Oy, I've gone and done it...

I decided to try shaving Willow today. I heard somewhere else that someone shaves her longhair cat in the summers, and I decided to try it with Willow. She's a longhair, and sometimes gets "debri" stuck to her hind end (thus why I was trying the shaving). I took her to the bathroom, plugged in the shaver (which was my brothers, by the way, though he actually tolerated it .

First, I let Willow hear the shaver (by the front door) and she spooked at first, but tried to sniff it. She kept jerking away, like she was terrified that it would bite her. I turned it off, put it on the floor, and she sniffed it to her heart's content. Buffy, the shorthair (and Willow's "baby") came over to sniff it too. Soon, I brought Willow to the bathroom and turned it back on. Normally, Willow is terrified of the bathroom, and this was no exception. She fought me at first, but I put her on the sink area and she calmed down. Then I turned it on and started shaving the hair off her back. I found that it's fun, but hard. It took about an hour to get just her back done, and I'm still nowhere near done. But I checked the forums today for topics on people who've shaved their cats, and I'm more happy about Willow's reaction. She didn't need to be wrapped in a towel, she didn't run around the bathroom, she didn't attack me (well, she slapped my hand once to say "Thats enough!"). She stood quite well by the sink, and walked around the room. At one point, she "collapsed" on the heat vent and started rolling, which is Willow being happy (she never rolls voluntarily). I'm guessing the vibrations near her rump got her going

I'm gonna try again tomorrow (even though my family has laughed at her and commented on how she looks like a sheared sheep). I want to get her belly, the rest of her sides, and her chest (if she's doing well at that point). Then I'll do it again in teh summer when it's hotter and she can really appriciate it. Of course, I'll try a shorter blade tomorrow, as most of the posts in the forum said that shorter blades were easier and better to use (and no wonder it took so long for me with the longer blade ) lol!

Just a suggestion, but if you are going to make this a routine thing, you might want to invest in a pair of clippers for cats and not use your brother's shaver, razor burn would be a real concern. Glad your cat tolerated it- now how did your brother do when you told him?

yeah, I want to try and get a cat clipper (along with a dog clipper). I took my brother's shaver without asking, actually ( ) but he didn't react too bad. He heard it going in the bathroom, and just asked what we were doing. Later, he kept asking "Are you done yet?" He has a buzz cut, so he needs it to keep his head kinda bald, lol.

And i finished Willow today. She now refuses to look at me (if I do, and she sees, she flees in the opposite direction). She still did quite well, but she got mad when I had my sister come over and hold her down, so i could do her belly. Mind you, I was careful, keeping in mind that the bellies are sensitive. But I finally managed to shave down the hair behind her back legs, so now no more cling will be happening