I thought I would be able to get him to the vet to get frontline, so by the time his hair grew back, the fleas would be gone. I did this about 2 months ago. His hair is growing back slowly, he used to have a full tail, now he looks scraggly. Do you know how long it will take for his hair to grow back?
so creul, should have got him treated!
I am puzzled as to why you shaved the cat. All you needed to do was to bathe the cat with medicated flea shampoo and treat with a vet recommended flea product to prevent further out breaks.
I worked at a vet office for several years – there were a few occasions where we had to shave a cat down because the hair coat was so badly matted – it can take up to a year for the hair to come back to it’s normal length.
How awful for your cat. Did you ever think about getting rid of the fleas in your home instead of shaving your poor cat? How cruel. FLEAS DON’T LIVE ON YOUR PET, THE LIVE IN THE ENVIRONMENT! While you are waiting for your cats fur to grow back, watch for tapeworm segments, as tapeworms are spread through fleas. But please, don’t try to treat from OTC, get your cat to a vet for that treatment. And if you were to use a flea preventative, none of this would have ever happened. Poor cat.
PS – Fleas can go dormant, so if your cat still has them, blame yourself in your ignorance, not the poor kitty’s fur.
I have never shaved a cat before, heck i dont know how you managed without being scratched to shreds! But my cat was recently spayed when we bought her from the spca and her tummy is still pretty bald from the operation and we’ve had her for 2 months now, so it could take a while.
Shaving your cat is not going to solve the problem of fleas!!! Your cat needs to be on flea treatment every month!!!
And if you haven’t de-flead your home, that could be a serious problem as well.
As for the fur … it just takes time. It could be that your kitty’s fur just takes longer to grow.
I know that going to the vet isn’t cheap, but I highly suggest you take kitty in for a check-up.
It’s funny I did the same there hair grows very quickly probaly like two to three weeks there hair grows I did it because he was shedding a lot he really like it though we did the lion cut on him he looked cute and funny.
When my cat had her belly shaved to be spayed, it took over a year for the hair to fully grow back,
It is going to take awhile for it to grow back. Shaving the cat was probably not a good idea.
If you have not yet treated the fleas with a proper flea treatment, or it seems like your cat may be in pain from the shorter hair (can pull skin as it grows back), get the cat to the vet for a check up. They can answer your hair growing questions.
EDIT: Don’t use any flea treatment you can buy in the stores, especially a monthly treatment from Walmart. Those products are not regulated, and can kill your cat or make him ill. It is best to just get the medication from the vet, which doesn’t even require an appointment as long as your cat hasn’t been away from the vet for more than a year.
Be wary of medications bought online as there have been cases of it being fake or expired.
We take our long haired cat to the vet for a haircut every spring after we are sure the warmer months have started & the hair grows back to full length by the middle of autumn so he always has a full coat for winter.
You should get your cat a flea collar or flea medicine to get rid of the fleas
as fast as the ones in the rugs, sofa, drapes to jump back on. One flea spreads thousands of babies faster that you can say oh no. Go to the vet and buy flea bombs ,take the cat out of the house maybe in a carrier for 3 hours till the bomb does it’s job. Change the litter and wash the food bowls and waa la your done.
By the way, that was a bad idea to shave the cat who told you to do that? Homemade remedies can kill you. Always ask the vet always. Months is the answer and keep them away from a draft. Try a pet sweater her if it’s cold. Fleas are dormint now they’ll be back.
We shaved my cats fur short because her fur texture got matted SO easilly and it was 110 almost every day! So we just cut it short, but its been about 5 months and its all back to normal now (just in time for winter!)
So i’d say about 6 months if you shaved it to the skin.
thats a stupid thing to do ! in winter
get flea spray if you cant afford frontline its only about £3.00
It will take quite a while for his hair to grow back.
Next time opt for some frontline, or a capstar.
Lots of topical or oral options for flea treatment and preventative that will work faster, and have no long lasting effects, like shaving a cat will.
And for the record, a cat with no hair may have no visible fleas, but all you’ve accomplished is getting them off the cat. They may reside (and multiply) in your carpets, your furniture, etc. and will still feed at random on your cat until you actually TREAT for them.
A long time. Getting rid of the hair won’t get rid of the fleas. Go to the vet and get him frontline. Better yet, go to the vet, and offer the cat up for adoption.
Now you have to buy that cat a sweater, it is cold.
It’s going to take a while for the hair to grow back. Cat’s hair grows very slowly. Just wondering why you didn’t just get the Frontline instead of shaving the cat? I hope it’s not cold weather there like it is here.
So, you shaved your cat to get rid of fleas…..did it work? Did you put on a topical like frontline advantage or revolution? It will probably take 6 mo or more for the haircoat to grow back, but everyone is different. I hope that you didn’t neglect to treat the house for fleas while you were at it or you will be behind the 8 ball again shortly.
this is a pretty messed up thing to do to your cat.
you shouldn’t have shaved him in the first place
and theres really nothing that you can do.
just make sure your cat is warm in the winter and don’t let him go out much.
and when your cat grows it’s fur back,
use a monthly flea and tick treatment that you can find at any walmart.
I can’t even believe you did that, poor thing. All you need is a few of those flea drops to get rid of fleas. Oh well.
Omigod – are you kidding me? Shaving the cat isn’t going to kill the fleas – they’ll just hop off him. Fleas don’t live on the cat – they live in your carpets and hop on to feed. And cat fur takes a LONG time to grow back in – it may even take a full year till his coat is back to normal. And meanwhile you probably still have fleas in your home. You don’t have to go to a vet to get Frontline or Advantage – you can buy it online at http://www.800petmeds.com
Perhaps you should have posted a question on here BEFORE you shaved the cat – absolutely ridiculous that you did that.
about 6 months or longer
it will take about 4 months or so if the cat has a very thick coat, most important is that the fleas are gone because te cat will continue to chew at its fur and ruin its coat further
About 4-6 months. (If you use Frontline or Advantage every month and treat your home, you should have that flea problem under control.)
**EDIT: Do NOT use the cheap topical flea treatments that you buy at WalMart or grocery stores. The chemical they use can be VERY toxic for cats. Only trust products like Advantage and Frontline for topical use. I’ve seen cats that have had reactions and been poisoned by those other products.
Please tell me that you are kidding…. Why on EARTH would you SHAVE your cat? Your vet wouldn’t have suggested you do this? Would you shave your child’s head if she had lice?!
Fleas don’t live off of the hair… they live off of the BLOOD – so shaving you cat, apart from being cruel isn’t going to get rid of the fleas.
You need to consider the cats bedding, your carpets etc -as flea lavae can live in there for a very long time.
Frontline and other products are the best way to do it – flea shampoos and powders seldom work…
I suggest you return to your vet and discuss appropriate ways of treating fleas.
Sorry but I don’t know because I don’t have cats and never will have one because I hate them and I’m allergic to them but good luck.
I don’t really see what’s so wrong with shaving a cat to get rid of its fleas – my cat has them pretty bad, as in I’ve given her multiple flea baths and used flea drops and a flea collar and they’re still sticking around.
As for “Fleas don’t live off of the hair… they live off of the BLOOD”, that’s true, but they live on cats because the fur is warm and they can hide in it. 😐 I figure that as long as you
deflea your house shortly after you shave the cat (and get him or her a little sweater if it’s cold out), shaving a cat is fine.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with shaving a cat. This is like saying shaving a poodle so it has a poodle cut is cruel. At the cat groomers they offer cat shaving it is called a lion cut. And YES!!! my vet DID recommend I shave my cat if he is hot in the summer and gets matted. My vet said that my cat would like it and he is actually a lot more comfortable after his hair cut. Please people get your facts straight before you start telling people they should offer their cat up for adoption because they are being cruel. Everyone who said it is cruel to shave your cat (lion hair cut offered at ALL animal groomers) or that vets would never recommend such a thing you are all oblivious. EDUCATE yourselves please.
OMG, I am still crying! I have been cat sitting for my daughter the last few months and I knew she was going to pick him up this weekend! Being the helpful Mom I am I thought I would get the cat (Isis) groomed but when when I picked him up I found the groomer had shaved him! I don’t know what they were thinking I told them only a hygiene cut (under belly and under his tail…that is all)! Now the poor thing has only fur on his head, tail and lower legs! I am so dead! Do they even sell cat clothes?
LOL I dont get whats so awful about it, my vet even suggest it during our Florida summers and the cat wants to go out. I see someone say would you shave your childs hair if they had lice. LMFAO what a silly question, I without question would shave their hair to treat the lice. I shave the dogs too, not too short, usually about a #2 on the clippers, they seem to enjoy it a lot, they run up wagging their tails, its pretty funny actually.
. . . Really? The replies on here are absolutely ridiculous. A lot of people don’t even know what they’re talking about.
I have a double coated manx who picked up fleas. While it is true that fleas do a good deal of living in the environment, they will also take up residence on your animal. You have to kill the fleas in both spots in order to get rid of them entirely. Killing the fleas in the house is not going to solve your problem, as they will jump off the animal and start all over. Also, the entire process needs to be repeated every two weeks for at least two months to ensure you get all of the batches of eggs as they hatch.
I’ve clipped my manx every year in the spring. Matter of fact, I have to clip him three to four times through the summer until I let him regain his coat in the fall. Small dog sweaters work well when we happen to have unseasonably cold days early or late in the season, and he tolerates them fairly well. It is absolutely not cruel or inhumane to clip a cat – not any more so than it is to clip a dog. As for the person who offered “Better yet, go to the vet, and offer the cat up for adoption”, I hope to god you don’t have any animals. You’re so uneducated, you probably put them through more torture than the poor person who was just trying to help their cat.
Anybody else who reads this – if you feel the need to put an animal up for adoption, please release them to the ASPCA or a breed/species specific rescue. Vets who take in ‘rescues’ often cannot keep them on site, and they may end up going to a kill shelter.
“EDUCATE yourselves please.”
Quoted for truth. Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean it’s an intelligent opinion, or even one you should be proud of. Just because you have a computer and access to the internet does not mean you should run around and display your ignorance at every possible opening. Thank you!
It is not cruel to shave a cat. It’s actually really nice for them in the summer months because they don’t get so hot. I don’t understand why people are freaking out about this. I shave my cat every summer and is fur grows back by winter. No big deal. He always loves it. he’s a lot happier shaved.