Sunday, March 20, 2022

A Busy and Successful Day

Well! It was a busy and successful day at the Cosy Apartment.

It was shaving day for two of the beasts. Minuet’s coat is of dry, coarse hair, and was full of mats; so many, and so close to the skin, in some cases, that combing, or cutting with scissors, were impractical. Neville too suffers from mats. His long, thick hair is not impossible to comb and brush, and the mats not impervious to snipping, but he dislikes both remedies, so it was decided to shave him, as well. A very good friend of the rescue-group was asked to shave the cats; this friend is excellent with trimmers, quick but careful, and she agreed cheerfully to do the job.

Two other ladies from the rescue-group came to help, as shaving cats is sometimes a multi-person job. However, we were all very surprised at how docile both Min and Nev were during their ordeals. Minuet protested verbally toward the end of her shave, particularly as that involved her farther regions, but only objected physically when she had to be held up for a tummy trim. Neville, whom I expected to put up a struggle – though not a violent one – barely resisted. Consequently, the shaves were close and neat and complete.

Minuet’s shave exposed some old scars. Her previous owner had told us that Min had been badly shaved before, to the point of the trimmers cutting into her skin, an injury which later caused infection. These are the marks that may look like wounds in her photographs. They have healed but I can’t help wondering at her docility during this new shave, considering what had occurred under inept hands in the past.

Madame will wear a sweater until her fur grows back. The one she has now is rather too large for her, so I will try to buy a better one tomorrow. For now, though, blue is her colour.

Neville, being younger (he is but middle aged by my reckoning; senior by any veterinary’s), won’t require a sweater. He has a history of eschewing warm spots, anyway, though he has favoured snug cat-beds periodically. Both cats have been provided with heated beds. Minuet has already spent some time on hers.


A minor miracle transpired after Minuet’s shave. In the two weeks that she has had her new cat-tree, Madame has disdained its full utility. She has used it, but only because it was unavoidable. Prior to its arrival, she would ascend to the carpetted top of the library’s lower bookcase by scrabbling up the back of the couch, and then pulling herself up to the bookcase’s top. This arduous climb was why I had the cat-tree made. With its placement between the couch and the bookcase, she has had no option but to use it. But she used only a couple of its steps: those that intervened between the back of the couch and the lower bookcase. I had been thinking those must be the most expensive couple of steps ever purchased for a cat.

But immediately after her shave, Minuet, wearing her sweater, climbed the cat-tree, from the floor to the bookcase, slowly stepping from one platform to the other. I couldn’t believe my eyes. But I had to credit my sight when I observed her later climb down the same way. It was one of those changes in feline behaviour that seems so casually performed as if to intimate that there had never been any other way of doing it.

She may not resort to the cat-tree every time; I suspect she will. It surely must be easier on her old bones than her prior method. The question in my mind is not whether the action will be repeated, but why it was done now. Is it merely a coincidence that it followed immediately upon a shave, or had the mats been so debilitating that they prevented her from climbing the tree? This possibility seems unlikely, since she has been agile enough to achieve her purpose in other ways. Nonetheless, I am quite pleased. It’s like seeing a cat play with the actual toy one has bought for it, rather than the box in which it came.

A busy and successful day at the Cosy Apartment, I think I am justified in claiming; much accomplished. Oh, and one of the ladies who came to assist is so adept at cutting cats’ claws that she was able to snip Hector’s, a task I had been unable to accomplish, to my periodic pain. Yes, a busy and successful day…

18 comments:

  1. It seems that Neville and Minuet had quite a busy day. They both look great with their new "hairdos", and I'm sure they feel more comfortable now that their mats are gone. And Min, you look lovely in your blue sweater.

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  2. A busy day indeed! I am sure Neville and Minuet feel much more comfortable sans mats. I agree that it is amazing that Minuet was so good for her trim considering her previous scars.

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  3. Three cheers for a successful shave all
    round then..Hip~Hip~Hooooray! HeHe! Bless!x
    Neville is a handsome boy..with or without
    fur..!x

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  4. Seney always got very bad mats at her fruit legs as we humans would say in her arm pits. I always tried to keep them cut as best I could but I also knew they were there when she would stop climbing. I figured then the fur was tied so tight it was too painful to climb. Maybe the same happened for Minuet. With painful mats removed from any of her legs and chest area it might actually have made it easier for her to climb. They both look quite funny with no fur and I'm wondering if you could enter them into a cat show contest as a particular new kind of breed. A kind where they have a furry head and furry tail tip only.

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  5. You made me feel better reading this, as i feel embarassed taking miss pops to the vet to get her matted back legs shaved. It is a chore that i am unable to do by myself.

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  6. Wonderful! I'm sure both Minuet and Neville must feel so much better, and the lion cuts look very well done.

    YOU will feel better, with Hector's nail trim. :-D

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  7. I am delighted! I think, as you mentioned toward the end of the blog that pain kepy Minuet from fully extending all her limbs to climb anywhere. Her mats being close to the skin...right up against it and so many, had to be exceeding painful 24 hours a day. THANK you for knowing and remedying that. I feel better all the way here in Tennessee because they were shaved.

    I am trying to uderstand how the person who hurt Minuet did so without meaning to. I'll stop right there. There is a tiny possibility I am wrong in that assumtion, and I am all 100% against hurting any animal.

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    1. I want to give whoever gave her that shave the benefit of the doubt, but for them to leave wounds so bad they became infected and left permanent scars, they must have done an incredibly careless job. Poor Min, that must have been such an awful experience.

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  8. What a busy day! A spa day for Min & Nev.
    Years ago we had our dog shaved and she had cuts in a few places! I was appalled and confronted her about it. I listened to her excuses but told her we wouldn't be back. Found another groomer that our dog never had a problem with.
    So pleased all went well and having skilled groomers come to your home. Lovely!

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    1. You wouldn't think so, but professional groomers can be dangerous. I've heard some real horror stories, where the groomers actually KILLED the dog or cat they were working on.

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  9. Minuet, poor thing...those scars!
    Here's hoping that her fur will regrow as lustrous locks.
    Neville and Hector; tough as nails, but with one man and two women working on you, it's always best to just let it happen.

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  10. Lovely to see many beautiful and well looked after kitties at Cosy Apartment. :)
    Thank you so much for your kind words on Pinot's passing. Sending you hugs from Toronto....

    Pinot's mom

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  11. Neville's arms are still covered! He looks like a lion for sure! Littlre Minuet probably still has her arms covered too I know she HAS to feel better. Neville too.

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    1. Min's legs were shaved to the extent of getting mats off them, too. I couldn't believe there were tiny knots there.

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  12. I follow a person who is an animal groomer and she says that those mats especially if there are in the under area of the armpit cause a lot of problems with movement and that once they get rid of the mats the animal feels so much better. I wonder if that is what you're seeing with Minuet, she just feels so much better without the mats. I know in the last year of Jinx's life I had to deal with mats (never ever before) I was fortunate to keep up with nearly daily combing and I was able to clip out the bothersome mats before they got too bad. I'm glad both kitties are doing so well!

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  13. They look fabulous and I'll be they feel better, even if they won't admit it.

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  14. A spa day in their own den! Glad it all went so well. Poor Minuet with all those scars from past bad job(s). Glad she feels good now and she looks sweet in her sweater!

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  15. Spa day at the Cosy Apartment! I bet everyone feels lovely after their shaves and nail cutting. Glad things went so well, and Minuet is adorable in her sweater.

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