My Shaved Kitty

No, that's not code for anything. My girl kitty literally has been shaved.

I love how she has tiger-striped skin as well as fur.

We chose to do this for two reasons:

1) We don't have central air conditioning and her thick Maine Coon fur coat makes her hot and uncomfortable in the summer.

2) She was born feral and lived feral for like the first 8 months of her life. Often such cats don't care much about cleaning themselves. Hey, it's just gonna get dirty again. Why bother? Concentrate on survival. She won't let us groom her, either. So her beautiful thick coat becomes a matted mess.

This way she is cool and clean. She likes it, too. She's actually invested some time in cleaning herself, now that she doesn't have to fight with fur.

Of course, as luck would have it, the first two nights after her shearing were record cold for the time of year, and she definitely felt it. I got out a flannel pillow case and tucked it over her so she had her own blanket. This was apparently the correct solution because she curled up under it and stayed put.

So if you have a cat who might be a good candidate for shearing (actually known as the Lion Cut for cats - although we modified it to have the neck ruff shorn, too), remember to have something for them to warm up with if the temperature turns cold.