Shaving Cats Fur Off

[matt1991]

my solid black boy in my profile pic here was full of fleas him and the other cat i have and it was so bad they wouldnt even stay in the living room they have not left the kitchen in days due to it not having carpet iv killed 95% of fleas in carpets now with raid spray

i used a flea combo on the other boy got the majority of fleas off him but the long black haired boy its too hard to get fleas off him due to how thick long his hair is so i shaved him down not completely bald but like a crew cut so i could then give him a good scrubbing my question is is this ok to do for a cat and about how long till his hair will grow back

 

[vyger]

I have seen people who get their cats "summer cuts". It looks kind of funny because they get creative and do things like leave tufts on their tails. But apparently if done correctly it does not appear to be a problem especially with long hair cats in warmer climates.

If you do a Google search you can see some pretty wild cuts.

summer cuts for cats - Google Search

 

[Kflowers]

I got two of mine shaved for mats fairly regularly. One it never bothered at all, the other would hide the first couple of days after the shave, but then seemed to forget it happened. They seemed to like it in the hot weather, stretching out on the tile floors. Fur was fully back by the end of October.

 

[jen]

For warm weather reasons I don't agree with. Cats fur is insulation. They groom to cool down. Shaving them messes their whole natural process up. Put a fan on or give them access to cool or shade another way before resorting to shaving them.

Now for fleas, you need to treat them with a product from the vet for at least 3 months. You can use a capstar to almost immediately kill all the live adult fleas on the cat. And then use a topical for monthly protection from the new ones. You need to repeat this monthly because new fleas will hatch and grow and jump on. Not to mention the ones in the floorboards, couches, beds, etc. Everything needs treated. If you have other pets in the home like a dog, it needs treated for 3 months minimum. If your yard is overgrown with grass, cut it short. Treat it if you have to. With pet safe products. You have to be thorough and consistent.

 

[basscat]

In the process of crew cut / mangle styling now. We do a little bit each day. As much as she can stand. She lets us know when she's had enough.
She's very old and fragile, Super long fur, gets matted really bad and the mats are painful to her.
She'll put up with trimming a little bit. She won't put up with brushing at all.
We've had to do this every summer for the last few years.