Dichroic Reflections

shaving the cat

On our way to a rowing social yesterday afternoon, I pointed out to Rudder that if I told people that we were a little late because we were having the cat shaved, they would think that was some strange euphemistic way to say that we were having mad passionate sex. Thereupon, he forbade me to tell them that (he likes to keep some things private), but I pointed out that I'm not responsible for other people's assumptions upon hearing a plain statement.

Unfortunately, that statement is the literal truth. Yesterday, we had the cat shaved. He's been losing weight and getting mats in his fur. When we took him to the vet, she had some ideas for getting him to et but didn't really address the matted-fur issue. We've been brushing him, but the mats won't come out and are only getting worse, so yesterday we took him to the groomer. She told us that if left untreated the mats would indeed grow worse and could lead to sores on his skin. She tried combing a few, then told us that cutting them out was the only answer. So now we have a semi-shaved cat. He looks pathetic, and of course he hated the crating, the drive, the groomer, and the grooming, but I think the end results bother him far less than they do Rudder.