Question:
Someone called a few days ago to make an appointment to drop off a new stray kitty he found. He borrowed our cat trap to catch her and was planning on keeping her as an outdoor kitty if all of her tests came back negative. Mentioned she had a few mats and wanted us to trim them.
I went up front to get her and there was a towel over the trap. I put it on the counter, picked up the towel and saw the most pitiful little persian face I've ever seen! She was a tiny little thing, dirty as could be and had mats just dangling from her body.
We took her out to feline leukemia/fiv test her and realized in addition to the little mats, her body was covered in a single solid skin tight wad of hair. Tests came back fine, we sedated and shaved her down.
She's the tinest thing I've ever seen. 4lbs of her. BEFORE the shave down... nobody weighed her after. She's thin, but not overly. Just a tiny little thing. Sweet as can be though - someone must have owned her at one point.
The saddest part - the new owner will be keeping her as an OUTDOOR kitty because he's allergic. Its breaking my heart. He's a great guy and really means well... but there's no way she can be an outdoor cat. Not once her hair grows back. He's already set up his basement to keep her until her meds for a URI are through, but then she goes out. We tried to talk him into finding her a new home, but he really wants to keep her.
I meant to take pictures of her before, but didn't think about it. She was almost naked when I came back from lunch. She's spending the night, so I'll take some tomorrow morning to post. She's won us all over in the short time we've known her!!
Jessie
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."
Answer:
That's so sad. My new (mostly Persian) kitty was shaved before I got her, too, because she does NOT like being brushed (I'm slowly working on that). So I can just picture how tiny (and cute) she is. I'm sure he means well, but doesn't he get that she needs to be inside?
Answer:
Sorry for the ignorrance... but I have seen Persian cat keep as outdoor cat many times. What's the big deal?
Answer:
The long hair (I think). I'm fairly new at the cat thing, but the hair really is an issue. I mean, my kitty had to be shaved and she was an indoor cat!
This is her before picture:
And this is Cleo shaved:

Answer:
marie73 wrote: The long hair (I think). I'm fairly new at the cat thing, but the hair really is an issue. I mean, my kitty had to be shaved and she was an indoor cat!
This is her before picture:
And this is Cleo shaved:
Marie, where did you get her shaved? What did it cost? Did they sedate her?
judy
Answer:
She was shaved before I got her - sorry.
I THINK she was shaved at the same time she was fixed, so she probably was sedated.
Answer:
andylo wrote: Sorry for the ignorrance... but I have seen Persian cat keep as outdoor cat many times. What's the big deal?
well my first thought is that there's no way I could spend that much money for a purebred cat, only to leave it to its fate outisde - even if it doesn't get hit by a car, injured by another cat or chased up some tree by a dog - how many people would just love to get their hands on a free Persian??
Secondly, with all that hair they are very prone to serious matting and having all sorts of debris stuck to them. That goes for all long haired cats, but Persians seem to have much softer/finer hair that doesn't stand up so well against the elements.
Another reason I can see is because of the severely smushed faces, they tend to have some respiratory issues. I don't think they'd do so well outside in the summer heat.
And sadly, she left before I could get pictures... but she should be coming back in a week or so for a recheck. Hopefully she'll win him over and he'll at least convert his basement into her palace
Jessie
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."