Shave that cat!

I love Nina; she’s my favorite cat.

Towards the spring she starts shedding and with that much hair, it becomes rather unpleasant. Her hair gets in your eyes, mouth, clothing, food, EVERYTHING.

Shedding is a trial all pet owners go through the the days bring more light and everyone suffers.

Nina is a registered American Ragdoll with a pedigree a mile long. She is show quality but when I bought her I agreed not to show or breed her. She is “pet quality” and most Ragdoll manuals won’t tell you just how much hair you really have to deal with each year. Emphasis is on their trustworthiness, their relaxed demeanor and friendliness. The manuals never, ever mention how damn much hair you will have to deal with.

Dealing with it is endless – inspecting food for stray hairs, spending a fortune in roller brushes, and the fact you simply can’t wear fleece.

Each year I take Nina out to Bailey to an excellent groomer, one of the few that will take the cat challenge. For the most part Nina is quiet and easy to handle but she hates having her legs shaved but loves it when the hair leaves her back and sides. It takes about an hour to take Nina from Hair Queen to a cat you can’t help but want to pet and hold.

The bath is a trial but getting a blow dry puts her on edge and sometimes she goes flat. The groomer has a sock she puts over the cat’s face to keep the dryer’s air from blowing in their face and no cat likes wind in their face.

Once done, Nina is fine and ready to be petted and adored.

The down side of taking most of the hair off a cat is they get cold. She has a hidey-hole that she stays in until she acclimates to being rather hairless but wakes me up during the night because she’s cold and wants something, anything warm.

It’s worth every penny of $40 to reduce the hair in the house. I may have a Dyson but it can’t get every strand of hair and she has A LOT.

It’s a sign of spring; shaving the cat.