Lion Cuts on Cats

[sap483]

I''m thinking about getting a lion cut for my long haired himalyan cat. My reasoning behind this is that we are going away for three weeks, and I don''t know if our friends who are watching him will be able to adequately groom him- he''s very shy around strangers. Also, he wheezes when it gets hot, so I think this will help him stay cooler.

I was reading up on it though, and some people stated that it was very stressful for the cat, would harm their coat forever and of course the cat could get cut by the razor (fyo we will bring him to a professional groomer at the vet''s). So now I''m torn - I don''t want to stress my little man out or damage his beautiful fur. What are your thoughts? Have any of you done this to your cats?

 

[lulu]

My son takes his long haired cat to a groomer every summer and has her shaved. You can tell the cat likes it and is a lot more comfortable.

 

[packrat]

We shave both our cats, and they don''t particularly like it during, but once it''s done, we''ve noticed they''re a lot more active. They zoom around and play a lot more..maybe they can feel the air on their skin more? Britta snuggles more in the winter if she''s shaved, and I like that hehe. We shave our Cavalier too. My brother''s exgirlfriend had a cat w/loooong black fur, and she decided to shave her after we started doing ours-the cats hair grew back whitish silver colored! Craziest thing ever. And it''s kind of fun to give them weird haircuts..sometimes we shave Britta completely, but only do one pass over the top of her head like a reverse mohawk.

 

[HopeDream]

One of my good friends had the groomers give her cat a lion cut and it totaly changed the personality of the cat!

Boots (Mature female with long black hair) was quite stand-offish and hid in the basement all the time.
After her lion cut Boots became cuddly and sociable, and hung out upstairs with everyone much more than before.
It was like they had a completely different (friendlier) cat!

Try out the lion cut, the hair will always grow back!

Cheers,

HD

 

[Gypsy]

Cat's are individuals. I don't think you can predict how every cat is going to react to anything. But a long haired cat with a snarled coat and tangles whose owners are gone for three weeks is gonna be stressed. And the hair cut isn't permanent... so, if you think it's best for him, give it a try.

If you want to do it though, do it now so that he gets used to it while you are around and you can see how he reacts. If you do it too close to your trip and you come back and he's frazzled you won't know why for sure. Ya know?

We went away for a week a couple of years ago with a friend who came by and fed them (she didn't stay much with them, like 15 minutes a day) and when we came back one of our cats had started licking himself bald... we could NOT figure out what it was and thought we had caused him irreparible psychological harm by leaving him (first time he'd ever been left without a full time sitter) -- turns out it was fleas (we have no idea how he got them) and he was allergic and super sensitive to them. We put him on Frontline and he's now got his coat back. But we didn't know, and really thought our absence was the cause.

LONG story, sorry it's late and I'm rambling, but my point is... try to do it early enough so you know any changes to his personality/stress level are happening because of the ONE thing (the hair cut) and not because of anything else (your absence).

 

[Deelight]

My kitties get shaved at least 2-3 times a year (professionally by the vet) they are sedated and last couple of times they have had pom pom tails and fluffy faces

- the personality does change in such a good way they get more playful and energetic (we live in a hot climate) personally I don''t get them shaved to look like anything my only instructions are short as possible as long as kitty doesn''t stress and is okay - don;t care if it is neat or what keep kitty happy.

They are also in my opinion much nicer to pat

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

I used to work for a Feline only Veterinary clinic.. and we did lion cuts all the time. However, it really varied from cat to cat. Some cats absolutely loved being groomed and others... well had to be sedated to even be taken out of the carrier. That being said, being a tangled mess is going to be a lot more traumatic and irritating than being groomed by careful professionals.

 

[LGK]

I take my longhair kitty to the vet every summer for a lion cut. Our apartment is very hot, and he is sensitive to it and will get all unhappy and melted if his coat is long. So, we found a vet that will groom him without putting him under; that was my major requirement, that we not risk anaesthetic for grooming convenience, as he is teensy and elderly.

As far as damaging his coat or anything, it looks fabulous when it grows out, very glossy and thick, so I can''t imagine it does it damage. Of the five times he got shaved, he got nicked a little once, but it wasn''t awful, just a tiny cut that didn''t bother him.

Some cats might hate it, but not all. Rat loves being shaved nekkid, he prances around like he''s got a new outfit. And he is antisocial and skitty, so it''s hard to say how a cat will react. And, oddly, he does fine being groomed at the vets but will fight me tooth and nail. I guess he wears himself out freaking out on the drive there, and is limp and resigned to his fate by the time we get to the vet.

 

[Lorelei]

I have 4 Persians and clip them myself, one in particular HATES being groomed, this little chap was a rescue and has had a very hard life, so it is much easier on him for us to give him a haircut. He quite enjoys it sometimes in fact. I tend to leave the tails intact, clip around the butts, body and bellies and with my little Himmie I leave him little flared trousers on the lower parts of his hind legs, he looks STINKING cute like that! I think they feel a lot more comfortable this way and they are very good about being clipped. I am lucky that mine don't mind that I don't have to take them to the vet and have them knocked out for it!

 

[iheartscience]

I wish you all would post pictures of your kitties with their haircuts! They sound adorable! I have two long haired kitties but they don''t seem to be uncomfortable in the summer so I never thought to get them haircuts. But I am kind of tempted because they would look SO CUTE! Hahaha I guess that''s not a good reason, though.

 

[risingsun]

Our two Maine Coon cats get lion cuts every summer. We leave the leggings, tail, head, and mane. It doesn't seem to bother either of them and they do seem much more comfortable. We have our groomer do the lion cut to avoid stress to the cats and death and destruction to ourselves

We do not shave our Cavalier, but I would surely like to see a pic of one who has been clipped, packrat!

 

[Deelight]

Date: 6/20/2009 6:40:00 PM
Author: thing2of2
I wish you all would post pictures of your kitties with their haircuts! They sound adorable! I have two long haired kitties but they don''t seem to be uncomfortable in the summer so I never thought to get them haircuts. But I am kind of tempted because they would look SO CUTE! Hahaha I guess that''s not a good reason, though.

When I go downstairs i will see if I can find a before and after photo for you

 

[LGK]

OK, here''s Rat all nekkid and silly.

 

[LGK]

He''s teensy under all his fur, about 6 or 7 lbs.

 

[LGK]

I think the Rat has some Maine Coon in him- he''s very similar to my friend''s purebred Coon but in miniature.

 

[LGK]

Last naked Rat pic. I love how he feels when he's freshly shaved, he feels like a warm peach or something. He also gets verrrry cuddly when he's shaved, the little heat leech.

 

[swingirl]

Adorable kitty, LGK!!! I love the look. Can''t harm the cat and it will grow back!

 

[Lorelei]

Hehehe! He looks so cute!

 

[iheartscience]

EEEEK he is adorable! Hahaha! Thanks for the pics!

 

[Lorelei]

Heehee! He looks like he has little workout legwarmers on....hehehe!!

 

[sap483]

Thanks for sharing all of your experiences! It definitely has eased my doubts.

Gypsy- I have an appointment tomorrow which gives us a week and a half to see how he reacts. Hopefully he will be ok. He has been partially shaved before. We went away for a week over Thanksgiving and his belly got knotted pretty badly (he needs to be groomed every day if not multiple times a day to stay mat free). So we had the groomer shave just the belly, and he didn''t seem to mind it at all. So I''ll keep my fingers crossed that he feels similarly this time around.

LGK- Oh my goodness, your little guy is too adorable. Thanks for sharing his picture!

 

[nebe]

We have a Maine Coon that weighs about 14lbs now. When she grows her fur out, she ends up choking on it and doesn''t eat properly, so we have her cut twice a year. She could be done more often, but at $65 a shot it''s a bit much.

She''s never TERRIBLY happy about it, but you can tell she feels much better once it''s one. We leave a tuff at her tail for humor purposes, but you don''t have to. I''ve stayed with her when she has it done and I''ve dropped her off by herself and neither really make a difference for her. The woman we have do it is registered, and her shop is very clean. Her fur does grow back frizzier than it originally was, but if we left her be for a year or more it''d probably be silkier again. There are all sorts of different ways to do it, but we stick to a "Buzz #2 toe to tail tip" FH and I think she looks like she has Uggs on!

 

[nebe]

A bit grown out, sorry for the darkness!

 

[nebe]

"Get out muh face!"

 

[nebe]

Also, once she''s done, her paws track a LOT less (Feline Pine Clumping) litter around the house since she has little tuffs of fur between each toe. She lays around on her back on hot days and flaunts that she''s cooler than the other two cats- it''s pretty funny!