This seems like a traumatic event for a cat. While there may be sound reasons that one might do this (unmanageable mats, skin conditions) I would not put my own kitty through something like that just to satisfy my own boredom/curiosity.

Just give her a good brushing every day to get the dead hair out and prevent tangles. Most cats would not enjoy a trip to a strange place to be dunked in water and then shaved.

If you shave any part of a cat, the hair immediately starts growing back. So, if you wanted to maintain the "look," you'd have to regularly take your cat to be groomed. I don't think the cat would like that - I know our cat wouldn't. And to put your cat through that just because you are bored is, well, not nice.

Our cat is a "domestic short hair" tuxedo cat, but he still does shed a small amount of hair. We got one of the "Love Gloves" from the Doctors Foster and Smith catalog (actually, their web site after seeing it in the catalog), and our cat LOVES to be groomed with the Love Glove! We have more than one of the gloves - kept in different areas of the house so that we can groom the cat easily no matter where we or the cat are. And it's amazing how much hair that thing will take off the cat. Our cat will actually rub the side of his face against the LG to let us know that he wants to be groomed, and we can tell he feels better afterwards. And his coat looks amazing!

Love Glove

I think a lion cut is not only cooler than all that fur, but no hoarking hair balls....none...not ever! I've considered giving my kitty the cut with the shears I already own....if I did it he wouldn't mind. Just once a year, for Summer. He gets furminated all the time and he's still hot, still hoarking.

http://www.chewy.com/cat/furminator-long-hair-deshedding-edge/dp/40306

Your cat is not an object, its alive and has emotions and feelings and I don't agree in doing things like to a cat and yes, many it would be very dramatic for look. Brush your cat daily, yes, those gloves we have used on our cats over the years and some love being brushed, you have to do it regularly or they get terrible mats and then have to be cut out. Work and love your cat and forget doing stuff like that on it. And yes, it takes off huge amounts all the time that is part of owning pets, cats and dogs you must brush them daily and work to clean them off and not cause mats on them and at same time its important to handle your own pet and feel them all over if there is anything amiss and that is things are found and shown to vets like cancer,etc.

kathy

The story sephia tells is the same as mine. Oh, my animal shelter 12 yo Persian I adopted got lion cuts at the groomer. He was very cooperative and laid back with the groomer. It depends on the cat. He also got a bath. I would not do that with my cats I have now. They can read my mind when I decide to clip their nails and scatter.

Thank you Sephia and Maggie, I was looking for people who actually groomed their kitties, and the reasons why. If u have a chance, pls post a pic. My darling kitty is very easygoing but hair balls have never been a prob. And shedding in the house is not a prob either. So it seems that for other than satisfying my curiosity, not much sense in it, in my case. Your input was very helpful.

vossner - I will try to post a "before" and "after" pic of Toby. He was a one in a million kitty - I'd never had such a laid back, relaxed "big guy." If he didn't like the grooming experience, I wouldn't have regularly had it done. I think each cat is individual, and like I said previously, I would never, ever consider grooming my two current cats. They aren't the "laid" back type that Toby was, and it would be too traumatizing for them.

vossner, I don't know why I took Sam to the groomers. His owner passed away when he was 12. His hair was easy to brush and don't recall him shedding a lot. I think I was giving him the ultimate life after a crushing loss of his home. Well. you did ask for a picture of my Sam. No one asks for pictures of my kitties!! here goes.

Sam is a looker! Sephia, I look forward to seeing you pics. My kitty is the type that resists getting into his travel case but once the journey begins, being to the vet or our 2nd home, he is fine. i bathed him a few times when a baby, w/o resistance but he is really clean so I decided it wasn't necessary. Maybe an experienced groomer can tell rather quickly who is or isn't a good candidate for grooming. My Kozmo would make a good looking lion, lol.

Pretty kitty Maggie!

I did have a long-haired cat and when she turned about 18 she quit grooming herself. She had tender skin by then and didn't enjoy being brushed. I took her to the groomer and had her bathed and shaved down maybe three times a year. I did not ask for a 'lion cut', but that is what the groomer always gave her. The cat seemed to be happier with the short hair. She lived to be 21 and she did not die of embarrassment. :) I wouldn't do that to a cat ordinarily but I didn't have much choice with this cat.

@Lydia. Interesting. did she fight the groomer at first? wow, 21 years! This reminds of the first time I bathed my kitty. I thought I would use a hairdryer and you've never seen a cat jump so high. Never did it again.

I knew of two cats who were groomed one the owner had a medical issue and was not able to groom her cat, so it was anesthetized (the only way to get it accomplished) and shaved. The other would not groom itself and would come in completely matted, hatted being groomed. There would be many dogs at a groomers and I think this would cause most cats stress, on top of being handled in new and strange ways along with the noise of clippers, added to a strange environment, new people, plus being away from it's person. All combined makes for a stressful, probably crappy day for the cat. Of course there are always exception to the rule but if it is not necessary why put the cat through it. Just because your curious bored hmm why not get a short haired kitten to stir things up bet you wouldn't be bored then.

50 cats

I found this. 50 cats with lion haircuts. Most of them look pissed, but there are some pretty ones too. Some not so cute.

My cat's hair grew so it had to be cut. The cat was very easy to take care of at the groomers and liked everyone he met. So, it wasn't cruel at all. When you get your cat a Lion's Cut it will grow out. Thank you for the compliment about my picture of Sam.

about how long did it take to grow?

Hmmnn...a couple of months depending how they shaped it. It blends in and never looks bad. My picture of Sam I gave you had lost his Lion Cut. You have to bring us back for more conversation if you do it. I don't recall how old your kitty is. But, Sam was 12 and must have had it done. So sad his owner died and her family didn't want him. He was a gem.

Vosser, I couldn't stop laughing at your comment. Yeah, they do look pissed. And, I never had my cat shaved like some of them. I guess his cut was modified because these people are shaving the cats the tail too. They know they look silly. Is this what you want?

Cats are small animals and can get cold easily. Besides the obvious discomfort in wintertime, some cats can get uncomfortable indoors in the summertime with the A/C blowing. Even when there are grooming problems, there surely must be alternatives to a buzz cut.

Animals can die from anesthesia. To take such a risk for a grooming session is a head scratcher to me.

Yeah, a few of those 50 cats looked pissed all right. And some were sloppily groomed - perhaps they fought the groomer and the groomer had to hurry.

I wouldn't have a cat anesthetized either to have them groomed, EXCEPT if the cat was having trouble with its own grooming, and was extremely matted. Matts can pull at and tear the skin, which is painful, and can become infected. It's a hard call to make though, with an elderly cat, to put them under anesthesia to be groomed.

Does it have to be anesthesia? Can it be a pill like benedryl that relaxes them?

My daughter has her cat groomed because her husband is allergic to Plato's fur. The groomer loves Plato-he is so calm & purrs while being shaved. But he is the calmest cat I have ever been around.

We've had many cats and dogs over the last 45 some years and never took them to a groomer. We've bathed them ourselves, combed and cut hair with scissors when needed. We now have a neighborhood cat that adopted us who has scabs all over her body, yet no fleas. I'm not sure what caused those scabs but I have been rubbing her down with coconut oil, combing daily and what an improvement that has made. On a few "raw" looking places I put Vitamin E oil on for healing.

My kozmo is 5-6 can't remember off-hand. Remember, I'm bored/curious so have only given this a passing thought. Here is Kozmo, he looks pissy

Anesthesia is risky but not at all uncommon, just like for people. My pooches go under for their annual teeth cleaning, it's the only way. And no, I wasn't bored when I decided it was needed. My poor little 13 YO doxie was slowly losing his teeth. Things have improved dramatically since cleaning started and increased consumption of teeth cleaning treats

My cat wasn't thrilled about getting groomed, but she didn't fight them and she never had any anesthesia. She was a mellow go-with-the-flow kind of cat. The hair does grow back within a few months and you'd never know the cat had ever had a 'lion cut'. I do have 2 short-haired cats now that would probably have heart attacks if they were taken to a groomer.. so I would never take them.

bossyvossy, Kosmo is a big, beautiful Kitty. I would keep him as he is now.unless you want to shave him severely. He looks like he has a fair amount of hair. Maybe extensions?

Personally, I think the lion cut looks ugly. Or should I say the cat looks ugly with a lion cut...

At any rate, as I said earlier, we use the Love Glove on our kitty at least every other day for a full "rub down." He loves it. And he has never, ever, hoarked up a hairball.

Ew...you're repurposing though.

I don't understand why a lion cut. If someone is going to have their cat shaved (for whatever reason - - - hopefully not for "entertainment"), why not just have it shaved? Why leave a tuft of fur on its tail? Why leave the mane? Is there a reason for trying to pretend it looks like a lion? If it needs to be shaved, just shave it, IMO.

Um, just because it looks cute? What's to understand?

But it doesn't look cute.

It's to make an effort to have kitty look like a mini-lion (same family, right?). I didn't think the cats in the photos looked good, though, not really like mini-lions.

But think of it, when you watch the Westminster dog show, some of those dogs are groomed in the oddest looking way, especially the poodles. I feel kind of embarrassed for them. But of course, dogs are more tolerant of grooming than cats.

Cat #10... they gave her a lion cut but didn't give her the bra that she needed after. lol

A few of them are cute but the majority are not, IMO.

Those 50 pictures show cuts I have never seen before. They are extreme cuts down to the skin. If you have a cat who has many knots in the hair because it isn't groomed by owner often enough - very high maintenance -then giving it a short cut that has some waves in the hair solves the problem of knots and trying to brush a cat that won't let you. A groomer will leave hair around the face and neck to keep your cats cuteness. If the owner decides to make the pet look like a carnival animal, then they have gone past solving a functional problem.

"poodles"

Some of those outlandish cuts have origins having to do with hunting.

I think that the focus should be on the critter itself, and that particular critter. Does that particular cat or dog act as if the grooming is a traumatic experience? Anesthesia should only, in my opinion, be done for necessary medical reasons.

Critters should neither be anesthetized nor groomed to satisfy curiosity or boredom, rather such a process should be considered only when health issues outweigh the trauma or the danger of anesthesia.

Lucille, I agree but you will have to fight the AKC and the parrallel cat society. Cutting hair is one thing. Cutting ears back, and lopping off tails well, you see these things are far more disrespectful when the owner is rewarded with ribbons for it.

"But it doesn't look cute" - according to who? You? You've made this determination? Because you don't think so means it isn't? Glad you've determined for all the people who groom their cats this way that is just isn't cute. Don't speak for other people. Your opinion is just that, your opinion.

I think they look awful.

Feeling snarky today, Sephia? For the record, I am not the only one who feels that way. Keep on taking your cat to the groomer for a lion cut since that seems to float your boat.

Guess I am feeling kinda snarky today - towards your broad generalization. Taking a cat to the groomer does float my boat, so I may just do so again if I have a cat who needs it and will tolerate it.

But you didn't make a broad generalization with your comment "Um, just because it looks cute? What's to understand? "

I agree with those who say it doesn't look cute. In my opinion, it looks silly, and I am not interested in making my pets look silly for my entertainment (or any other reason). For those that like the look, go for it!

I would take my cat to the groomer, but it's easier to wash her myself. And yes, I do wash her, with cat shampoo. She has long silky fur and I'd like to keep it that way. I do brush her constantly; she loves it! I wouldn't shave a cat, because mine stay inside. I don't want them to get feline leukemia or attacked by dogs, bitten by ticks, hit by cars... they're very happy inside.

If you want a new look and it doesn't stress your cat:

Kittywigs

there you go!

Amen. And bless you Lucille.....I hope this ends this conversation. Thanks Vossner for the post.