
Seriously, this is a momentous day. Fat Lou was just hanging out with me in the kitchen, acting less scairdy of the Evil Machine of Noise than usual. I had the hose part out so I could get the crumbs under the stove. I got closer. He looked bored. I moved the nozzle over his back, at an angle so it wouldn’t pull his skin up. He seemed a little bit aprehensive, but the kitchen is where the food lives, so he stayed put. He let me vacuum his little furry, sheds like a maniac body! For about 3 or 4 minutes! If he lets me do this again, I am so making a video. ---
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/2 "2006-04-22T22:26:06Z")
[http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/kalex999/?action=view¤t=LOUIE6.jpg](http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/kalex999/?action=view¤t=LOUIE6.jpg) I hope this works - here’s Louie, pre vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/3 "2006-04-22T22:38:51Z")
Louie is so cute! How old is he? I wish Fat Cookie would allow me to do the same thing. She sheds like crazy. I bought one of those rubber hair-removal brushes, but it’s a relentless pursuit and needs to be done daily. I’m too lazy. ---
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/4 "2006-04-22T23:24:03Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Louie is so cute! How old is he? Thank you! He is about 10 years old. He’s a Good Boy, and can move with lightning speed if he thinks someone dropped a crumb in the next room. Other than that, it’s naps, bellyrubs, and apparantly, vacuuming. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/5 "2006-04-22T23:34:48Z")
I would so love to vacuum my cat. Oh wait. You’re just talking about his coat. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/6 "2006-04-23T01:37:39Z")
I am so impressed. Mine clear out of the room if they even see the vacuum cleaner. If I tried to use it on one of them I don’t think I’d be healthy enough to post a thread about it! That Louie sure is a handsome fella! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/7 "2006-04-23T01:40:04Z")
Brushing or combing doesn’t help? My mother used to vaccume the cats during flea season back before Advantage. Needless to say, they didn’t enjoy it very much. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/8 "2006-04-23T01:51:01Z")
Wow. I’m impressed. He must be a pretty easygoing cat. My boy takes off, my girl cowers until you turn the vacuum off, and then she walks over to it and slaps at it with a paw, as if it’s greatly offended her and she’s got to teach it a lesson. She does it with the Dustbuster, too. E. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/9 "2006-04-23T01:59:06Z")
My dog yelps like a screaming thing and runs for the hills if she even _sees_ the vacuum, so I don’t think I’ll get a chance. But she is very, very cute. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/10 "2006-04-23T02:18:15Z")
It is a new one on me, but one of our guys not only does not fear the tank type vacuum we use around the litter box, but actually loves to have us put the hose end right on his body and suck the skin up. He attacks the hose, wrestles with it and has a grand old time. Obviously he is demented, but we knew that. The upright one does not phase him either, we have to push him out of the way when we get close. The other guy is pretty blase about it, does not like it, but doesn’t seem to fear it either. You heard about the woman who named her cat Nature because he abhored a vacuum? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/11 "2006-04-23T02:28:07Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > \ slaps at it with a paw, as if it’s greatly offended her and she’s got to teach it a lesson. She does it with the Dustbuster, too. > > E. I had a cat that did the same thing; she would beat the daylights out of the vacuum so long as it was turned off. My mother had a cat that would actively solict vacuuming—as soon as Mother began using the hose attachment, that cat would lie down in front of it. Strange kittey. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/12 "2006-04-23T02:42:50Z")
I was watching Show Cats on PBS the other day, and one of the cat owners says she knows that if one of her cats doesn’t freak at the vacuum cleaner, it’ll likely be calm at the cat show. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/13 "2006-04-23T02:55:25Z")
“Spring cleaning! I’ll vacuum the cat. Spring cleaning! Where’d I get this dead rat? You’ll find a lot of things when you’re spring cleaning.” Ten bonus points to whoever can name the reference! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/14 "2006-04-23T04:58:09Z")
Fat Lou is a handsome fellow. I’d give him a tummyrub any time. My grandparents’ cats loved to be vacuumed, and would turn over on command so that they could get the other side done. It’s a win-win situation, cat gets rid of loose itchy fur, and the human doesn’t have to put up with as much fur around the house. Unfortunately, the Bodoni cats do not enjoy being vacuumed or brushed, they prefer to mark the house with layers of cat fur. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/15 "2006-04-23T05:20:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I was watching Show Cats on PBS the other day, and one of the cat owners says she knows that if one of her cats doesn’t freak at the vacuum cleaner, it’ll likely be calm at the cat show. I watched that too! It was like a real life “Best in Show.” Those are some _ahem_ dedicated people, there. Not crazy at all, oh no. (Do you suppose we could find a picture on the net somewhere of a cat in stud pants? That was way too funny.) Fat Louie sure is a handsome boy. [Here](http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=louie30ni.jpg) is my first cat, Lou. I think Lou is a great name for a cat. I wish I could vacuum my current cat, [Feather](http://img313.imageshack.us/my.php?image=featherinthecloset9is.jpg), too. She is the sheddingest cat I’ve ever known. I’ve opened packages fresh from the store, and found a cat hair in them (I guess the whoosh of air going into the package sucked a cat hair in with it. Either that or Feather’s hair actually _is_ over everything in the world, which is what I suspect.) ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vacuumed-my-cat/353794/16 "2006-04-23T05:26:08Z")
When I was a kid (and actually for many years after that, too) I had a cat who so loved the vacuum cleaner that she would mug the cleaning lady who came in every Weds. The first thing she had to do was vacuum the cat! This was a long-haired Maine coon cat who probably felt a lot better after some of that fur was removed. As to how she came to like being vacuumed, well, I was a very experimental kid. When I used to have to run the vacuum cleaner, one of the things I did to amuse myself was vacuum my hair into it, which I thought was kind of an interesting feeling. When my cat was about six months old I tried this technique on her tail and for some reason–maybe because she trusted me and knew I wouldn’t hurt her–she let me. And she really got into it! But the cats I have today, if I want them out of a room (for instance if I’m laying out fabric to cut on the living room floor, which is a real cat magnet), all I have to do is get the vacuum cleaner out of the closet, and they are gone.