Oh the … felinity!
So the poor Zoe T. Monster Kitty has had a grooming issue for some time now. The dear is a long-haired black cat, and without a fair amount of attention, her coat knots itself up pretty damn bad.
Now, she used to take excellent care of herself, but then she got a tooth infection at some point and stopped a fair portion of her grooming routine, and the nats started to pile up. I brushed when I could force myself to, and cut them out when I couldn’t brush (she is rather unfond of both procedures), but it had finally gotten to the point where we just had to shave her.
I called around to various groomers, and the short of it is that it would be more expensive than buying the tools and doing it myself, plus I would have to put her in the car – another activity she is terribly unfond of. (Zoe does not travel well.) So, Tolerant and I ran out to PetCo today and picked up a new set of trimmers, some meaty treats and some advice from a pro:
“Trim the claws first, then apply any sedatives you may desire and your vet approves. Mow in the direction of the fur and just use the trimmer without a guard. Don’t pull on the skin and go slowly, and you should be able to come up under the nats and cut them out bit by bit.”
We had to do it in stages, and I started from just about her shoulders and went back from there. The end result is similar to a lion cut, but looks much worse because I am a terrible groomer. Here’s the after shot: (I don’t have a good example of a before handy)
This shot was taken after the final indignity of tossing her into the sink for a quick rinse to wash away the remaining dander and trimmings. The poor thing.
I’ll be checking my shoes rather carefully before donning them for the next month or so.
Hollerings