This is why I shouldn't be allowed to have nice things

[trinityvixen]

My Oscar.

Isn't he just the cutest? I love him to pieces, really. There's only the one thing wrong with him: his fur is long and he hates to let me brush it. So when it gets desperately snarled, I have to just cut chunks out. Previously, I have gone at him with scissors and cut everything away. I didn't want to repeat that mistake, so I bought a proper trimmer this time and decided to buzz him as best I could.

The results are less than encouraging....





The good news is that I've learned how to use the trimmer's attachments to the point where I can in the future avoid shaving him all the way down to a fuzz. I know his tail doesn't look GREAT, but it at least still has some hair on it. Next time, it will be just a trim and not a complete shaving. Hard to believe that this is better than my previous attempt. I don't have pictures, but trust me: IT IS. Scary, no?

Point is, I've never had a long-haired cat, so I'm still trying to adjust to how to deal with him looking bedraggled versus looking like the victim of a lawnmower. If he'd sit still for a brushing, I could get by on that, and believe me, I've tried every last hair brush for pets on the market. (Including the slightly ridiculously expensive Furminator, which works wonders as far as getting loose hair out but for which Oscar will no more sit still than he would any other brush.) But he won't, and he looks and feels less than adorable when his hair is constantly in clumps. It just isn't nice to pet him when he feels mangy. It sounds ridiculous to say, against the above evidence, that I did all that out of a desire for a more aesthetically pleasing cat, but that IS why I (and we--feiran helped) did it. This will also help as the weather gets warmer, since that was a lot of fur. (Oscar looks huge, but he's easily got an extra 4" of hair all the around his body. Without it, he's positively trim.) And it will help cut down on hairballs, of which he gets a lot due to long hairs being constantly swallowed. (Seriously, he had another cat's worth of hair on him that we cut off, and he licked that every day.)

The hair trimmer actually works very well and does not, even in my hands, hurt him at all. (I cut him a little bit with a scissor I used to cut down his hair to manageable length. We're even, though, because I sliced open my thumb in the process!) With some more practice (um, once his hair grows back), I'll be able to keep him either regularly or semi-annually trimmed down as the need demands without sacrificing his dignity or either of our hides. The trimmer came with little combing blades that keep the hair a set distance away from the blades; I used it on his tail with a surprising amount of success. (For all that the base of his tail is uneven, his tail hair is actually very uniform.) It will take time to get this right, but I think I'm on the right track, evidence of my eyes notwithstanding.

Comments

[viridian.livejournal.com]

lol, that's not actually all that bad if your goal was just clipping him short for the summer months. My mom used to do only a SLIGHTLY better job with our Persians that refused to be brushed.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It heartens me to hear that because you're the expert here, and I was sure you were going to be all "WTF WERE YOU THINKING?"

I mean, you could still be doing that, but at least you didn't say it first thing.

[saikogrrl.livejournal.com]

Teeheehee! My housemate's cat is longhaired too and she looked like a poodlecat when she got shaved. XD

He so beautiful! Lookit his widdle face!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It looked worse after the first day. This is after two rounds with him because I couldn't force him to go through it all at once. The first day's cutting left him with a poofy trapezoidal head and a lot more unevenness. This is actually MUCH better.

I think my Oscar is a very beautiful kitty. He can look really dumb or really put-upon or really sly, depending on the picture, but he's very pretty. I'm biased, but yeah.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I'm glad I didn't look at this at work. Literally LOL. Poor cat.

Ah well, at least he isn't vain.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it looks bad, but he's still being affectionate to me, so I think it's okay. As long as we part friends.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

It looks bloody awful. But he's a cat - what does he care? As long as he's warm, I doubt it matters to him. :)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It is the warmth thing, being a crazy cat lady, that worries me. It better hurry up and get warmer and sunnier already.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

It's ok. He still has fur, and he's safely inside a heated building with two other fuzzbutts. I'm sure he'll be fine.

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Oh, Oscar. *tries very hard not to laugh*

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You can laugh--we have been.

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

I nearly fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard =-) Poor Oscar.... but at least it will grow back =-)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It will, but it might grow back differently. The previous time I did this, I left a stripe on the top of his back and didn't touch his tail. Obviously, this time I got everything except his legs and his head. When it grew back last time, it came back fluffier and less dark. I'll be sad to lose my black and white kitty if that happens again!

[slothshaman.livejournal.com]

Ah Oscar, it's a good thing you don't surf the Interweb for pics of yourself!

Honestly, if he's still a happy kitty it's all good.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

When cats start surfing the internet for realz, we are so close to them taking over and murdering us all, I doubt it will matter...

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Murder us all, maybe. They'd do that for the lulz. But take over? That's an awful lot of work, and these are cats we're talking about. There's so much napping to do!

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Well I know they won't be murdering me...... at least not after I show them catnip booze ^_^

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

OMG, my cat would be all over catnip booze! He hangs out by the cabinet where we keep catnip and waits, and he loves to come over and sniff whatever drinks we have made. I think you're onto something here...

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

He looks perfectly content in the pictures! Such a cutie! The fur grows back faster than you'd think, and I think you did a pretty good job for the first time out.

You should have seen how short I made gryphonrose's hair the first time I tried the trimmer on him instead of scissors! I think it is just something that takes a little getting used to. :)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

This is the second time I've done it overall, but first time with the trimmer. And yes, many a "Flowbee" joke was made :)

I seem to remember it taking a while for his fur to grow back, but that would be ideal, really, since we've a long way and many hot months ahead.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Poor kitty. At least he still likes you. I don't think my cat, if he were long haired, would be so forgiving.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

My kitties are very loving, in general. Wally got spooked by an evil guest kitty, and he's being made the bitch of the new guest kitty, but he is generally a sweetheart. So is Oscar. We're incredibly lucky in that regard. If someone grabbed me and did this, I would probably have tried harder to kill them than Oscar did. He more looks hurt and affronted than he does pissed off, which I count my blessings about. Because if I made the ONE kitty who likes me best stop liking me, I would cry.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Oh, he'd eventually get over it, but the first day would be spent sulking and not coming at all when called. Basically the same behavior as when he feels betrayed by a trip to the vet where they poke him with sharp things.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

That being said.... The vet my parents went to in Austin refused to ever clean his teeth again unless he was knocked out because he tried to climb the vet's assistant and generally got very violent. :p

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Aw, our cats aren't bad for the vet or even all that bothered when they get back again. It's the leaving the apartment in the first place that is traumatic. They're very weird that way.

[saturn-shumba.livejournal.com]

Long fur or shaved, the cat is still fucking adorable. ADORABLE!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

He's getting more attention because he's so pathetic looking right now. Lucky kitty :)

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

WTF WERE YOU THINKING?

People here didn't see how sad he was when you were all laughing at him. He was hiding behind a coat. He is not happy.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That is all part of teh kitteh mastah plaaaaan. He acts all pathetic, and we give him everything he wants. More attention, food, and he gets into my room more often.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

Did you use that thing that attaches to a vacuum cleaner?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You mean a flowbee? (http://www.flowbee.com/) Nah, just regular clipper and some scissors for the sensitive areas. If I could go over his fur some more with the clipper, I could sheer all the bumps down more evenly, but Kitty Has Suffered Enough as far as he's concerned. And there's no need. I did this to cut down on hairballs, save him from sweltering this summer, and to get rid of the tangled mess. I've succeeded. If I do any more trimming it will be a truly traumatic session where I go after the underbelly some more.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

AHAHA - not the flowbee! That's so old-school. They have a new one just for pets! In the commercial they show all these dogs and cats sitting patiently while the owners "painlessly" groom them. :-P

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

Here it is! The PetBuddy http://www.1seenontvstore.com/pet-buddy.html

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I refuse to order anything through a site that advertises ShamWow. I think you know why.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing it has to do with the dude's arrest. But there was a guy in the Jersey City Mall advertising ShamWows. He had a whole table and everything. :-P

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I was kidding, but no, I don't generally buy things from the As Seen on TV anybody.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

I was watching Bill Maher (annoying, yes I know, but sometimes he's good for a chuckle) one week, and his opening was a fake ad for a combination ShamWow and Snuggie - called the SnugWow. Basically, it was designed so you'd never have to get off your ass in front of the tv. It would absorb all spills, and you wouldn't even have to get up if you had to pee. :-P

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Sounds like those underwear that the Japanese astronaut is testing out right now...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The razor didn't pain him much, it just freaked him out. If his reaction to my hair dryer is any indication, I won't be vacuuming him any time soon.

[umeyard.livejournal.com]

Wow, my cats hate to be brushed and loved the furr-minator :(

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Wally likes to be brushed. Oscar will not sit still for it. It's dead effective at pulling out loose hair, too. Anyway, that means he brought this on himself!

[chantal1382.livejournal.com]

It could be worse....http://addittothelist.wordpress.com/2007/12/28/the-lion-cut/