WTF Someone is shaving my cat! What should I do?

That is extremely bizarre. But just to be on the safe side, I think you’re doing the right thing. You never know if someone is crazy and plans on hurting him. Is it getting really hot where you are? Maybe someone thought it would cool him down…? Ugh, that is scary.

Keep an open mind that this really could be something medical or something other than an asshole with a razor.

But if it is a person, its either a bored teenager or kid; or its someone with a razor fetish or even worse, a vivisection fetish.

I think it’s worth the $80 to buy a spycam and hang it on the cat’s collar, and see where he goes by observing him from your computer. Until you do that, keep the cat inside mostly, except for when you can observe him.

And if you ever do catch some freak who is doing this, any drama you unload on him in public is justified, so go for it.

It is a cat thing.
This website should explain a few things.
Go to the second question on this one.
That is a scary thing, though. There are some sick people out there.

One of my indoor/outdoor cats has hair loss in patches as well (gray tabby) and the vet said that it’s a skin condition. He developed it all of a sudden; it looks like mange—like someone took scissors to a patch of his hair.

Whaaaaat!? My first step would be to take dear kitty to the vet to see if there’s any possibility that it is something medical. Because… if someone is shaving your cat… that is just bizarre. And it usually takes a lot for me to think something is strange. XD

No one should touch your cat. There is NO justification for anyone to do so. However, if you are my neighbor, would you please keep all of your animals out of my garden and off of my lawn. I am not pleased that I have, this morning, watched my neighbor’s animal urinate in my garden and stalk the song birds, chasing them away.

Noticed any neighbors with cat scratches on their arms or the like lately perhaps? Hm

For some reason I would like to believe this is not some crazy person shaving your cat for kicks. The least you should do is find out if it is medical or not.

Narrow it down…..Keep us updated too maybe?

I would go to the vet first just to be sure. If the vet determines it was done by a razor then, I’d go door to door and just mention to all of your neighbors that someone has been shaving your cat and that you’d appreciate if they’d keep an eye out. Ask them to question their children, too. It may be enough of a deterrent to stop them from doing it again. You could casually mention wanting to take legal action against the kitty barber if caught.

Do your neighbors know that it’s your cat and not a stray?

@lilikoi You could keep the cat indoors for a bit to monitor it. In this fashion you could tell if it was a medical problem. If it is not a medical problem it might give the shaving perp some time to move on.

One thing that leads me to think its less likely to be shaving than a medical condition is that your cat would fight hard to avoid such a thing, very likely causing such a job to be botched and perhaps receiving some nicks and cuts.

If even the vet naysays a medical casuse, be on the lookout for scratched peeps in your neighborhood.

That’s bizarre. Keep us posted.

@Kraigmo

I like the idea of a spy -cam
I thought of this myself when my cat came home covered in tar a couple of times last year, maybe she was going somewhere she shouldn’t but I couldn’t help but get paranoid that some idiot was targeting her, wished I’d done that!! :-/

i am thinking it is NOT something medical because you said the hair was stubbly, not that the hair looks like it fell out. if it fell out, then it would be a medical thing. stubbly means the hair is anchored in by it’s roots, but it has been cut. i agree with asking the neighbors and maybe that will get the freak to realize you are suspicious.

Sometimes the simplest cause is the most likely.

First step is a visit to the Vet. Some type of medical cause is far more likely than a dipsy doodle bizarre neighbor taking the time and effort to shave a reluctant cat in odd places numerous times.

I mean, really, think about if for a minute or two :)

If you don’t want anything done to your cat, keep it inside. Don’t let it be a plague upon the neighborhood. Not everyone finds felines to be pleasurable. I had a neighbor who’s lovely little kitty enjoyed clawing the shit out of my window screens.
Your cute little people person kitten might be a menace to others. (Not saying that this deserves a shaving) but letting your cat roam could also lead to roadkill and cat turf wars. I knew of a neighborhood cat that got into a fight that ended with his stomach sliced open.

Wouldn’t you feel safer with your cat in a controlled environment?

@jca I disagree. I have had two cats with this problem. In both cases, the cats’ hair loss was caused by obsessive licking. In this case, there is some hair on the bare skin, it’s just more like peach fuzz or stubble. Cats have many types and layers of fur, and some of that hair falls out more easily than others.

Still, @lilikoi, you should definitely keep him inside at the moment. He may have a fungus or parasite that is causing the hair loss, and he could be getting worse or even spreading it to other animals/people. Your cat won’t like being stuck inside, but it’s better than the alternative. And, of course, take him to the vet.

Cats aren’t allergic to poison ivy. Put on some gloves, rub some poison ivy on him, then let him go out. If one of your neighbors comes down with a severe case of poison ivy, chances are he’s the culprit! LOL!

Is your cat roaming the neighborhood, bothering the neighbor’s bird feeders? Just askin’.

@ lilikoi

Check out this site, it makes for some very interesting reading, good luck with the bald pussy!! ;-)

http://www.pictures-of-cats.org/Hair-loss-in-cats.html

It might be a allergic condition or some such thing…OR….is he a longhaired cat?

Maybe he has befriended someone in the neighborhood that has clippers and decided to de-mat some spots on his body.

Perhaps they think he is a stray and are caring for him.

Cats have a way of weaseling into extra homes for the perks of cat food. lol

I dunno…it might be a positve..free grooming! lol

Before you totally freak out and call someone an ass, maybe follow him and see if you can do a bit of detective work.

Years ago I had a cat hanging around acting pathetic, he had a collar, was a good weight but seemed to be ‘starving.’ Yeah, well….he was just capitalizing on the handouts over my way.

One day I tied a note to his collar with my phone number saying that if he had a home please call me or I would be keeping him.

Got a call that night…turns pout he had quite the routine going on begging around the neighborhood.

I always try to put a positive spin of things…sooo….if he is in need of some grooming maybe someone is just being nice to him.

I have had indoor cats do that too.

Like us humans, if an animal has an itch, they scratch. If it’s a really bad itch, they will bite/chew the itch if they can reach, and cats can reach just about any part of their body above their shoulders with their mouth. If a cat has a skin condition, it might itch.

Sometimes they get confused by some other sort of discomfort and try to deal with it the same way that they would deal with an itch. One of my cats had a bald rear leg for a couple of weeks after missing a jump. I guess he sprained his “ankle” but I know that he was chewing on it for days until his leg healed enough that he stopped walking funny. And the cat I had that went into kidney failure lost clumps of fur around her abdomen the same way; trying to lick herself back to health.

Unless the bald areas are perfectly straight and square, it’s probably the cat itself and not some shmuck with a razor.

@lilikoi, do you have kids?

When our cat was three or four years old, he suddenly came home with clipped whiskers. Scared the heck out of me. I said, “Somebody is telling us that he can get close enough to our cat to harm him.” Anybody who knows cats knows that the whiskers aren’t just for decoration. So I was sure it was someone who had no care for the cat’s well-being.

After three or four days of anxious watching and worrying, our young son, then about 7 or 8, confessed that he had done it, just thoughtlessly and experimentally, having no idea that it would cause us any concern.

If you have curious youngsters around, you might ask them calmly and gently if they can help solve the mystery.

——

I also did have a cat once who had a flea allergy and lost lots of hair to licking before we got it under control. I had to give her baths in some kind of green goop.

I agree with Kraigmo. Put a spy-cam on kitty’s collar (it’s amazing what technology you can buy these days) and monitor kitty’s travels on the corner of your computer screen….

These are just a few of the many hits found for “wireless spy camera” on Google…

http://www.dynaspy.com/mini-wireless-spy-camera-with-pc-usb-adapter-p-134.html

http://www.advanced-intelligence.com/video.html

http://www.spycameras.com/cameras,body-worn-camera.html

@HungryGuy That may reveal more about he cat’s life than the OP wants to know :D

@Jeruba I found your story very entertaining. Thank you.

Is your cat long haired? Is he prone to mats?

Cats with mats will sometime have the entire mat pull away from the skin, leaving a completely bald spot. Or perhaps someone feels bad for him, if he does indeed have unattended mats, and is shaving them off.

Another possibility is that he is “razoring” his own hair. If your cat has allergies (usually, but not always fleas), he may overgroom and actually remove the hair himself.

In either case, I would recommend a trip to the vet – they may be able to give you some insight.

lilikoi Hi,
You cat most likely was bitten or clawed by another cat or got a tear and it abcessed. The area around the tiny hole becomes very hot and the hair falls off so it can drain and be kept clean by the animal. The new hair grows back in when it is healed and looks just like you have described.
This is quite common with outdoor cats.
The people who have mentioned excessive licking have a point too. Allergies especially to fleas can cause hair cuts from licking. But I am thinking the abcess as that is so common.

poor kitty…..go to vet. get a baseball bat. and get him a wig

@Scooby Great cat pics here. Thank you.
@Coloma My cat Jaffa calls at our neighbour’s place twice a day for a “restaurant” feed!

thanks for the idea. if i could keep cats out of my yard just by shaving them, i’d do it!

sucks when you make a conscious choice not to own a cat for various reasons, but still have them going through your stuff b/c other people choose to let them roam.

just a thought.

LOL wierd.

Attatch a note to it’s collar and see if someone replies.

please post update when you find out what’s going on.

Thank you everyone for the concern and responses. Very much appreciated.

I’ve imagined several well-intentioned-but-not-very-bright scenarios. For example, he is long haired and he has very soft fur (he looks like – and has the precise personality of – a Norwegian Forest Cat). Perhaps someone just loved it so much they had to save some. I know. That’s about as crazy as shaving someone else’s cat. See, this is making me nuts.

We don’t have any kids, but perhaps someone else’s kids did it. That doesn’t seem as crazy. Indeed, when we first adopted him as a kitten years ago from the humane society, his whole body looked shaved in sloppy chunks as though a kid picked up a buzzer for the first time and decided to have some “fun”. The hair grew in quickly and hasn’t been an issue until now. The current ‘shave job’ is much more methodical, though.

I checked out the links some posted and gave the cat a good inspection. Definitely not a substitute for a vet visit, but I’m fairly certain this is not due to scrapping with another animal. The hair is simply cut down to the skin on his belly, and that’s it. It’s not a perfect “shave job” as there are many long “stragglers” but it is definitely conspicuous. I know what bites, scratches, and post-fight damage look like, and there isn’t any evidence of this at all.

What it is is a very rectangular patch of fur running the length and width of his belly oddly shorter than the rest of the hair on his body, exposing all his nipples, as well as a chunk of short stubbly fur in one place near his leg on the top of his body. It is this chunk I noticed first, and initially wrote off, then about half the underbelly fur went missing a few days later, and again we just thought ‘hmm, that’s strange’, and then the rest of the underbelly fur went missing to form a very rectangular shape, and I put him indoors and posted this question.

I’ve been observing him more closely lately and have not seen any sign of obsessive licking. I’m inclined to think this is not the cause. I’ve seen other cats lick themselves bald in small spots, and he just doesn’t have that behavior. He does not seem stressed out, and is by definition the exact opposite of high-strung – very mellow and relaxed. There have been no environmental changes that we know of that might trigger this kind of licking.

If it is some other skin condition, it’s cause is not readily visible.

If it was a kindred spirit dematting fur, well, that’s quite a large patch to be doing that to. I spend a lot of time with my cat every day so it would have had to all have happened within a few hours, and on his underbelly no less, which is the cleanest fur on his body located in an area that would be unlikely to encounter any messy substance. It would also be a first, as I’ve never had to shave him to demat his fur.

The underbelly fur already seems to be less severely stubbly. I will be observing to see if it grows back in, and if it doesn’t then will schedule a vet visit.

I know saying someone else is shaving my cat is a pretty wild claim, certainly one I never imagined I’d ever be making. The alternatives just don’t seem to quite fit.

Finally, I don’t want this thread to turn into a debate over whether people should keep their cats indoors or out. I sympathize with those of you who hate cats and still have to find them in your yard. If you don’t want cats in your yard, consider erecting a fence, getting a dog, or spraying some chili pepper water along the perimeter of your property. There are probably other cat deterrents that neither inflict harm on cats nor the environment that you can use. But also consider the fact that they can be excellent hunters, killing rats and mice and other unwanted pests. When we first moved into our house, there was a small rat problem. I haven’t seen a rat since our cats moved in even though the traps are still set and waiting.

A lot of our neighbors have cats, and those that don’t have dogs. One of our neighbors adjacent to our property has a dog that barks night and day at everything. You think a cat in your yard is bad, try thinking of ways to mitigate the loud sound of incessant dog barking. Frankly, I’d like to go over there and have that dog socialized and trained because it seems neglected.

I should add that we have taken him several times to the vet before, and he is always very calm for a cat. The doctors always remark that he is so easy to handle, that they routinely have to put other cats under in order for the cat to allow them to do their job. And this cat is large – 20 lbs and very lean (the “shaved patch” I’m talking about is maybe a foot long and 4” wide). This cat is so friendly, mellow, and people-loving I wouldn’t really be surprised if he peacefully allowed someone to shave him like that.

@lilikoi Personally, based on everything you’ve said, I have no doubt in my mind that a person shaved him. I have cats and sometimes you just know when something out of the ordinary is up. That said, there’s still a question of why they did.

When and if you let him out, I absolutely suggest getting a small cam to hook to his collar. There are a lot of crazy people, and I just wouldn’t take the chance of letting someone hurt him.

Yeah, you said it was around her nipples and that’s just too weird. I don’t even want to think what someone’s reasons for doing that to your cat could be.

Hope everything sorts itself out with kitty! :-/
BTW enjoyed your photo’s too, you have a talent there “if I may be so bold“! ;-)

@Andreas

You like?? ;-)

Ya welcome…........

As a general comment on cams for cats: Wouldn’t the cam need to fixed to a collar? When Jaffa (my cat) was younger we put a collar and bell on her for the protection of wild birds that were in our yard. She hated the collar and bell, and had the thing off in a few days. So much for that plan!

Whether a cam on any cat would work would first depend on whether or not the cat tolerated collars in the first place. (BTW: Birds are now safe, and she just wishes she could dine on them!)

@Scooby I did :-)

Keep the cat inside and relax; it looks like no harm was done. Save your distress in case someone shaves your beaver without your knowledge.

@ItsAHabit Obviously you know nothing about animals or pets or caring for them.

This seems to have been resolved, i dunno, but it could also be that he’s trying to squeeze through a narrow place and the hair gets “cut” that way. But since you said it’s in a distinct square (ie razor/clipper) shape, maybe that’s just what it is.
And also, even though no harm was done, you don’t know what this person is capable of doing…i mean, they’re obviously crazy enough to go shaving random parts of hair off of a stranger’s kitty…it’s quite scary thinking about people like that.
I hope your kitty stays safe. :)

I love this question, I’m glad it keeps popping back up.

How’s the kitty with the shaved belly?

So, your solution, to my neighbor’s cat trespassing in my garden, depositing urine, feces, and filth in, on, and around my property, is for ME to expend time, effort, and money erecting a barrier around my real property?!?! Geezzz. Some people. Anyone that allows their animal to trespass on the neighboring property is profoundly offensive.

”…allows their animal to trespass…”

Seriously? Have you ever actually had an animal? I can’t imagine anyone who has would say something like that. If you don’t want animals on your property, then you do what you can to prevent it. Your front garden isn’t anyone else’s responsibility.

I agree with UScitizen. why should it be my responsibility to keep YOUR cat or dog or whatever out of my yard?

So, you disagree with pets being in your yard, but would you throw a fit if wild/homeless animals were in it?
Animals don’t understand what is your property or theirs..

@rangerr “Animals don’t understand what is your property or theirs..” You are 100% correct. Their owners do though.

@rangerr – Devil’s advocate here, but a pet that has wandered into your yard represents a lack of control by a person over their charge, and the damage is their responsibility. A wild or homeless animal is not under the control of any human, so no human is responsible for the damage and there’s no one to get mad at.

This is the same reason that donations poured in for victims of earthquakes and tsunamis which are seen as unavoidable acts of the Universe to unlucky people, and how donations didn’t pour in nearly as hard for victims of BP’s oil spill, because it was seen as BP’s negligence and something that was their job to clean up.

You’ve already done the right thing: Sharing with us. Made my day.

Oh MY! I googled “My cat was shaved” because I am at a loss for what to think of what has happened to our cat. When I read your post, Lilikoi, I could have sworn this was me talking to many friends the last few days. Our cat, TOO, has been shaved. Not ONCE but TWICE. It is NOT a medical condition or a burn. It happened overnight, is a very smooth job, and is clearly stubbly, not a licked-slick area. Is this some sick fetish? Has ANYONE ELSE experienced this? Sure it is a good conversation piece, but it is also a cat who may be enduring some type of abuse, and now it has happened more than once. On the advice of many people, I finally called the police (animal abuse hotline). They said there was nothing they could do if I didn’t know the perpetrator’s identity, but also said that if it was a cult-like act, that the cat probably wouldn’t come back in one piece, with a little shaving. In other words, more serious cult-like activity would have resulted in our kitty dying most likely.

Please enlighten me if you know of anyone who has had their cat “mysteriously” shaved, or if it has happened to you/your poor kitty. (May I ask what state you live in? Could just be the one weirdo in the world who does this lives in OUR neighborhood, and maybe you’re my neighbor. ; )

Stop letting your cat outside.

This has just happened to our cat. She went out about 6am and didn’t come home until 5pm Her abdomen appears to have been shaved – very neat, there doesn’t seem to be any other way to describe it. She is not hungry or distressed, but we are a bit!
We are in Vic.

Ok, I’m going with alien abduction. They are shaving the cat and using probes on it.

I so hoped you had found out that this was just a small skin disorder that could be quickly cleared up. I joined Fluther when I saw your question so I could see the answers.This has been happening to our cat as well. First we noticed the random patches were cleanly “shaven” and appeared to be perfect rectangular shapes. He now has a smoothly shaved belly and legs. I don’t know when it happens to him, he is a tomcat and can’t stand not being able to go outside and hunt mice and prowl around. We have been trying to keep him in and he’s figured that out and has gotten sneakier. Once he’s out I can’t catch him! My cat however is very skittish so I didn’t think he’d let anybody close enough to shave him. I was freaked out wondering what would happen next, to hear that it is happening to others makes it more unnerving to me. We’ve got almost 2 acres here and I am wheelchair bound so I CAN’T watch him all of the time. I was always concerned with the coyotes, I never thought to be concerned about the neighbors.

About a week ago a cat appeared at my back door totally covered in matted fur. It is such a sweet animal that I have started trying to groom it a little each day because I feel so bad for it. I spend a little time brushing it, but the clumps of fur are everywhere and the brush just won’t take care of them so I am starting to cut them out one at a time. The cat doesn’t enjoy the process too much so I am only able to do one or two a day. Needless to say, there are several strange patches of missing fur on the cat. I am seriously considering taking it to my friend who is a groomer and having it fully shaved. I know it may be overstepping bounds, but this is pretty severe neglect if you ask me. I’ve also thought of taking it to the human society, but I’m not sure if that’s the right route either. Any thoughts on the subject???

That’s definitely strange. Maybe you should take it to the vet to be sure it’s nothing serious. He could probably confirm whether or not someone’s really been shaving your cat.

First my cat has the same thing but shes a girl and an indoor cat. I know for sure noone has shaved her because i live alone. The patch is soft and stubby its maybe a milimeter long if even that. It started out the size of a piece of tape and ot looked like maybe someone shavwd her i thought it was one of my friends when they came over. Its now been two years since the first time i saw it and its gotten to where half her belly and down both her inmer legs have it. My vet said it was a skin condition and there was nothing i cam do

OMG! The things one could DO with this question! LMAO!

I know this is old, but I just had to add this question actually made me laugh out loud. Ohhh gosh xD.

Weird shit happening to all the animals in my neighborhood

No one is shaving your cat!! My mom had this problem with two cats, years apart. I figured out a likely cause and the vet treated my hypothetical cause and both cats were healed. The problem is intestinal parasites, which give off a toxin which goes through the skin and knocks out the hair in a perfect “shaved” pattern. The treatment is a series of two shots of Ivermectin. We thought aliens were coming in and shaving the cats overnight!

I’m not sure where you’re located, but I’m in Portland, OR. Last night my step daughter said that someone had shaved my cat’s belly and I didn’t believe it. This morning my husband brought our cat to me and showed me his tummy. He has a clean shaved belly. It is clearly visible that it was done with clippers. The shaved area goes from his navel, all the way down and around his penis and on his inner back thighs. He is a neutered indoor outdoor cat with all of his shots. He stays primarily on my property and occasionally roams to the apartments behind our house. I can’t believe anyone would do something like that. My first thought was they were searching for signs of being spayed or neutered or trying to figure out if the cat was male or female. They shaved almost all of his underbelly. Sick people!!!

Find that motherfucker and beat there ass! No one touches my cat! it’s okay,kitty

Hi, I googled shaving cats belly and got to this forum, i live in Queensland, Australia and a while ago our cats belly was shaved. Her whole belly was shaved to the skin and a neat job. This could not happen overnight due to illness and the vet didnt know why it would happen. This was nowhere else on her body just the belly. My thoughts were it was the neighbours since we go away alot and it wanders around when we are not home. We are sometimes gone for a week at a time and she has food and water and we have a friend who comes once every two days. I believe one of the neighbours has done this for some weird reason which i am not sure. I was looking for religious reasons why this might be. I know the neighbours across the road are muslims and im not to sure about other neighbours religions. I just had a thought that it was something to do with religious belief. Maybe a sign for us for some reason. Well i would love to know.

Welcome to fluther Slane!

Hey guys remember this one?

slaps knee and chuckles good times.

OK SAME THING HAS HAPPENED TO MY CAT!!! But the craziest part of it in my case is that when I first noticed she had the shaved patch, I was mind boggled of course, but I decided to go ahead and finish the job and shave her completely. My cat loves me to death and it was very difficult for me to do so how someone else could do it just doesn’t make any sense. That is just the obvious, the most dumb founding thing is enough time has passed that her fur has grown back EXCEPT FOR THE ORIGINAL MYSTERY PATCH THAT WAS “SHAVED” TO START WITH!!!! It is the strangest thing I have ever experienced with a cat and I have had many cats over the years. Unfortunately at the moment I am financially unable to take her to the vet to have any tests done to try to figure out what is going on. So if you find out anything with your cat that may be helpful to me I would love to know what it is. You can email me at kckbell@gmail.com. I hope it helps a little to know you are not the only one that this has happened to. Good luck and please keep in touch.

Somebody broke into my sister’s house to shave her cat… Nothing was missing, they just shaved her cat. Why is this a thing? It must have to be some type of fetish, it makes no sense to do this the way they did. They shaved in patches, a huge one on his side and two on his back legs. It’s been almost two months and the fur hasn’t grown back yet. Do they sell it or something?