catzzzzzzzzz

I've had a request to do a cat today and up until now I have refused. The problem is no-one in my town does cat clipping and the quote she got from one of the 2 vets in town was $280. So i'm considering it I've had a look through some posts and got an idea of price but a couple of questions still elude me. First, I've only seen photos of cats with a lion clip. This customer wants paws taken off, just the head and tail left. Is this possible from a danger point of view? She said she's also had the cat's head clipped, how hard is that? Should I insist on sedation? (the cat is a rag doll and been clipped before). Should all cats be washed before or do they keep themselves clean enough to do a clip without it?

I know to use a No 10 only but any other advice would be appreciated then I can work out whether to do it or not. I'm not sure if morally I should even be offering if I've not had experience before, but I've warned her out of my lack of experience.

Thanks

Give it a try! If she is willing to pay a good amount of money, maybe not 280. but you could make it worth your while.
I don't get to do a lot lf cats, and I don't go down the paws just to the elbows. I would also try to talk her out of shaving the head. There's no real point, there can't be MATS up there!
Use a 10 in reverse up to between the shoulder blades. Do as much as you can, then it really should get a bath to look it's best... Good luck, should you choose to accept this mission..

JMO....
No head shaving and no paw shaving.
Did she actually mean the whole paw? I always neaten the pads.
If you have never clipped a cat you will absolutely need an assistant and a towel. Plus a few drinks afterward.
Make her sign a waiver also. i would insist on that. Also, they are freakin quick, do not lose your concentration.
Hope I didn't scare you, I just want you to be safe. The last cat I had, that skunker, was very good. Oh, be careful around the pit area and keep that skin tight.

I would take the job and charge 200. You will be done in less than an hour.

Good points, Jonna, make sure the entire room is very secure, I just trim pads too..
Start at the base of the tail with a ten reverse.
Keep calm.... turn off the radio...tv off... lots of towels on the table , makes them feel safe, and helps protect you.... trim nails first... don't be afraid to scruff, although some cats are good at tightening their neck muscles so you can't. ...but it's a good way to trim the belly... until they curl their legs up and you can't get at it.. Jonna's right, an assistant who is not afraid is good to have. ... if thye ARE afraid and let go at the wrong moment, you are in deep doo-doo... be careful!

Thanks guys, that all helps. I'm only doing this cat because I've been told he's good and he has been done before. I'll see how this one goes before I start doing loopy cats. Yes, it is the whole paw she wants off, but I will talk her out of it. I guess you have to go in between the toes like a dog, is that why it's not normally done? $200 - eek! Damn, where's those cats I've turned down in the past ??

So OK, I'm going to do it. I will call the lady today and take some photos when I do. Watch this space.

Sorry, I forgot another couple of questions.

Why can't you use combs on cats without doing the whole shave thing. Is it because of the cats thin skin and the risk of cutting it?

This lady is getting the cat done because of the heat, not because of mats, so again, just to reiterate, is it possible to do heads to blend in the look? Do you not do paws because of the danger of getting in between toes? And does it look silly if you blend it in? This lady didn't like the look of clipping, then full on fur with a straight edge if you know what I mean, so I could blend it in, but with long fur I thought that might look a bit daggy.

Sorry, I've just never seen any pictures of cats other than lion cuts with paws and heads still on.

Since you brought up skin, don't forget to streach skin as you work!

But now I'm in over my head, cause I've never used a comb on a cat. Does she possibly have a pic of it when it was shaved?
If she said shave the paws too she probably din't mean between the toes, just down the legs... I would tell her that really isn't gonna help her cat stay cool...

Cat hair is really hard to blend, and I don't think you will get too far using a comb with the fur, you would have to go against, and it will probably look choppy. Theree is a woman here who can do all kinds of cool stuff with cats, but I'm not her..I just shave em down and give em back..

As far as the head, how long can it be? You can blend the neck into the head without shaving the head...and if she's doing this for the heat, why use a comb when a blade will take more off.?
You'll know how much you can fart around when you meet the cat! Don't forget pics! Good luck!

I've done a cat with a comb before and the result isn't too good. It's like trying to clip a very fine puppy coat. The one I did was, how shall I say, not very co-operative. Basically, I scruffed it and did the best I could. Do it forward and reverse. I used a 1/2"SS. It was winter. I think that a 3/8"SS would look OK, and that should blend in OK with the head and feet. It might look better if you use the SS after a bath. Let us know how you go. Oh, another thing you can do is to use masking tape around their feet. Wrap it up to the "wrist", and it stops them hooking their claws. PS don't use gaffa or duct tape

- Doing a cat head is like doing a pom head, just tidy it up and and scissor to blend it into the body.
- Unlike dogs, cats need their whiskers so dont trim any of them.
- I most often use a 10 blade both with and against the grain, I also use a 30 for more stubborn matting and find that it is neater than a 10 with the grain and for really bad matting I sometimes have to resort to a 40 for the really bad bits, cat hair can mat into solid rocks and nothing else will get them off.
- Clip cats much more slowly than you do dogs and make sure that you stretch out the skin continuously as you go. Never clip without knowing exactly where the skin is at all times, sometimes you have to move the skin around in different ways to get it in a safe position.
- Cat nipples nearly always bleed if you run a blade over them so put your finger over each one if possible and try to go around them.
- Use a figure 8 harness to restrain a cat. You can make one with a soft lead, one of the ones that has a ring at one end to make it into a choker. Thread the end through the ring as if you were going to put it around a dogs neck but instead put it around one of the cats front legs, keeping the ring in the centre of the back. Then take the lead around the other front leg and thread the end of the lead back through the ring. You can then hook the cat to the grooming arm so it cant fall off the table or just wrap it around your wrist. It cant come off the cat because if the cat struggles it will tighten. Its also handy for dogs who like to strangle themselves on a noose. You shouldnt put anything around a cat's neck because they have easily damaged tracheas.
- Always cut the nails first and use vetwrap on the paws and go buy a cat size elizabethan collar so you dont get bitten, they can and do bite through cat muzzles. You can put a muzzle and collar on for extra safety for bad cats. Vetwrap and E collars are cheap and available from the vet.
- Cat clips with combs are pretty safe but generally look pretty choppy and crappy, even in reverse and with a clippervac, most cat coats just dont clip all that well.
- I mostly just do all off clips, leaving head and tail. I do clip the feet fairly often, you just need to go over the top of them, no need to go between the toes. You have to go over them several times, the foot hair is stubborn and doesnt like to come off neatly so you still have to brush up and scissor to finish. The second most common one I do is clip out all the underneath bits and then comb out the rest. A good cat comb will fairly easily comb out cat hair and loose knots, I use a grip soft one and its really good. The teeth on the comb have to be the right length and the right spacing or they will just skim over the coat and not get it out. Sometimes I do lion clips, but not often since I usually get matted cats to do.
- BE CAREFUL AND CHARGE A LOT!!!

#10 reverse.. strech the skin as you go .. quick shave the cat FIRST.. bath in F/T and if possible rewash in hypo.. dry cat.. most cats will NOT let you use a force dryer on them.. i towel dry and put in cage with fluff dryer on them.. re-clip with a #10 reverse..
do not shave all face and/or all legs...just REFUSE.. i will clip 1/2 way down legs and scissor off the toe hair...most acts do NOT like the lower legs shaved and you will just piss the cat off.. dont get yourself hurt over a little hair..
but shaving the face is just idiotic

You are so right Sandy, all the cats I do hate force drying but I force them. God my arms break from scruffing....
Also, cut your nails if they're long. They get in the way when you scruff. I always trim mine low when I know a cat is coming in. I also have used a comb but got so-so results. Their coats just can't take it.

also... BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING.. get in the habit of cutting the cats nails FIRST!!!! do not do anything else untill those nails are cut,,, if the cat wont let you cut its nails it wont let you do anything else..
i had a client say she did NOT want the cats nails cut.. i told her "NO WAY, i cut all cats nails for MY SAFETY.. if the nails are not cut its to dangerous for me"
she said "NO i do NOT wants his nails cut"
i handed her cat BACK to her and refused to do groom the cat... she left
i have seen to many groomers injured by simply not cutting the nails first...

This is turning out to be a very interesting and most informative post guys.....I have never clipped a cat ( just washed my niece's) and don't intend to but the info here is really great and coming straight from the ""cat's"" mouth so to speak!!!!! Very clear and a ton of good advice.....

petgroomaustralia wrote:
- Use a figure 8 harness to restrain a cat. You can make one with a soft lead, one of the ones that has a ring at one end to make it into a choker. Thread the end through the ring as if you were going to put it around a dogs neck but instead put it around one of the cats front legs, keeping the ring in the centre of the back. Then take the lead around the other front leg and thread the end of the lead back through the ring. You can then hook the cat to the grooming arm so it cant fall off the table or just wrap it around your wrist. It cant come off the cat because if the cat struggles it will tighten. Its also handy for dogs who like to strangle themselves on a noose. You shouldnt put anything around a cat's neck because they have easily damaged tracheas.

Oops... I just realised when I was combing out one of my own cats earlier today that when I have put on the lead as described above, I then hook each loop over the cat's head as well. It doesnt go on the neck, but sits lower down across the chest.

What? $200 for a lion cut, jeezes. I do tons of lion cut on cats and it's always been $50-65. I work alone but sometime I will get someone to help hold when I am finishing it up for the back legs/sani areas which all of them hate for maybe a few mins. If they are new I alway tell them if the cat get too aggressive I will call to have you pick up cause it might need to be sedated. It really depend on the cat.

1st thing ALWAY as soon you put the cat on the table is the nails!

No matter how dirty they are, I alway try to get as much hair off as possible so after bath I only have to finish up those sentitive areas.

The bath normally will piss off the cat.... I know they hate force dry but I still do it for 30 secs to get water out and sometime it will cause them to pee in the tub which is fine for me so their bladder's emptier when I do the finish up. There's nothing like strong cat pee flying out at you sideways! Towel, towel, towel ........ cage dry.

They are so fast so make sure you close all doors or windows.

Yeah, I always lock my door when I have a cat. I think their $200 is different from ours Shiv. Depending on the size of the cat, my lion cuts are from 65 to 80. Also depends on how badly matted and aggresiveness.

I did a very nice cat yesterday, Mom stayed to help. I got all the mats out of the back with a Coat King! They were just sliding out whit it, I don't even know why I picked it up but the mat zapper was working too, and the cat was patient. Tummy was full of mats, shaved that, no bath, cat had no skin probs, his coat was just starting to get away from him.
I can't believe how well the Coat King worked! It was one of the bigger ones. Took out tons of shedding fur, I sold it to her.
I don't think I'll see that cat again, Mom was more than willing to learn what she needed to do. 50.00 $ 45 minutes.

I would've charged more Lorie. I think the "lesson" part did it there. 45 minutes is a long time to work on a kitty. Did she tip you? I hope so. I can't remember what I charged for that de-skunk. That was also around 45 minutes, mostly soak time. He had like 3 little mats on his back that slid right out. I think I charged 42 for the extra large shorthair and 15 for the dekunk.....so 57? Can't remember but I got a $20 tip and I will get lots of referalls. She liked how I handled her cat. I hope your patron sends you referalls. Yeah I will take all the nice kitties....
Shiv, you hav alot of kittie experience. I have yet to be peed on but I did have one poop on the table.

I have never tried a mat zapper...I use my small curved de matter and a usually a face comb or other fine tooth comb. Usually after the bath I can hv them out too. Don't do bellies, that's a shave job. Kitty must get hv'd! Too bad.
Hey Lorie, why no bath? You couldv'e used your catvac! OMG you couldv'e charged a bundle then! I wanna see that thing when I come up. Curt can study it. I know I can make one, may be usefull.

It wasn't really a "lesson" She just learned that her cat will need a little help from now on because he can't do the job anymore. I know I could have charged a lot more, done a bath, played with the CSV, BUT the cat is older, didn't have dirty skin, no fleas, and we had to stop a few times when the cat panted. He didn't show any other signs of stress, but that is one for sure.

I'm sure some filthy matted cats will come my way over time, and I'll charge a fortune. I just didn't need to this time. The Mom was also very good as a helper and obviosly wants the best for her cat, not like some cat (or dog) owners who will let them get that bad over and over.

The CSV is definately something someone mechanically inclined could build, can't wait til you get here!

Gotcha.
I didn't know it was a senior cat. I am always extra careful with my seniors.