The Yogi household came into a pet trimming kit. You can read the article to know how it works and to know what the experience was like. We also have a huge Maine Coon cat named Chrissy. Chrissy is huge. She probably weighs close to 20 pounds. She has a big old shaggy fur coat to match.
Sweetie decided it was time to trim the cat. We were a little apprehensive. When a cat that bigs doesn’t want to do something then it probably isn’t going to happen.
When I was a kid the family had a cat named Tiger. When we took Tiger to the vet we all wore leather gloves. Tiger was the neighborhood Romeo. Back then people put their cats outside at night. So they cats, catted around, including Tiger. Sometimes he would be gone for several days, when he came back sometimes he would pretty beat up and sick so we would take him to the vet.
The vet’s office wasn’t some sort of stylish cat specialty place like in south Tulsa. The vets we had mainly took care of big critters: cows, sheep, and horses and the occasional rancher’s kid. The decor was washed down concrete and painted cinderblock. The vet always wanted to take Tiger’s temperature. It wasn’t a thermometer that you put under his tongue. It went in the other end. She would pick the instrument up and the fur would just float off the cat and he would tense up stiff as a board.
That was the cue for me and my brother to grab her. The key was to get a good initial hold. If you slipped you were in for the fight of your life, maybe for your life. If we didn’t get a good hold on him and he thought he had a chance to get away he would go berserk and it would be almst impossible to hold him. It could get pretty bloody if you didn’t have the proper protective gear. I always wondered why we had to take his temperature. Why couldn’t you just feel his forehead or something. All we wanted was the antiobiotics. We didn’t need all the drama beforehand. I never thought of such things when I was kid though. I didn’t much thinking of any kind.
Anyway, I ran out to the garage to get the gloves. I got my camera and I stood off a good distance before the shearing started.
Sweetie did the honors which was fine with me.
We were both surprised. The cat liked it. I figured that the electric clippers would make her go berserk. She actually seemed to like it and started purring. As you can see from the pictures below, she was totally relaxed during the process.
Sweetie was able to get a lot done before Chrissy had enough. She looks a whole lot better and seems to be more comfortable. Sweetie has had another session or two with Chrissy and everything is still going good.
Chrissy relaxing after her haircut.