Is there any detriment to shaving my cats?

It’ll hurt you much more than the cats. The clippers will freak them out and you’ll have to deal with a frantic, clawing cat.

I had a long haired cat, I gave him to my aunt because I couldn’t keep him. He has a tendency to get all gnarly looking. She had a lot of his fur shaved off. He still looks adorable and he’s probably a lot more comfortable. He didn’t like sitting still while having knots cut out of him.
Problem solved. lol

Not only is @flip86 correct in the difficulty of having to endure a task akin to wrestling barbwire, while using hair clippers at the same time, but it’s probably not the greatest idea.

I’d suggest an alternative: Brush the cat(s) with a pet brush designed for cats. Have a pair of scissors nearby and make sure to cut out any knots in the fur. After a few days of brushing consistently you won’t need to cut knots out any more, and those that remain should be easy enough to untangle with the brush. You’ll get a lot of the excess fur off the coat this way too.

You gotta do it at least once a day though. It will really go a long way to solving your problem, and most cats love the brushing and the attention.

Depending on the cat and the skill of the person doing the grooming, there are few drawbacks to clipping a cat.

I kept my Persian clipped and while she didn’t like the process (she was afraid, but didn’t fight me), she was ecstatic afterwards (she’d playfully zoom around the house, play with her toys, and bounce on my lap).

Have a professional do it, or get training, because an inexperienced person with a pair of clippers can cut the skin.

It could be detrimental to YOUR health. I can’t see them standing there peacefully allowing you to shave them. Try a number 3 blade on some hair clippers.

I wish you luck with this project but would add that once they are desnarled, brush them daily (that’s every day) with something like this

During the warm weather, take them outside and use this (the fur flies and gets everywhere) for additional relief, for both of you.

It will be obvious to you in which direction to brush, what areas to avoid and the duration of your cats’ tolerance.

Take them to a groomer and ask for a “lion cut”. Experienced people know how to do this and your cats should be fine for summer.

This will get out all the tangles and then you just need to keep brushing hem consistently every day.

This is not a DIY project. Go to a groomer experienced with cats.

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate your input. I would never consider shaving them myself. I do brush them with a variety of different brushes from fine tooth to soft to stiff and even tried the gloves with the little nubs. Their hair is not matted, they lick themselves and fur ball no matter how much I brush them. I am thinking if they are shaved—even if they continue to constantly lick-the amount of hair would be significantly decreased. I know it must not be pleasant for them to be vomiting all the time. I hate it when I do it.

They’ll be ugly, but it won’t hurt them.

Our cat was so miserable before we started giving him a lion cut every spring. He seems to really like the coolness on his skin.

Another thing you could try for the hairball problem is giving them olive oil on a regular basis.

This is supposed to help them pass out through the back end rather than coming up out of the front.

One of the cats I take care of at work is over 15 long haired and had many of the same problems.

I tried brushing. He got used to the brush and we got a lot of knots out. But I eventually brought my Furminator from home and got him used to that.

That is when people started ohing and ahing over him many didn’t recognize him and some people were actually willing to pick him up and hold him. Something they never willingly did before.

I don’t always use the furminator and at first he was a little squirmy with the use, he’d only handle small doses. But perserverance and along with the daily brushing has him looking and acting spiffy. Plus no vomiting.

I have no experience with cat haircuts. So I have no valid opinion there.

A short clipping would probably be easier on both of you than trying to shave them. I would also opt for the professional grooming at least until you learned how to do it properly.

@Buttonstc I have a friend who gives this to their dog. She loves it and it makes her coat shiny and soft. She never had hairballs but my friend swears it cuts back on her shedding. Never thought a cat would eat it.

Cat’s hair is kind of dense and needs a pretty powerful clippers to cut. I burned up a cheap set of clippers before happening on a really strong set of clippers at a garage sale. I use a #1 blade that leaves his fur about 1/8”. It just peels off. With the cheapies (harbor freight) they clogged right up and I ended up not cutting any fur

My understanding is that it takes away from some of their sun protection.

@Unbroken

It really depends upon the cat and which brand of olive oil. I think that an Extra Virgin one from the first pressing would be too strong in taste but the regular milder kind used for cooking should be fine.

Also mixing in a little tuna oil for flavor helps. The other possibility is to mix it in with their food. Wet food (canned ) should be easy. Not too sure about dry food but its worth a try.

UPDATE: I took Abbott to the specialist yesterday and he did an ultrasound and said there are no blockages or masses. He thinks it could be IBS or chronic pancreatitis. He did another special blood test to check the level of enzymes in the intestines and bowel to see if they are out of whack. He was shocked to hear that Costello is exhibiting the same symptoms. He found that very unusual. He also said that cats should eat can food (his wife is a feline specialist) not dry. If they only eat dry (they don’t get enough water in their systems-they don’t drink like dogs do) it could increase their chance of bladder infections or UTIs. He said if the blood work doesn’t show up anything, the next step would be to do an endoscopy which is very expensive and a procedure done under general anesthetia. She is 10 years old and I do not want to do that to her. The treatment for IBS is steriods and for chronic pancreatitis might be steriods and possibly other medications.

I will let you know what the outcomes is and I am going to try the Furmigator to see if that will help also. Thank you again for all your comments and support. These are my ‘kids’—they are like anyone else’s kids, except they dress funny. :)