by Michael
Lion cut - photo by moohaha (Flickr)
Anesthetizing a cat is dangerous. The degree of risk depends on a number of facts two of which are the level of the vet's skill and the amount of relevant equipment that he or she has.
So if a vet is to anesthetize a cat it should be for serious matters that concern the cats health.
Across America vets anethetize cats to declaw them. This is double trouble. The declawing in agony for the cat and can lead to long term physical and mental damage and the anesthetic can kill them. Good isn't it? All for the owner's convenience. Cat teeth cleaning carries a risk too.
Another procedure being promoted by a Las Vegas vet is a lion cut carried under under anesthetic.
He says that sometimes it is impossible to do a lion cut on a cat because it is too difficult to do on certain cats.
For people who are not sure, a lion cut is cutting the cats' fur so that is looks like the fur of a lion. This is a substantial hair cut.
The vet is Dr. Koppe. His clinic is All About Cats (the link takes you to the online newspaper article).
Dr Koppe justifies the procedure by saying that a lion cut in hot Nevada is justified on health grounds. It stops matting and stops the cat getting hot and producing hairballs.
Personally I don't see it as being justified. The way around this is for the cat's caretaker to groom daily. The breeders should bred cats with fur that is not overly long. And if the owner must go to a "professional" to have a cat's fur trimmed it should be a groomer and the person should do it without anesthetic.
This is just another example of a vet prioritizing financial profit over the health of the cat.
Michael
Post dated 29th January 2012.
I had to give a friend’s Persian mix cat a lion clip due to badly matted fur. She just held him while I clipped. He didn’t mind it at all, in fact, he was making biscuits and purring the whole time. These clips are sometimes necessary because the owners don’t realize their cats need daily grooming so they don’t mat. My friend learned her lesson; she kept up with his grooming as his coat grew out to its glory once again. She just brought him to me for a sanitary cut when he needed one.
Yes cats have fur just like we have clothes,it’s Natures way of keeping them warm without the encumberence of having to wear clothes.Shaving their fur away is like us walking around naked.
We look after our own hair,we brush and comb it to keep it knot free,so why not do the same for our pets if they have the type of hair that needs a lot of attention to keep it right.
Great. But what about grooming her 3x daily. That might do it.
Yes, this is a point I missed. We don’t really have the right to cut it all off. If a cat has arthritis, treat the arthritis and groom the cat for her.
I have long haired cats amongst my rescue cats and if I had one with matted fur I’d be ashamed of myself as I’d know it was MY fault.
Karren’s russian blue “loved it” is the daftest thing I’ve heard.
Like Ruth says,cats come with fur coats for a reason.