Believe it or not, I get this quiestion quite a bit. The answer? Sure. You can.
But - keep in mind that hair does several things for the pet. For one, it actually provides SHADE. This means that the skin actually stays cooler in the shade. It also provides protection from sunburn.
For those of you who know me, you know I used to have hair. I am now bald thanks to my Wahl shaver. If I forget to wear a hat - I BURN. So cutting off all the hair doesn't mean it's necessarily better for the pet's skin.
However, in some breeds, the undercoat can be SO dense and SO difficult to manage, that you either need to pay a good groomer to get the job done (and keep with it) or shave the hair. That's OK to do - but make sure and keep them out of the high-noon sun.
Most folks who shave their cats do so because the cat doesn't groom their long hair and ends up matted and nasty. Or, the cat is obnoxious about depositing hairballs on your pillow or in your shoe and we keep the hair short to reduce hairball formation. Lastly, some folks do it as a special form of humilation. Does the cat at the start of this post look happy?
And just because I look amazingly more sexy with no hair, it doesn't mean your pet will. ;D
AMH
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The burn on your head seems to have gone TO your head. ;o)
I shave my cat Ashley because she's a got a sturdy figure and can't seem to groom herself. She's much more cuddly and personable when she's shaved. Luckily she's a "no strangers allowed" kind of cat so we don't have to hear houseguests uncontrolled laughter at her hairless self.
Hey! I'm a follower now! lol
nehoo, so a groomer told me that sometimes if you shave a husky or better yet, a malamute, :) their hair may not grow back in the same. watcha think?
thx!
I shaved my cat JJ since he's a lazy LOAD and doesn't clean himself very well. He seems to enjoy his sleek look. He has some new found energy and friskiness. He takes the laughs very well as they always lead to petting to see what he feels like which is extremely soft.
In the case of sled dog breeds, the coat is so thick and it sheds at different speeds. So it may take a long time (a year) to grow back a "normal" coat.
I also forgot to mention that the character of the hair that re-grows can have quite a bit to do with the temperature of the skin at the time it grows. In other words, the skin is cooler with the hair gone and so the hair may grow back a darker color or be more curly. This will return to normal as the hair sheds out and regrows under normal conditions.
This is especially cool in siamese. You can shave a square into the side of a siamese and the square grows back in very dark. It's pretty funny. As this sheds out, it all looks the same again.
AMH
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