Spring Cleaning

I don't know the mechanism involved, but as the temperature warms, the cats shed their winter coat as their fur thins out. On a longhair, they usually need a little help with grooming by brushing or combing. But The Scruffers (aka, Scruffy) is a long-hair that hates being brushed, and he gets thick mats that are impossible to comb out, and are very uncomfortable for him as well. Scruffers has lots of medical issues - not only is he FIV+, and under medication for a past spinal injury, but he's lost his vision about 6 months ago, likely as a result of FIV and his high blood pressure. But we had to do something... Last year when he moved in with us, we had him clipped at the vet while he was under for neutering. This year I made an appointment with Barbara, a groomer that Vicki located years ago, who runs Transformations Pet Center for a clipping.



Years ago I took another cat regularly to Barbara, ironically, another FIV+ cat who also had lost his vision. She utilizes the owner to help hold the cat and reassure it during the clipping, so I was glad to help out. As much as Scruffy hates being groomed, I was a little nervous, and Barbara had the big leather gloves out for me, but they weren't needed. He did very well, though he hissed a little as we clipped around his private parts - to be expected! Even the clippers had trouble getting through some of the mats, but the vacuum attachment helped control the mass of hair, and he was done in about 15 minutes. He was sure happy to get home! Just from his walking you can tell he is a lot more comfortable with his new haircut, and takes petting a lot better too. Barbara suggests we might want to do a fall clip too - we'll see if he gets any mats coming in as his fur fills in through the Summer.

A "PS" from Melinda: DO click on the link to Scruffy's original clipping at the Vet. He was such a skinny little runt when we initially brought him in from the outside and had him clipped. We could count every bone and rib along his back. After his grooming on Friday it was amazing to see how hefty he really has become (it wasn't all fur afterall)! He is quite the handsome boy!