Shaving Your Cat: When It's Safe, Why It Matters, and How to Do It Humanely

There are acceptable reasons for shaving a cat like matting and medical complications. However, shaving your feline friend just to enhance how they look is rightfully considered cruel because it leaves them vulnerable to several health problems. Read on to learn how to shave your cat safely and when to and not to.

Table of Contents

Pros and cons of shaving cats

Before we talk about how to shave your cat safely, let’s look at the acceptable reasons and then we’ll move on to the benefits of shaving your cat.

• Matted fur
• Skin diseases and wounds
• Shedding
• Hairballs
• Grooming difficulties of senior or obese cats

Pros of shaving your cat

Removes matted fur – The removal of severely matted fur is a good reason for shaving your feline friend. Therefore, it’s highly advisable to make an appointment with your vet (or a professional groomer). The same cannot be said for less serious matting which can be managed by careful combing.

Keeps the affected areas clean – Shaving a cat’s fur can be an efficient way to keep the area around a wound clean and makes it easier to apply medication to the affected area.

Helps in managing excessive shedding – Cats shed their fur twice a year but unfortunately that hair spreads around the house. Their self grooming does a lot to alleviate the situation, but many cat owners feel that shaving to prevent shedding provides the necessary relief they need from this messy situation.

Eliminates recurrent hairball troubles – Cats spend a large amount of time grooming themselves, which can lead to hairballs. Sadly for your feline friend, hairballs can create intestinal blockages. According to Animal Path, shaving your cat’s fur is a useful way of preventing this life threatening event from happening.

Good for senior or obese cats – Sadly for your furry friend, grooming becomes more difficult as they age which translates to hard-to-reach places becoming matted. This is why Epic Pet Club suggests shaving of fur as one of the best methods to counter this problem.

It can also be good for cats who have become obese and have trouble getting to certain areas. Especially if they are long haired cats.