Fur trim, not shaving

[Emma123]

Occasionally I will get a request for a feline fur trim, not a shave. As I do house call, I don't carry a clipper vac. I've been reluctant to try to do a trim because I'm afraid I'll disappoint the owner. I don't know how to trim the fur so it looks even. I'd like to be able to do a teddy bear sort of fur trim. I did a trim a few times using ball-tip scissors. The fur looked choppy.
What do you use to do a fur trim? How long does it take you? (My other concern is that I will be there forever trying to even out the fur if I do a fur trim.) Was the owner happy?

[ItzaClip!]

Uggg I do not like doing kitty comb clips without my hair vac!! It still looks uneven.. I beat myself up over them every time. Though my one long comb clip isn't the most well behaved, nice but wiggly. And she is awesome for bath and dry.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Dolly]

When I was going to the NCGIA school......they showed a "fur trim" on a cat, and it came out so ugly, so choppy, so undesirable and that I was surprised that the school actually introduced that option to us. I would tell the owners that it will not be conducive to their liking and leave it at that.

Happy not trimming a cat

Dolly's Barking Bubbles, LLC

www.dollysbarkingbubbles.com

[Moo]

I've avoided it at all costs, but did do ONE recently.

It was a cat that I have been bathing regularly for about a year, but the owner has problems keeping up with the coat (Persian), and showed me a picture of the clip-comb-length that the cat used to get in Brazil, before she moved here. He looked amazing, and I was afraid. I warned her that it could turn out choppy (and I'd never done one before!) It ended up better than I thought it would be. Usually when people ask for "just a trim" on a cat, I'll clip-comb the chest, belly, butt, sometimes skim the sides, and scissor the feet.

[Aristocats]

I always use my clipper vac at my shop, but when I worked at a Vet clinic, I did do a couple of cats with a 7F cat blade with the grain. It will give a clip approximately equivalent to a 1/2 or 5/8 comb cut. Of course it is much less smooth than using a clipper vac and I didn't particularly like doing them, but the owner was always happy. Do it after the bath, or if you do it before bath, do a touch up after the bath and blow dry. It is much easier if the client will let you do a regular underside shave, or at least a #10 with the grain on the underside since a # 7F shouldn't be used on arm pits or groins.

[Brit]

I always use my clipper vac at my shop, but when I worked at a Vet clinic, I did do a couple of cats with a 7F cat blade with the grain. It will give a clip approximately equivalent to a 1/2 or 5/8 comb cut. Of course it is much less smooth than using a clipper vac and I didn't particularly like doing them, but the owner was always happy. Do it after the bath, or if you do it before bath, do a touch up after the bath and blow dry. It is much easier if the client will let you do a regular underside shave, or at least a #10 with the grain on the underside since a # 7F shouldn't be used on arm pits or groins.

Interesting. Before and then touchup, makes sense.

[10muddypaws]

I am glad to hear you use Clipper Vac with cats. I had a cat groomer once say the house and sound scared cats? Seemed possible, but odd.

[Aristocats]

I am glad to hear you use Clipper Vac with cats. I had a cat groomer once say the house and sound scared cats? Seemed possible, but odd.

Yes, I use it almost every day. Today I did a 1/2 inch all over comb cut (what I call a Plushie) using the clipper vac. Yesterday I did two Plushies, and one of the lion cuts wanted a shortened mane and blended head which is much easier to do using the clipper vac and comb attachments.