suggestions on shaving a cat butt?

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
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On 2005-03-15, Mary penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

How do you keep her tail out of the way? I have trouble holding
Oscar *and* lifting her tail out of the way.


Buddha is a tuxedo shorthair and has a trim, pretty short little tail.
Oscar's is long and fluffy. You could put a towel under Oscar and wrap
it up in a way that the tail is caught up in it, and hold that part of
the towel with one hand while you tend to the front half of Oscar with
the other. You might have to lie down for this.


You know, I never wanted a longhair. They never appealed to me. But
don't
tell Oscar! Now, of course, I have a very different attitude.

If Boo's a shorthair, why does she need a trim?


She's err, um, just a bit thick in the middle.





Okay, okay, she's huge. She ought to be 8 lbs but she is
more like 18. We did not do this to her. It's a long story.
So I think she is too fat to reach parts of her nether regions.
We are working on it.

"CatNipped" wrote in message
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"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-14, Mary penned:

We lay Buddha on the floor on a couple of towels on her back, and I
hold/distract her while my husband uses those hair clippers they sell
for
home haircuts. She hates it, but it's fast and pretty easy.

How do you keep her tail out of the way? I have trouble holding Oscar
*and*
lifting her tail out of the way.

I would have her stand while you hold her body still then let your husband
hold her tail up with one hand and weild the clippers with the other.

The trouble with this is cats make their legs disappear when they are
unhappy with what you are doing. :0) Like at the vet, Cheeky is suddenly
legless. He cannot even get her leg straightened out to feel for her
linear granuloma. I think they are retractable.


If
the clippers aren't working you might want to invest in a pair of
professional pet clippers. Pet groomers put cats on a leash hooked to a
stand and then hold the tail with one hand while shaving with the other -
so
you might try putting her in a halter and leash tied to something and then
you can steady her and hold her tail up if your husband use both hands.


How do they keep the cats from tucking their legs??

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
Hrm. I think her problem is more with the "pantaloons" than with the
area
immediately around her rear. Her actual anal area is clean; she gets
litter
stuck to the backs of her legs, where she has very long hair; some of
it is
probably several inches long. Is there a term I could use when
talking to a
groomer to clarify this, or should I just say what I just typed?


I would be very specific about what you want. You described it here
perfectly.

-L.

On 2005-03-15, Mary penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

If Boo's a shorthair, why does she need a trim?


She's err, um, just a bit thick in the middle.





Okay, okay, she's huge. She ought to be 8 lbs but she is more like 18. We
did not do this to her. It's a long story. So I think she is too fat to
reach parts of her nether regions. We are working on it.

Poor girl. Man, if someone told me they'd be taking clippers to my butt until
I lost weight, I'd be dropping pounds like crazy! Too bad you can't tell Boo
why she has to be shaved =/

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote i


Okay, okay, she's huge. She ought to be 8 lbs but she is more like 18.
We
did not do this to her. It's a long story. So I think she is too fat to
reach parts of her nether regions. We are working on it.

Poor girl. Man, if someone told me they'd be taking clippers to my butt
until
I lost weight, I'd be dropping pounds like crazy! Too bad you can't tell
Boo
why she has to be shaved =/


She is such a chow hound she might not even care. Her first
owner did not know how to show love except with "want
a goody?" So she became disfunctional about food. I can
distract her with play but she spends a lot of the evening
waiting by the food dish even AFTER she has been fed.
Here is the weird thing: she has a severely hyperactive
thyroid--yes, hyPER. She was obese before we checked
it with Tapazole, now she is worse. The vet said it happens
sometimes that these cats are fat, he does not know why.
He looked at me with his eyes bugging out when we put
her on Tapazole and said: "You realize she is going to
GAIN weight, right?" But it is better than what can
happen if we allow her thyroid to go unchecked. She
is very agile except for the butt thing, believe it or not.
She zips around and "cuts a shine" every night. She is
on a diet now. Purrs couldn't hurt though. She is 10
and I love her to pieces. She's got moxy.

On 2005-03-15, Mary penned:

She is such a chow hound she might not even care. Her first owner did not
know how to show love except with "want a goody?" So she became
disfunctional about food. I can distract her with play but she spends a lot
of the evening waiting by the food dish even AFTER she has been fed. Here
is the weird thing: she has a severely hyperactive thyroid--yes, hyPER. She
was obese before we checked it with Tapazole, now she is worse. The vet said
it happens sometimes that these cats are fat, he does not know why. He
looked at me with his eyes bugging out when we put her on Tapazole and said:
"You realize she is going to GAIN weight, right?" But it is better than what
can happen if we allow her thyroid to go unchecked. She is very agile except
for the butt thing, believe it or not. She zips around and "cuts a shine"
every night. She is on a diet now. Purrs couldn't hurt though. She is 10 and
I love her to pieces. She's got moxy.

Ah, yes, I remember her weird weight vs. eating issues from h+b. How she
doesn't lose weight even on a small amount of food. I hope you can find a way
for her to safely lose some weight.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-15, Mary penned:

She is such a chow hound she might not even care. Her first owner did
not
know how to show love except with "want a goody?" So she became
disfunctional about food. I can distract her with play but she spends a
lot
of the evening waiting by the food dish even AFTER she has been fed.
Here
is the weird thing: she has a severely hyperactive thyroid--yes, hyPER.
She
was obese before we checked it with Tapazole, now she is worse. The vet
said
it happens sometimes that these cats are fat, he does not know why. He
looked at me with his eyes bugging out when we put her on Tapazole and
said:
"You realize she is going to GAIN weight, right?" But it is better than
what
can happen if we allow her thyroid to go unchecked. She is very agile
except
for the butt thing, believe it or not. She zips around and "cuts a
shine"
every night. She is on a diet now. Purrs couldn't hurt though. She is 10
and
I love her to pieces. She's got moxy.

Ah, yes, I remember her weird weight vs. eating issues from h+b. How she
doesn't lose weight even on a small amount of food. I hope you can find a
way
for her to safely lose some weight.


Thank you. Boo is a wonderful girl, and a prime example of how
wrongheaded expressions of love--esp. when only given as food!--
can be.

"Karen" wrote in message
...

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
Oscar has very long, wispy fur all over, including her rear end.
Unfortunately, this means that she sometimes gets litter stuck to the
fur,
which doesn't please anyone in the household, and it's not easy to get
Oscar
to tolerate a butt-washing. Usually she ends up doing it herself, which
worries me because of the litter.

Anyway, we've been talking about shaving her for a while, and yesterday
we
finally tried. DH got out the clipper attachment to his electric razor,
and I
held Oscar wrapped in one of my sweatshirts.

Well, it was somewhat successful. The very longest hairs are gone.
Oscar
protested vehemently while we were doing this, but she didn't appear to
be
upset at us afterwards. I think fully half of her anger stemmed from
being
held upside down; the other half from having something buzzing near her
bum.

DH has suggested taking her to a groomer, but she hates her carrier and
cars,
and I can only imagine the kind of trauma a groomer would cause.

Any suggestions from the guardians of long-haired cats on butt-shaving
techniques? Would a scissor work better? DH said that it was hard to
shave
her because her fur is so light that it just gets pushed away rather than
being cut.

I wouldn't use scissors. My vet just lifts their tail up and zips up on
both
sides and poof it is done. Maybe setting her on a surface would be a
better
idea and make the clipping easier.


Now, personally, I would use scissors. I would get someone to hold her and
lift her tail and snip away without grabbing hold of the hair to pull the
skin away from the body, when you can easily accidently cut them.
I, too, would set her on some sort of worktop. If she became afraid I would
cover her face with a tea towel before I did it. This is a nice way to get
the thigh fur down to about a quarter inch or even less without scaring them
with a buzzy machine.

Tweed