@roger,
I have been able to vacuum several of my cats, to remove loose fur. I was also able to vacuum my horse when he was molting.
Sebastian likes to fight with the vacuum....Viola is scared of it. However, Sebastian is scared of the massager, while Viola...and many of my other cats before her...loves it. It's an infrared one...so she gets warmth as well as the massage.
Actually, today is the first time I tried it on Viola...she was so insistent on scrabbling under my face as I lay on the bed using it on my neck, that I thought I'd give her a go. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...she said.