# The Best Way To Skin A Cat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027 "2000-06-20T20:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/21 "2000-06-22T18:49:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > How do you make a cat go woof? > > Soak the cat in petrol, stand back and throw a match. > > Woof. > \*\* How do you make a dog sound like a cat? Freeze him solid, then take a power saw to him. MEEEEOOOWWWW!!! ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/22 "2000-06-22T19:02:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > The standard method is to cut around the asshole and legs(without cutting the tail off), slice 'em from ass to mouth, then step on the tail as you pull firmly yet gently on the hind legs. The hide should come off quite nicely, although you may have to do some trimming around the head if you want that part. > > \*\* A slight refinement of a technically sound plan(and of course assuming that cat is already dead). Execute the above mentioned steps as quickly as possible after executing the aforementioned cat. As with any animal they are easier to skin while the body is still warm. I also believe you could have a good deal of success using a Dremel tool and a grinder. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/23 "2000-06-22T19:05:39Z")
for Zoology class. This method get most of the skin as if you were going to use it for a cat coat. [ol] [li]Cut along anterior (stomach) from crotch to throat[/li][li]Cut around neck, above scruff in the back, making sure cut touches anterior cut.[/li][li]Cut around forepaws as high as possible. Make sure you cut deep enough here, or you’ll rip the forepaws off, since there’s only ligaments holding them on. Also cut from anterior cut to cut around forepaws[/li][li]Cut around hind legs, from bottom of anterior cut, in front of back legs, across back by base of tail.[/li][li]Cuts complete. Place cat on stomach. (From here, it helps to have an assistant holding the cat’s forepaws from the front.)[/li][li]From the back, reach over its neck and grab flaps of skin created by neck/forepaw/anterior cuts. Pull skin off shoulders as if you’re removing someones coat for them.[/li][li]Pull steadily towards the back of cat. If necessary, reach under skin to break connective tissue.[/li][li]Skin should come off easily at the tail end.[/li][/ol] (Didja think anyone would actually have the procedure? :D:D) ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/24 "2000-06-22T19:07:18Z")
BTW, my method works best if the cats dead first. 😃 Soaking in formaldehyde (sp?) is optional. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/25 "2000-06-22T19:12:55Z")
I’ve developed a new method. What you need are a lathe and a chisel… ---
**Author:** ![dook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dook)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/26 "2000-06-22T19:17:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I’ve developed a new method. What you need are a lathe and a chisel… > \*\* Don’t you need to freeze the cat first for this one to work? ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/27 "2000-06-22T19:24:02Z")
Actually I’m pleased to announce that the good people at Genentech have developed the worlds first geneticly modified pre-skinned cat, complete with self-grown zipper! My own experience with this breakthrough cat was cut short when the cat, dashing about the house chasing a housefly, got it’s zipper pull caught a carpet thread and accidently dropped it’s guts all over my living room floor. ---
**Author:** ![SILENT-BOB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@SILENT-BOB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SILENT-BOB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/28 "2000-06-22T20:16:42Z")
😕 :eek: :wally ---
**Author:** ![KimKatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@KimKatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KimKatt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/29 "2000-06-22T20:20:59Z")
:eek: Maybe I should hide. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/30 "2000-06-22T20:33:18Z")
Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Minxsmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Minxsmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minxsmom)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/31 "2000-06-22T20:44:03Z")
I hid my little Minx the minute I saw the thread title. No sense taking any chances. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/32 "2000-06-22T20:44:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Pull skin off shoulders as if you’re removing someones coat > > \*\* Well aren’t you, in a sense, removing the CAT’S coat?? :rolleyes: Okay, that was stupid. Anyway, to skin a cat, you could do what I did to mine last night. 😃 I’m kidding, but I bet it would work. Hold the cat by it’s neck and make 5 V-shaped cuts on the top of it’s head, the point of each V touching in the middle. Proceed to “peel” cat like a banana. Remove any skin left on the cat using a filet knife. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/33 "2000-06-22T21:40:16Z")
Skinning the cat, [streaming video.](http://mindquest.net/biology/videos/cat-skinning.html) Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/34 "2000-06-22T21:49:15Z")
OH crap, I can’t do java applets through my company firewall. Could someone just describe the movie in vivid detail please? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/35 "2000-06-23T01:15:19Z")
Cat: the OTHER white meat ---
**Author:** ![Niggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Niggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niggle)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/36 "2000-06-23T01:40:33Z")
Looks like students in a university lab. They cut the sking up the belly which procedes to almost fall off the corpse. They then make incisions along each of the legs and peel that back. They just cut around the neck so they don’t have to remove the head, so there’s a hole in that part of the skin. I stopped watching then, as I thought some coworker was going to come up behind me and ask what sort of sicko I am, but I assume that the rest of the video is the completed disection. They were actually skinning quite a few cats. Looked like half a dozen. Interesting video. -niggle > [@](#): > > \*\* > OH crap, I can’t do java applets through my company firewall. Could someone just describe the movie in vivid detail please? 🙂 > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Jo3sh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@Jo3sh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jo3sh)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/37 "2000-06-23T02:22:11Z")
My favorite metod involes an even number of cats (live or dead) and a centrifuge. Attach the tails firmly to the rotor, and power up. ---
**Author:** ![lswote](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lswote/32/5737_2.png) [@lswote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lswote)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/38 "2000-06-23T02:24:34Z")
**Incredible!** Someone posts an abstract idea about how to skin a cat and someone else provides a video of it. This is why I love this board. 🙂 So does anyone have a video of the Roswell alien autopsies? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/39 "2000-06-23T04:02:22Z")
You don’t get a good skin afterwords, but I’ve always like the soak-in-acid method. Especially entertaining if it’s still alive. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. ---
**Author:** ![FreakFreely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@FreakFreely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakFreely)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027/40 "2000-06-23T04:52:00Z")
Test Tom and Jerry. Nail the cat’s feet to the floor and use a cattle prod on it. See if if a cat really can jump out of it’s skin. Even if it doesn’t work, it should be fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-skin-a-cat/23027.md?page=3)