Xanax / Alprazolam, cat needs trim, anyone with experience?

A quick background. Sam is a Himalayan / Persian that showed up once at our front door but skittered away when approached, then on our deck in the rain. This time he just walked in. No chip, no posters, nothing on Kijiji. You'd think someone would be looking for what might be an expensive cat but he's ours now. It took months for him to remember what being a cat was. Where ever he was he wasn't allowed to play, or play with anything. Now he's a cat again but still nervous and also has the worst case of matted fur I've ever seen. Groomers get mauled so it's up to us. When our dog got into burrs we got a pair of J.A. HENCKELS scissors because cheapo scissors would just bend. That problem is solved BUT we have to calm him down before snipping so our vet gave us Xanax / Alprazolam. Has this happened to anyone else? The matted fur can't be healthy for him and we're a little peeved that our vet wouldn't do it. His hair grows incredibly fast and he doesn't seem to shed if that makes any sense.

 

I have experience with giving a cat a "lion cut". When we adopted Whisper, he had a couple of patches that had been unceremoniously whacked off, and because of his unregulated diabetes, his fur was just greasy, icky and matted. I know it hurt him. HOWEVER, he is so sweet, that when we took him to our vet's groomer, I held him while she did the cut. Don't get me wrong, he didn't love it, but we got the job done and no blood was shed from me, the groomer or Whispy. That's a WIN! Also, we went into it with the attitude that we would stop whenever Whispy was "done" - even if he would look like he'd been trimmed with a weedwhacker. But now I have Wahl pet clippers and I just maintain it at home one patch at a time (so he does look rough for about a week until we finish). The first day or two he kept twitching and wondering why he felt drafty, but he adapted quickly and I really do believe he felt better.

Ok so that might not help your situation much, but I offer this:

- Our groomer was a certified cat groomer. Obviously cats can't just be groomed like small dogs, so I think that helped because she knew that and had cat experience. Here we have a couple of associations like National Cat Groomer's Association of America, Professional Cat Groomer's Association of America, and maybe others. So I would check to see if there are any equivalents in Canada.

- I would strongly suggest clippers rather than scissors, it should be safer and faster to get under the mats without nicking the skin.

- I think that it is important, whether you are there or not, or you try it yourself, to not think that you have to get it done in one shot. Do a bit, take a break, and come back to it.

- However, if Sam is that bad, and he isn't contraindicated for anesthesia, perhaps the better route is to have your vet (or another vet in town), put him just a tiny bit under and have the techs just shave him down, with the understanding that comfort is the goal, not necessarily a perfect groom. They obviously have experience shaving for surgeries, and that is all that you really expect as far as appearnces are concerned. Maybe your vet would be willing with those ground rules. Had Whispy not been cooperative, that is what we were going to do. I think that I would personally take that route rather Xanax unless Sam just can't do anesthesia because of age or medical issues. He shouldn't have to be under very deep or very long. Does he need a teeth clean? Maybe could just combine the two.

- Once the base shave is done, you might be able to maintain it yourself like we do.

Best of luck whatever you decide. But I absolutely believe that getting Sam shaved would be a good idea for his health and happiness. It was for Whispy.

Sandi&Whisper.

 

Thanks so much. Part of that was me venting. None of our cats are show cats, I'd rather they be healthy and comfortable even if they look like they got too close to a weed trimmer. The groomer we trust is allergic to cats so she passed us on to a beauty salon and I don't think the woman there got the point, function over fashion. I actually didn't think clippers could get under that mess but I guess that's why the good ones are locked in a glass case. And there's always that Y chromosome thing where a man has to admit defeat. "You know Honey, maybe if we had a table saw I could make a TV out of wood". Stupid chromosomes! I'm turning into my Dad.

 

Venting is absolutely allowed ;-)

 

I snuck a peek at your profile, another nut house! They're all welcome here but we've never adopted a diabetic. Whisper is beautiful, he looks like our Jacob only a different color. Jacob and Zoe, adopted as brother and sister from our vet's waiting room were supposedly fixed but were not and that's how we got Noah and his three brothers, one of which was Nigel, our first diabetic. So I guess we did adopt two diabetic cats and then we found out what cardiomyopathy was. Their lives were shortened but they all brought us so much happiness, especially when their Guardian Angel arrived, a Border Collie named Hannah who loved and was loved by all the cats.

 

One will likely have to first shave Sam with a number 10 blade (get to 1/16 inch length)to get under the mats. After that you can go to a number 5 (1/4 inch) or even lower numbers for maintenance.
I uses to work on a vet a and shelter and would have to shave matted cats and dogs. I have seen animal cut badly by trying to use scissors to cut out mats.

 

A mistake I made 20 years ago on a very forgiving cat. Just nicked him but it was enough to scare the crap out of me. Thanks Larry.

 

I regularly shave my cat's "pants" as he's not the cleanest there, as well as shave our other cat completely in the summer time. The trick is to first get a really nice Whal clippers that doesn't make a lot of noise. Then spend time with the clippers and the cat daily (not when you are trying to groom) and give treats whenever the clippers is out. Pet him with it, turn it on and off, and give a treat, pretend to groom for a second, give a treat. If he appears afraid, stop the session. You want to make it a fun time and not scary, and desensitize them to it. It still takes us about 2-3 sessions to completely shave the one cat as she tolerates about 10-15 minutes at a time. As soon as she gets restless, we stop so it remains a positive experience for her.

 

We call them pants as well, along with "arms" and everything else a cat person does. So just make it a little ritual, like insulin time. I've never seen a cat's hair grow that fast in 40 years. We call him our little mop when he skitters along the floor. Oh well, that's what happens when you take home strange cats. Still like a 12 year old kid, "Mom, can we keep him?" Our vet says he's so overbred he doesn't have tear ducts and after cleaning around his eyes the towel looks like some stain under your car. Why do people breed cats this way?

 

Once you get him clipped or shaved, try brush him every day to keep the mats from coming back. Our Callie loves to be brushed. Everyday when it's testing time, I brush her, test her blood and give her a treat. She doesn't have long hair but one of our other cats does. All our cats like brushing and it keeps the mats away. They seem to find it relaxing.

 

@Noah & me They also make a cat fur detangler if you wanted to try that for the closer mats, not sure how close they are on to his skin, my boy had a couple that seem to sneak against his skin overnight. I used some detangler and a wide-tooth comb to slowly work on his mats. Also, Maury had his 2nd "partial lion" cut last spring and because he let the Vet do it while he was awake, she said she wouldn't do it again. Hopefully, I will not have to shave him again as his tabby pattern fur still has yet to fully grow back on his body. He's still a handsome boy though. I have not been lucky enough for him to enjoy being brushed on a regular basis though .

I've never had a Vet give human anti-anxiety medicine though. I would suggest trying Comfort Zone or Feliway that come in sprays or wipes I believe. Sentry and Nature's Miracle make a calming spray too for cats but I don't know much about them.
Best of luck

 

Thanks all. Sam is a strange cat. I think abused is too strong a word but where ever he came from he wasn't loved. He hates the brush, being picked up, being touched anywhere behind his eyes. He's in his forever home now and has already come a long way. It can only get better for Sam now.

 

One of my civies has a thick almost greasy undercoat. She is obese and not at all into personal hygiene so I had no choice but to shave her. She is now 12 y/o and gets shaved about 3 times a year. I could swear she knows when it is getting time to do it and that she feels better afterwards. I'm fortunate enough to have a great groomer who comes to my house to do her--we do the treats and work slowly but by now she knows the routine so she's calm but will let out a few curse words when we start...kind of funny to see her lying there so comfortably while she gives out a blood curdling yowl! She has got so comfortable with this routine that she will even let me bathe her afterwards.