About a month ago, I have a Persian bought in for full shave because of badly matted coat. She was very smelly of urine and faeces. There are also dry faeces stuck on her bottom. At the time, her owner didn’t realize she was skinny and pregnant because of her coat. She was very friendly and cooperative; I gave her full shaved without any sedation or general anesthetic. I then gave her a good bath. She looked odd but more comfortable and smelled nice. Her owner was please with her haircut. I advised the owner about grooming and to increase her food, as she was about 6 weeks into pregnancy. I saw her 2 weeks later; she put on appropriate weight and has given birth to 6 kittens. Her coat had grown a bit. She looked beautiful like a BSH and she was not smelly. The same owner bought in another female Persian for grooming and she was in the same situation. She gave birth to 7 kittens a few days ago. 1 kitten was born dead. The owner had another female for full shave. I just hope she is not pregnant too.

These are certainly not the only cases I encountered. I had one Persian’s hind leg developed maggot wound because of matted coat. I treated the Persian for a few times, each time have to give him general anesthetic and the wound was always very smelly and covered with a layer of matted fur.

Longhaired cats may look more adorable than shorthaired cats but do consider carefully about the grooming factor if you intended to keep one. If you cannot keep up with the grooming yourself, it is better send for regular grooming or keep their coat short or have them re-homed. I have another client who shave her Persian on regular basic to keep its coat short and clean. She regretted buying the Persian, as she realized her local cat and Scottish Shorthair are much easier to maintain.

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Manekineko Cattery http://www.geocities.com/hueyleehl/index.html
Breeding pedigree Scottish Fold and British Shorthair