Summer hair cuts for Ragdolls

[catdaddy38]

My cat, Dax, is a ragdoll and she has a very long and THICK coat. I'm taking her in for a grooming in June and I'm thinking about having them shave her but I've never had a long-haired cat before and I don't want to traumatize her. She seemed to do fine the only other time I've had her groomed but they didn't shave her, they just cut it short(a little shorter than I wanted tbh) but with the summer heat and living in a house without central air(I moved in October), I don't want her to overheat in the summer. Any advice?

 

[iPappy]

I am a groomer, and we have shaved cats before. If the cats have problems with the inability to self groom, hairballs, or hate brushing it's a good option for them, though not something I would choose for aesthetics alone.
Does your cat allow you to brush or comb her?
If you like and trust the groomer, ask them to assess her coat and lifestyle and see what they recommend. A good de-shedding might do a world of good if she tolerates it. A thick undercoat in the warmer weather causes more issues than the top coat, so assessing how much she has and if it's ready to shed out will be of help.
If she's the cat in your avatar, she is absolutely adorable BTW
Keep in mind, some cats with repeated shave downs can develop "coat funk", where the undercoat grows back in but the top coat does not. So that's something to keep in mind.

 

[catdaddy38]

She doesn't like getting brushed when I do it but LOVES it when her grandma does. But grandma lives 5 hours away so it's rare for her to do it. She behaved beautifully for the groomer last time so I think I'm going to leave it up to her. her coat is so long now that she can't clean her chest without ending up "eating" her hair(it gets trapped in her mouth and then she has to spit it out). I think she's maybe had 1 hairball her entire life(which I don't understand because her hair is SO long and she is an extremely hygienic cat, cleaning herself probably 5-8 times a day).

And yes she is the cat in my avatar. You can get a better look at her in my picture thread.

 

[iPappy]

You could ask the groomer to do a de-shed and light trim, where the chest and underside are trimmed shorter. We groom a Persian that has his chest fur skimmed down with a blade to de-bulk and shorten it without shaving it, and it works well so he doesn't constantly have hair in his mouth

 

[catdaddy38]

This is how they trimmed her last time(excuse the messy bathroom...)