Olive the cat before grooming. Look at all that fur!
Poor Olive! First we left her for four days while we visited friends in Salt Lake City. (We did have a cat sitter check up on her.) Then Monday morning, our first morning home, a mobile cat groomer arrived.
We’ve been dealing with Olive shedding hair all over the house, Olive spitting up hair balls, and looking uncared for.
Maureen the cat groomer arrived with a folding table topped with a rubber mat and a backpack full of various tools. I had confined Olive to a bathroom so I could easily find her. As soon as I opened the door, Olive shot out the door down the hall. I spent the next 10 minutes searching for her. Once I spotted Olive, I had to dive on top of her.
With Olive on the table, Maureen spent the next hour and a half with various cat brushes and combs, pulling out matted knots and Olive’s heavy undercoat. I stood at the table holding onto Olive, while telling her what a good girl she was.
This was the first time in Olive’s 11-year life that she’s been groomed. I try to brush her and she puts up with it for about 30 seconds before taking off.
I asked Maureen about shaving the cat, if that would be better than trying to brush and comb her out. Hubby wanted Olive shaved.
“That’s up to you,” Maureen answered. From her tone, I gathered shaving a cat was not something she was keen on.
“Since this is her first time being groomed, lets keep going with combing,” I said. “I think an electric razor would freak her out.”
In case you didn’t know, Olive is a scaredy cat. I had a friend’s daughter take care of her for three or four years whenever we left town. She said, “I don’t believe you have a cat.” My friend’s daughter never saw her. Except for the food being eaten and the litter box being used, there was no evidence that Olive existed.
The sheers did come out for Olive’s underside. The hair was thick, long and matted. Maureen said she’s never groomed a dog or cat that liked their hair being pulled out of their armpits or tummy.
When a large black trash bag was filled with cat hair and Olive’s polydactyl claws had been trimmed, we were done. Olive immediately leaped off the table and ran down the hall never to be seen again that day.
Olive wearing her lighter summer do.
If you have a dog or cat, do they like being groomed?
What are your thoughts about shaving a cat?
We only need to groom Biscuits, and he hates it. We do it here at home.
Is Olive a Maine Coon cat? She is so beautiful.
We got Olive as a kitten from the pound so we don’t think she’s a Maine Coon. She looks like one though. That’s good you can groom Biscuits at home.
Olive is beautiful! My cat is short-haired so we don’t as much shedding/hairball issues, but it’s sad to see your baby choking on a hairball. If the shaving reduces that from happening, it doesn’t sound like a bad thing. Olive is a good girl for cooperating so well. My cat would never!
Thank you! We’ve always had short hair cats so hairballs were never an issue. My daughter and I picked Olive out at the pound as a kitten. The sign on her cage said “short hair.” When we got her home the first thing my husband said was “that is not a short haired cat.”
I’m giggling. If I were Olive, I’d disappear, too! She looks lovely…but I’m glad she wasn’t completely shorn. And I loved your opening lines…when you said you left her for four days. Anticipating the subject matter of your post from the title…Grooming Olive…I immediately wondered if you left her for four days…or fur days. I think I need more coffee! 🤣
You have me laughing! Poor Olive, she’s still hiding. She must not know how good she looks.
Now I’m laughing. Right! She’s gotta worry about the purr-parazzi following her, now that she’s soooo pretty! 😁
Haha! 😅I don’t think Olive knows that grooming will be a thing in her life. At least twice a year.
Ssshhh! She might be listening. Olive = Magic. 🤣🥰🤣
😂😆😂
She’s looking much neater and more beautiful.
Thank you. It has to feel so much better. As she’s aging, her personal grooming hasn’t been what it used to be.
I’m glad she wasn’t shaved. That would have traumatized her
I think so too. She doesn’t like strangers and has never been groomed before. That would be more upsetting to her.
🥰🥰🥰
💕
Poor Olive! She looks lovely, though, and I sure she feels lighter and cooler.
Thanks! She looks ten pounds lighter and must feel better. But she’s hiding most of the time in our closet.
I’m truly impressed by your courage, oh Olive lover! Wowza! I never met a cat with willingness enough to withstand such grooming torture! Regardless of process, I’m sure she’s a much happier kitty now that she’s divested of mats, knots, and excess fur in the summer heat. 😺
After a couple escape attempts, Olive resigned herself to torture. It has to feel better than all that matted fur!
Run Olive, run! Ha, ha. She looks beautiful though after her spa/grooming day.
She looks like she lost 10 pounds after her spa day! And she only weighs a total of 10 pounds.
Nittany is the same way. She looks like an ewok from Star Wars when she’s ungroomed, but looks healthier when she’s back from the groomer. Ha, ha.
I know Olive has looked homeless or unloved lately. I also knew she’d hate getting groomed, so I put it off. The cat groomer told me that at 11 years old, Olive isn’t the best self groomer anymore.
She may not be the best self groomer, but at 11 years old, you also don’t want to fight with her to get groomed. I get it completely. Ha, ha, the challenge of being a pet owner.
What would we do without them?
Even though she can’t, nor probably would admit anything if she could, I bet she feels much better. Animals, like people, come to know their routines and it’s hard to alter what they know or get them to accept the benefits. You can tell her from me that she’s a gorgeous girl with her new summer do 🙂
I will pass on your message to her. She has to feel better. I felt better jseeing all that hair in the trash bag!
Meow, meow. Cats are very deep thinkers.
Well, Olive is staying out of sight. She’s not risking another grooming session!
The pugs hate when I spray them to smell better. I always chuckle when I read that you are supposed to wash a pug weekly and focus on the folds on their face. It is hard to do this with the puppy.
My daughter’s pug Waffles doesn’t like being bathed either.
Ah, our cat gets so matted as well. I’ve tried some cat grooming clippers when the mats get bad but she’s not a fan.
Olivia looks beautiful in her new do!
It’s so hard to get rid of the mats. I haven’t had a long haired cat since grade school, so I never had to deal with it. Thank you, the new do gives Olive a fresh look!
On the inside, even if she doesn’t express it, I bet she appreciates it (especially with the heat you’ve been experiencing!). If not, ask her what you call a cat with a very short haircut? A bobcat 😸
I like your bobcat joke. Olive isn’t allowed outside to play with our bobcats. She likes to look through the window though.
We had cats at one point and neither put up with being brushed. They did excel at barfing up fur, though. It was a no win situation.
That’s what Olive does. It’s not pretty on an almost white carpet.
Because my niece is coming to visit, I’ve been tackling long overdue cleaning, such as shampooing carpets. Along with that was bathing the dogs and washing their beds. I bathe them outside, but have a hose hooked up to warm water (more for me than them). They both tolerate baths pretty well. They’re also good with being brushed. They both shed a lot. The toenail clipping I tend to leave to the pros! I used to shave one of my dogs in summer. I think he appreciated it. That was quite a while back, so hard to recall.
It sounds like you have your hands full getting ready for your niece. Our yellow lab loved getting bathed (outside of course). The toweling off was his favorite.
Hunter really loves the towel, too.🙂
Angus would start running around the yard.
Fabulous shave Elizabeth! Hugs, C
It was actually a comb out on top and shave on the belly. Hubby wanted her all shaved, but she kept her dignity and look. I took her comb out tonight and she ran away in lightening speed!