cat haircuts?

I have a really fat cat that can't preen herself. Is it okay to give a cat a haircut? Any suggestions on how? She is an indoor short hair.

Hey there Mighty Cat

well first has she been to the Vet to see what can be done about her weight - it's not healthy you know and I am sure she'd feel better if she lost some weight.

Yes it is OK to give cats hair cuts - the hair does grow back. But, if she is a short hair I do not see why she would need a hair cut. Do you groom her at all? Why not do that, get a metal flea comb - reason being the teethe are placed very tight - and it does a great job with getting out the dead hair. Groom her once a day and I am sure her appearance will improve drastically. I think all she needs is your helping hand. Good luck!!!

If she is that overweight, you may want to re-think her eating program and talk to a vet about it. Keeping fat cats, you run the risk of heart disease, diabetes, fatty cancers, all sorts of bad things. It might not be your eating program for her, it might be she has a thyroid problem? Since you are there and you are the only one who can gauge if she is too fat, then it is your call.

If you do get her shaved, have it done by professionals. It isn't easy to clip a moving target! Plus the groomers will do other things to aid in your cat's comfort. If you are getting slammed with the hot weather, she might appreciate the cooler look, however is she is a short hair, that won't be as much of an issue as if she were LH.

I would definately not recommend cutting your cats hair. I had a terrible experience. I was trying to remove some mats from my blue kitty when she was only 3 months old, I got some real sharp scissors and started cutting, then all of a sudden she decided to move and I sliced her under her neck. I had to race her down to the local vet and she was sewn up imediately needing 5 stitches. I will NEVER again take to a pair of scissors on my kittys. Leave it to the professionals.

Each summer our 3 siamese lose all but 1/16" of coat.
They do not approve of any machinery, especially if used in a very personal way. After the struggle they are mad for about 3 minutes. The first month after cutting, they are fast! Cat chases, cat games, tag, cat fights & other cat athletics are fast, frequent, fun.
Shedding is ended for about 3 months.
Procedure is simple:
Cut claws.
Bathe cat.
Make ready Oster A5 clipper & #10 blade, tall 4' diameter glass table, shop vacuum, tall floor fan & vacuum sweeper.
Place cat on table, grasp tail, trim cat. Cut against grain except on lower legs, feet. Brush off cut fur. A second person to distract & comfort cat is desirable. Cat may be peaceful one year, then bite & cry another year. Glass table provides stable cat footing without a place to set hooks. Floor fan helps avoid breathing & eating cathair; furry eyeballs are not nice.
The 17 year old long fine white furred cat is also cut. he also becomes active after cutting.

Taking your cat to the vet for a workover to see if there is any medical problem would be a good thing to do. Some obesity is due to a medical condition, but of course, blood work would have to be done to know. And, sound advice on how to help your cat lose weight would be good to hear from a vet. It is dangerous for cats to lose weight quickly.

I don't think shaving cats is a good thing to do in general. They did evolve in a desert climate, with fur, after all. Fur acts as an insulator from cold AND heat. Cats shed more when it's warm, to regulate things naturally. Perhaps some recently created long-haired breeds have more fur than "nature" would have supplied, and could do with some (not all) of their fur shaved in very hot weather. And, there are some cats with triple layer coats who might benefit from at least a crew cut of sorts, but not a total fur removal. Some long-haired cats get very tangled mats, that do need to be cut. But I would not shave any fur off of an ordinary short-haired cat.

My cats often go outside to lounge on our latticed-in porch when we have the AC on. They seem to prefer things on the warm side (though not terrible heat in direct sunlight, of course.) They will be snoozing out there in the 80 degree heat, quite happy, while having the choice to come into the climated controlled 70 degree house. Probably because their body temperatures are higher than that of humans, so they feel the cold faster.

You will need to help your cat with his grooming, since he is too fat to reach his back. Most of my five cats love for me to comb them with a flea comb. It gets out all the loose hair and any debris much better than a brush, and I think it feels to them like getting a nice back scratch (just go easy on the spine or it hurts them.) Then wipe wipe your cat down daily with a washcloth wet with warm, not hot or cold, water to be a substitite cat tongue, to get the dust and excess oils off. That can turn into a mighty nice bonding, lovey time.