Shaving a cat?

[Kavik79]

no, but really...sort of.....
I have a cat, she's horrible about taking care of her fur and is constantly a knotted mess. I held her down one time and buzzed her with the electric hair clippers and she loved it after it was over, just hated the noise of the clippers

So I was browsing straights on eBay and keep seeing the 'hair shapers' that look like straights, but with a comb over them. I'm wondering if I could get away with "brushing" her with that without any risk of her getting hurt if she jumps?
They never seem to have a blade installed in the pics so I'm not sure how far the comb extends past the blade, or how well the edge is concealed.....figured this was as good a place as any to see if anyone has any experience with them?

I know I've seen a lot of batches of straight razors sold with one or two of these thrown in the bunch. If there's a chance it would work I'd rather throw a fellow member a few bucks for something they'll never use than buy one off eBay

 

[Lexbomb]

Maybe try old hand shears like the ones before electric trimers

 

[Legion]

Innuendo lurks...

Personally I would ask your veterinarian what they use. They are the experts. I don't want to be responsible for any pet maiming advice.

 

[johnmrson]

I would think that the old style hand clippers would work well.

 

[paco664]

Nair......




*(just kidding.... But seriously video if you do it)

 

[Doc226]

I thought this thread was going somewhere else.

 

[Kavik79]

vets/groomers use electric clippers as well, but they have assistants, and in some cases even use mild sedatives lol Last time this cat was at a vet it took me, my gf, a vet and an assistant just to take her temp and listen to her heartbeat

I hadn't considered the old hand clippers. That might work, but then again that might still freak her out. This cat is afraid of everything
Anyway, it might be a crazy idea (it was, after all, 3 in the morning when I was thinking about it)...but if I found something that had guards covering both sides of the blade, and long enough 'teeth' on it, it would be pretty damn hard to catch any skin with the blade. It's all wide, mostly flat surfaces....only trick spot would be her tail, and only dangerous spot would be not catching a nipple between the teeth (stifle the laughter boys )

As for the innuendos......well, yeah......but that's been discussed before, and usually ends in a closed thread

 

[ouch]

Do not shave your cat with a straight.

 

[jd1965]

I've used Durham Duplex on our dog Toby. He's a shepherd/chow mix.
I just used it comb down to keep the blade away from his skin. It does clog a bit, be careful cleaning it.
On him him it did more thinning than getting a real close cut...

I found an unused razor with 100 blades or so at an antique store pretty cheap.
In the manual they showed a version of the razor for use on animals, I thought why not give it a try?
I don't remember at the moment what they difference between the version was... I think it may have been a fixed handle and not a folder.
I'll have to check.

 

[Kavik79]

Do not shave your cat with a straight.

ummmmm....you did see the part where I said hair shaper, not a naked blade straight, right?

this one is super cheap and has pretty thick looking guards on both sides of the blade.

Something like that, but with a longer comb, is what I'd like to try


Maybe like the longer side of this one.....but then, that one leaves some exposed blade on the back side, which I don't like in case of the unexpected. If it had matching teeth on both sides of the blade, so it was totally covered, something like that would be safe enough I think

 

[shaveitoff]

If your vet offers a grooming service just have them do it. If not, take the cat to a professional groomer. At most you'll have to take her in a couple of times per year. Once you get the first grooming, you can help her out by giving her a daily brushing as the fur grows back.

 

[Mike H]

Furminator looks like a safer choice.

 

[Kavik79]

JD, thanks for that. I figured there have to be some groomers that use something like this. If not now, than years ago, before electric trimmers
With a dog I'd be okay with the idea of just keeping it comb side down....but they're usually less jumpy than a cat held down in a tub

I'm not looking to get a real close cut, so that's fine....as long as a few brush strokes would make it all fairly even



shaveitoff, now where's the fun, excitement or challenge in just paying someone else to do it? LOL
seriously though, this cat does not deal well with people she doesn't know. It's not worth the stress it puts her under just to get a haircut. I'd put her through using the electric clippers here at home again before that.

I've done the daily brushing thing, it doesn't seem to help as much as it should. She doesn't have very long hair, but her mother did, so she has all the characteristics without the length. She can easily form a couple knots in a single day just laying down and rolling around a bit, and she doesn't seem to clean any part of herself other than her chest and stomach

 

[rajagra]

Yes, there are many of these combs sold on ebay for example, specifically aimed at cutting pets' hair. They take one or two DE blades. You might want to chuck the blades they supply and use known good DE blades instead. They won't be any more risky than a comb, but if the blade isn't sharp you will get tugging which is likely to annoy the cat.

 

[Kavik79]

Furminator?? LMAO
I have one of those, but without the corny name, same style comb though. Works great on my finer haired cat, gets caught up too much in this cat. Gets a fair amount of loose hair out, but is 100% useless against knots

 

[Kavik79]

Yes, there are many of these combs sold on ebay for example, specifically aimed at cutting pets' hair. They take one or two DE blades. You might want to chuck the blades they supply and use known good DE blades instead. They won't be any more risky than a comb, but if the blade isn't sharp you will get tugging which is likely to annoy the cat.

Okay, I did some more searching in the proper section of ebay....what I find for razor combs in the Pet Supplies section looks just about identical to the second link I posted above......so I guess I wasn't THAT crazy in my thinking LOL

Good call on getting better blades, unfortunately I have no idea what a good DE blade would be, but I can research that

 

[Obiwan]

Nair......




*(just kidding.... But seriously video if you do it)

This is hilarious!

 

[Kavik79]

so, I found one on ebay I'm willing to give it a go with, shipping from a place about half an hour from me lol

now I just need to figure out what DE blade is good enough to not tug hair when not flat against the skin. Since I haven't shaved with a DE in 15 years, and then I just used it a few times with whatever blade was in it, I guess I have some reading to do, unless anyone have a suggestion?

 

[rajagra]

Astra SP.

 

[joshua1970]

Nair......




*(just kidding.... But seriously video if you do it)

you owe me a new keyboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baaaahahahahaa


heere kitty kitty.. my cats are giving me that aloof look. smart kitties