Why do you need to groom cats?

Is it possible to cut cats?

Giving cats haircuts is not only possible, but also necessary, in certain cases. In most cases this is not necessary. Frequent haircuts are harmful to the animal.

Cats' fur is brushed daily, even if it is short. It is advisable to bathe and trim nails once a month. Particular attention should be paid to caring for the ears and eyes. The eyes are washed with cotton wool soaked in a tea solution if tear discharge is present. Ears also need to be cleaned regularly.

But the most difficult procedure is grooming the cat. It requires a set of special tools: massage brushes, tangle cutters, combs, furminators, hair dryers, slickers, wool rakes, regular and thinning scissors. All these tools are available to professional groomers.

If you want to cut the animal yourself, ordinary scissors, brushes and a clipper will suffice. Also prepare a table on which to place the animal and the iodine. It will need to be used in case of cuts. It is best if a family member helps you groom your cat. He will hold the animal if it begins to resist.

How to cut a cat's hair in a salon

Hairdressers often ask how much it costs to trim a cat, what is the cost and duration of such a session? This is the wrong approach. The first step is to familiarize yourself with the preparatory activities for the procedure. For example, the master will begin the process after the pet has taken a sedative, but aggressive animals will even need sleeping pills. During the haircut, not only scissors and a clipper are used, but also a trimmer, which is capable of efficiently processing the most inaccessible places on the pet’s body.

When should you cut your cat's hair?

Cat grooming is done first when:

the animal develops tangles;
His fur is too thick and he is hot.

After the procedure, the cat, freed from excess fur, will feel much better.

Then a haircut is simply necessary for the health of the animal. But in fact, there are several types of grooming that are used in different situations.

Hygienic. This is done to keep the cat's fur in order. Groomers trim it evenly and also trim off excess hair between the toes and on the pads of the paws. Hairs are also removed from the ears, and hair around the anus and genitals is processed.
Exhibition . Animals are cut in a special way, emphasizing their advantages and hiding their shortcomings.
Home.
This grooming is carried out not only by professionals, but also by the cat owners themselves and is a regular hair trimming. After it, combing and bathing your pets becomes much easier.

See also: How to properly wash a cat: practical recommendations

How to prepare your dog and other animals before going to the pet salon.

Of course, everything is not so complicated and no special training is required. However, based on the experience we have accumulated over many years of work, we want to give brief advice and wishes for dog owners so that your pet can more easily endure a haircut or any other procedure in a pet beauty salon.

Preparing a dog for grooming is a significant component of the procedure.

1. Long-haired dogs and cats should not be washed the day before coming to the salon. Let your pet come to us as is. If you wash your pet without combing it, the master’s task will become more complicated, and sometimes even become impossible, for example, to comb out tangles. The day before, the animal can only be combed.

The photo shows a long grooming table - not every pet salon can afford one, read more about hydraulic tables here...

2. Do not feed animals before going to the salon . If the haircut is scheduled for the morning, it is better not to give your pet breakfast. If for the day or evening, it is advisable not to feed 3-4 hours before cutting. If you give an animal food right before going out, it may want to “go outside” right during the grooming, and the animal will be nervous and behave more aggressively than usual. You understand that our masters cannot take your animal for a walk outside in order to avoid loss. Therefore, you have to put such an animal on the floor and wait until it goes to the toilet, and only then the master can continue working.

Having company and having a haircut is more fun...

3. Be sure to walk your dogs. Haircuts last from 1.5 hours depending on the breed, age (elderly animals are given breaks during the procedure), size, and chosen haircut. Therefore, when coming to the salon, the animal should feel calm.

4. Pay attention to the transportation of the animal. Since dogs, cats and rabbits are brought to us from different parts of the city, we decided to pay special attention to this. It is advisable to take the animal directly to the salon, without stopping by for business, work, child care, etc. Especially if the animal is not used to traveling in a car and being carried.

And we meet such beauties

If a dog or cat is transported in a carrier , it is necessary that it is not stuffy in it or that it is not stuffy in the car. Difficult situations arise in the summer, when an animal is taken to a salon and gets stuck in a traffic jam, the animal in the carrier feels discomfort, worries, and the risk of heat stroke increases. Our recommendation is to leave with plenty of time.

There are also luxurious blondes

If suddenly you were unable to avoid such an unpleasant situation, then at least take the dog for a walk and take the cat out of the carrier and keep it in the car . The animal will take a breath of air, stretch its paws, calm down and go to the pet salon in a better mood. If you don’t do this, then the hairdresser will have to spend time before the haircut on animal psychological work with the animal, give it water, pet it, walk it around the salon, just to calm it down and let the pet catch its breath. After all, if you start grooming such an animal, the pet will twirl, bite, may faint from heatstroke (for example, from a hair dryer turned on) or decide to lie down from fatigue, and the groomer needs the dog to stand calmly on the table. Of course, in such a situation the procedure will take longer than usual.

Well, Yorkies are our regulars

5. A big request to owners with “problem animals”. If you know that your animal is aggressive or allergic , or the animal had a negative experience with a haircut in another salon, at home, if there are cardiovascular diseases or any serious health pathologies, be sure to inform the hairdresser about this, this will protect your animal and will make the groomer's work easier. Our masters are professionals in their field, they find a common language with animals of different personalities, they treat health problems with care and attention. Among our groomers we have professional veterinarians. Having discussed the difficulties in working with your animal, we will correctly plan the procedure with your pet and make this procedure easier for him.

In the next article we will talk about the features of cat grooming.

In our new section you can learn a lot about the features of dog grooming in a pet salon.

When reprinting materials, a link to the website www.zoo-tera.ru is required.

When can you cut your cat's hair?

It is necessary to start grooming a cat when it is psychologically ready for a haircut, because any haircut is stressful for the animal. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out sedative procedures before cutting.

Problems with the coat are almost always an indicator that you can and should resort to grooming. If your cat has a lot of mats, this can lead to diaper rash and various diseases such as flea nests.

Even if such a cat is bathed frequently, the positive effect of bathing will still be minimized, since the skin under the mats is difficult to wash. In addition, it dries slowly, which can lead to inflammation.

You can cut your cat's hair even when the pet is sick, if the illness is associated with skin problems. If your pet has mites, dermatitis and hyperplasia, a haircut is even necessary.

If your pet does not groom itself well because it is too young or too old, you can also resort to grooming. It will make the animal's life much easier.

It's also a good idea to trim your cat if she has a lot of hair loss. There are no contraindications for grooming, quite the contrary. In a home where small children live, lost animal hair can lead to allergies in the child.

What could be the consequences of a haircut?

But it’s still better to use the services of professionals and resort to cutting your hair yourself extremely rarely. Moreover, it is advisable to use specialized tools for grooming cats.

Even after a professional haircut, cats experience unpleasant consequences.

After grooming, the color and structure of the animal's coat changes.
Long-haired cats' fur does not grow back to the length it used to be.
Under no circumstances should you trim your eyebrows or whiskers; this will have a negative impact on your cat’s health.
It is also not recommended to cut off all the hair on the tail. You should leave at least a “lion” tassel on the tip of the tail.

Haircut procedure

First of all, the cat must be secured on its side, holding the front and hind legs. If your pet is aggressive and bites, it is better to put a plastic collar on it during the procedure. You can also attach a binder (paper clip) to the back of your neck. At the same time, the cat falls into childhood, it seems to him that his mother is holding him in her teeth, and he behaves much calmer. Sometimes for overly excited cats, inhibitors, sedatives, sleeping pills or anesthesia are used during grooming. Such methods can be used only in extreme cases and always after passing the necessary examinations. But this very unsafe methods! Never use them at home yourself. They can cause significant harm to your furry friend.
A plastic collar will help secure the animal.
If there tangles, first you need to cut them with scissors. This must be done very carefully and slowly so as not to damage the animal’s skin. And then cut the back and sides with a clipper. You need to turn on the machine away from the cat so that its noise does not frighten the animal too much. Let the cat get used to the sound, only then can you start cutting. The skin should be slightly stretched so as not to injure it. Also, don’t forget about the attachment for the machine. It's better to choose not less than 3 mm. If you use the machine without an attachment, you can injure your skin.
You can cut mats from your cat's fur using scissors.
The fur from the belly should be trimmed slowly so as not to injure the nipples and intimate area. It is best to prepare these areas before machine cutting. Trim the hair around the nipples and intimate area so that these areas are clearly visible. Cats' tails can be trimmed at will. You can give it any shape that your imagination suggests, but you must leave at least a small brush at the tip of the tail. Otherwise, the cat will not recognize its tail and may bite it, causing pain to itself.

Useful tips

The fur on the paws is trimmed last, if necessary. If desired, you can go through the uncut areas with thinning scissors. This will give the wool its shape.

The cat is very aggressive

Grooming your pet can take a lot of your time, don't expect to get it done in half an hour.

If your cat is aggressive, bites and breaks out, it is better to trim its fur. The fur will remain longer, but this way you will avoid unnecessary aggression of the animal. Since cutting against the grain irritates the pet even more.

Several approaches are possible

Don't try to cut your pet's hair in one go. Take breaks and pet your pet to calm him down and help him endure an unpleasant procedure more easily. After a haircut, you also need to be gentle and friendly with the animal. You should not laugh loudly at your haircut during or after the procedure. Your animal may have a hard time accepting such an outburst of emotion from its owner.

How to calm a cat before a haircut

It is important that the cat is not nervous before the haircut, otherwise he will not only experience severe stress, but the procedure itself may not go as smoothly as we would like. Therefore, the most reasonable way is to resort to sedatives (cat bayun, stop stress), or, as a last resort, to anesthesia.

But under no circumstances should you give your cat medications without consulting a specialist - a groomer or veterinarian. Many professional groomers work without anesthesia. But first you need to agree on all the nuances.

Cat grooming at home by professionals

If you are hesitant to start grooming yourself, you can call in professionals. What is attractive about grooming at home with the help of specialists?

your pet does not experience the stress associated with being in an unfamiliar environment;
a professional will cope with the task faster and better;
there is no need to purchase the necessary tools:
you get rid of unnecessary hassle and save time.
It is possible to trim several animals quickly and at a reasonable price.

Professionals will give your pet a haircut quickly and at a high level; this is more convenient and practical than cutting the animal’s hair yourself. In addition, they can offer custom haircuts for your pet.

Haircut "Dragon". This haircut is different in that a mohawk remains on the cat’s back, and the rest of the hair except the head is completely removed.
Puma haircut. In this case, only the hair from the back surface of the body is removed. The head, paws and tail are not cut.
Haircut "Lion". After shearing, the animal really looks like a lion, as it is left with only the “mane” and fur at the tip of its tail.

See also: Flea collar: how it works, how to choose and who can wear it

Haircut "Lion"

How often does a cat need to be groomed?

Cat grooming is an important part of caring for your pet.

Veterinarians recommend cutting your cat's hair several times a year. Those that are too shaggy can be cut 3-4 times, the rest 1-2 times a year.

If your pet is furry, it makes sense to cut it before summer. After all, animals have a hard time withstanding the heat. The molting period should also be taken into account. It's better to get a haircut before you start. It is very easy to understand that a cat has started shedding; you need to lightly tug the fur. If there are a lot of hairs left in the hand, this will indicate its beginning.

Nuances

Before you start trimming your pet's hair, you should know some nuances:

In no case You can't cut the hair on an animal's head, in the ears, on the pads of the paws and whiskers. Trimming the hair on the head can disrupt your cat's orientation in space. And the fur in the ears protects them from dust and foreign bodies.
Veterinarians categorically do not recommend cutting the hair from the heads of cats.
After cutting the wool, it can change structure and even color. The coat can become either darker or lighter.
The fur takes quite a long time .
The length of the coat may also change and become shorter than before .
Before cutting you should cut your cat's claws. This way the animal will not be able to scratch you during the haircut.
Before grooming your cat, make sure its nails are also trimmed short. Otherwise, you risk getting scratched while grooming the animal.
Not all cats can sit still during this procedure . Aggressive pets are quite difficult to trim, so it is better to do the haircut together.
This process is quite long, if you are doing this for the first time, do not expect 2-3 hours.

Cat grooming machine at home

A cat clipper is a real salvation for many owners.

When trimming a cat at home, you should use a special clipper.

Its use will speed up and simplify the process. Unlike scissors, you cannot injure your pet with a clipper. But you should choose a device that works as quietly as possible. A sound that is too loud will frighten the cat, he will break out and scratch, and trimming will become impossible.

Grooming cats yourself at home

If you don't want to hire a professional, try cutting your cat's hair yourself. But keep in mind that the animal will be stressed and, most likely, will break out. Therefore, you cannot do without an assistant.

Before grooming, trim your cat's claws and then sit her on the table. Have your assistant hold her back legs with one hand and her middle legs with the other and press her to the table. After this, you can start cutting your cat's hair using a clipper. To do this, you need to install a nozzle two to three millimeters long.

It is advisable to cut the cat against the grain, which is more hygienic.

Haircut sequence:

sides;
back:
stomach;

It is not advisable to trim the head, neck and lower part of the paws, as the whiskers are located there. Cutting them will disorient the cat.