I'd be mad too

I've read that shaving either cats or dogs with an undercoat is bad for their health, in summer or winter. The undercoat helps them regulate body temperature...without it, they will be BOTH more hot in summer and more cold in winter. Their bodies are built to be covered with that fur, and removing it may be harmful to their health.

That said, I think there's a big difference between shaving a cat and having its fur trimmed. Trimming a long-hair would probably be fine to keep fur from matting, as long as it still has some fur underneath. The cat in the pix has had far too much fur removed, in my opinion (and in the cat's opinion too!).

It would be preferable, though, to either brush/comb it, or just get a short-haired cat if you don't have the time. All my cats are short-haired as I don't have time for all that grooming. I just flea-comb them.

None of my cats has ever been declawed, but they've all been spayed or neutered. It takes a lot of patience to train a cat not to claw things it shouldn't, but it can certainly be done. There are sprays and "scat-mats" to keep them off of things they shouldn't be on. In this case, a log or a carpeted "cat house" is required for scratching, as they must do it.

Gosh I love cats.

I have a cat house and a cat scratching post and she still scratches the furnature, sigh. She's still young though and she might learn.

Montana, she probably will learn. I think the more time you can "supervise" them, the better they respond.

Boris Kitten has always had his own room (so spoiled!). So when I'm not here, he can't scratch the furniture, just his little carpeted house.

When he was out of his room, when he was younger, I'd watch him pretty closely, and correct him when he scratched the furniture. He's an easy cat, though, and listens very well....even did as a kitten.

Anyway, point was that if you're not there to correct her, maybe you can limit her to a certain area where the furniture is scratch-able, or she just has her scratch toys.

The good news is, once kitty is trained, she'll never forget! And hopefully you'll have a good 15 years with little buskie.

I just love cats!

I know she'll learn in time, but in the mean time, I do correct her and I try not to get frustrated. She's my little girl and I love her like crazy :-D

Just now noticed this thread, or I would have commented long ago. First, didn't anyone notice that the original shaved cat's eyes are nearly fully dilated, even though the room is not dark??? That tells me the cat had been sedated, and more than likely trimmed by a veterinarian. Over the years, I and my staff have probably clipped at least twenty cats like that, after their coats had become so horribly matted that a complete body shave was the only remaining viable alternative. Once the undercoat is solidly matted, it loses it insulative qualities for both heat and cold, and the simple solution is to get rid of it. On the subject of declawing (properly called an onchyectomy), all my cats have been declawed (mostly by me), and I can assure you that they can defend themselves, knock the living hell out of other cats - and some dogs, catch a plethora of mice, rats, and birds, and even climb trees! Truthfully, the only things cats really need front claws for is to be obnoxious. It is undeniably a painful procedure, but so is any other surgery, elective or otherwise. If performed while the kitten is young, the recovery period is extremely short. I have personally witnesses kittens batting a ball with their bandaged paws the day after surgery. I'm not advocating the declawing of all cats; I respect the wishes of the cats' owners. Likewise, I certainly do not condemn a cat owner who wants his pet declawed. It is an option that I have sometimes found to be between a pet having a home or not.

we have Maine Coons and hey are terribly unfastidious but real lovers. Even though we brush them and they like it, they mat (hell they actually felt like a Merino). We have to have them periodically clipped and we have it done by a groomer who works for our vet. She does the clipping like a barber with scissors first and then trimmers that have a comb much like a shearing comb , and if there are any really bad spots they get a close shave. They appear miffed and , like chickens when they molt, they arent as "outgoing" after 2 weeks they are up to snuff and full of the normal 9 o'clock crazies

No doubt many men would like to be "Under Anastasia....."

I'm sorry, roverroad, I tried to resist, and I just couldn't!

Farmerman, I thought Maine Coons were a feral breed, meaning they lived without human intervention for many generations...in which case you'd think they would have developed the proper coat for, um, Maine.

Were they bred by people, then? Or maybe their coats are NOT a good adaptation?

I'd always been against declawing cats until my current two. They were sneaky. They knew perfectly well not to scratch on furniture & drapes and never, ever did so...until after we went to sleep. Then they shredded stuff. But NEVER when we were around. I really had no choice. I had them declawed (front only) when they were about 6 months old, and they recovered very quickly, as CowDoc said. I hated doing it, but it was either that or get rid of them.

Hope your kitty learns her lesson better than my two did, Montana. If she doesn't, declawing is an option, though.

It's something I've been struggling with and if she continues to claw all the furnature, I may have no choice. The thought of it brings tears to my eyes, so it'll be totally a last resort. In the mean time, I keep my sqirt bottle at hand for when she gets herself started. The funny thing is that she doesn't do it at night when we're sleeping. She does it pretty much to tick me off and I know this because she looks right at me when she's doing it and she only starts up at certain times. #1. Every time I sit down to eat. #2. I have my own lazygirl chair in the living room and when I'm not in it, she spends a lot of time curled up there, so when I go sit in my chair, she starts clawing at the furnature as if to say "get out of my chair".
I am desperately trying to get her to stop doing this, so I don't have to have her declawed.

Eva
I truly understand why you had to do this and I know how hard it must have been for you :-( (((HUGS)))

CowDoc
Thank you for this information. Atleast it's good to know that declawing doesn't leave them defenseless.

I was wondering about those tips that you can have put on a cat's claws. I want to buy new furniture but I don't want to get my cat declawed because she's 12 years old. She's untrainable when it comes to scratching and the spray bottle only makes her try to attack me:(

How long do those tips last. I can't imagine it would be permanent because cats shead their claws.

I'd like to know more about those tips as well. I just can't see myself ever getting my cat declawed.

Worth a try....a real log in the house for them to claw. I haven't tried it, but I've heard it can help!

Yes, I once had a cat that wouldn't scratch on anything but a log. I had to lay it flat on the floor for her.

But Montana's cat is doing this to get her attention. I think the squirt bottle is the way to go.

I've always laughed at the idea of the tips. I can barely hold my cats still long enough to trim their back claws. There's no way I could hold them long enough to put the tips on and wait for the glue to dry! <LOL> I'd really like to know how people do this!!!

You know Eva, that really IS a good question. I wonder if a vet puts them on?

I brush my dog's teeth, and they seem to like their "beef-flavored" toothpaste. I noticed the package says you can use this on cats too.

I can't imagine trying to brush a cat's teeth! Maybe they'd get used to it like dogs, but somehow I doubt it!

Yeah, that sounds like a trip to the emergency room, too!

actually, no. i have taught my ex-es cat to like her toothpaste. it takes time. first few days you just let her taste it, then she licks it off the tiny toothbrush, then you try to brush a little.... in the end she would hold still for me to brush her teeth. she wouldn't let him do it, though.
She also had to get an approximation of a lion cut. It was the funniest thing ever. He lived in a victorian house with neighbors upstairs and downstairs, and Malti the cat roamed around freely. When visiting the downstairs neighbors, she got interested in a sticky fly trap. Not only interested, she got totally stuck in it, it was wrapped around her real well a few times. the poor silly thing shook her paws each time she took a step to get rid of the stickyness. it had to go. she was mightily pissed off...