# Oh dear oh dear



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

I made th biggest mistake in the world today and had my dog shaved. Yes shaved. he is a little lion, has a mane and tail and thats about it, the rest of his fur is gone (shaved shaved!) Im already applying a bunch of doggie aloe lotion to his skin because it turns out its real fragile and he is bruising easy simply from laying down. atback 

But thats not the point of this post.

That cats don't recognize him!

They have been behind the couch for HOURS wont even come out to eat. It smells like sirrus, sounds like sirrus, but he doesnt look like sirrus and that bothers them immensely.

so is there anything I can do, or will they just have to get over it? Nub Nub's Tail is like a puffed up ball on her butt and Ive never seen a cats fur stand all over their body like Syble's did.


----------



## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

It's his smell, not the haircut. Even when cats come back from the vet or groomer, sometimes their own siblings don't want anything to do with them. It'll take a day or two, but it'll be okay.

You might want to try the vanilla trick - put a drop of vanilla on the back of everyone's neck, take a towel and rub it on everyone so they all smell the same.

I can't believe we didn't get pictures!!!


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

Im not sure I want to TAKE pictures. He sunburned! atback Apparently when I went to work he got loose and with his new shaved lion self, got sunburned very slightly, seems to have lost some peach fuzz thats left, and got several new booboos. I feel like a horrible doggie mom.


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

and the cats were reacting when they first saw him, as in he was at one end of the hallway and they were on the far side of the hallway at the end of a room.


----------



## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Awww, don't feel bad. atback 

When they're all friends again, maybe a picture with the cats playing with the dog.

Animals' sense of smell is many times more powerful than ours.


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Ah! If his shaved self is greatly different from his furry self, it is possible they didn't visibly recognize him right off the bat and new smells could also play a part in the problem, too. Instead of only one sense to readjust to, they've got several telling them different things. The best you can do is try to reassure the cats and let them get re-aquainted with his new look. _Maybe tell them to knock-it-off or you'll threaten to shave *them* so everyone looks the same?_ :wink


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

His shaved self is VERY much different from his furry self.

Here is a picture of him form a couple years ago. obviously he has all his fur










Now jst imagine him naked, a mane, and a slightly fuzzy tail.


----------



## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

What a beautiful dog!!

Anyone else see a scary face in the upper left hand corner? 8O


----------



## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

marie73 said:


> What a beautiful dog!!


I agree!!



marie73 said:


> Anyone else see a scary face in the upper left hand corner? 8O


I did. Scary! :yikes :yikes :yikes :yikes


----------



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

A number of years back I found out that cats are visual. I have a carport with open stairs running up to a sundeck. I was very friendly with the cat next door and he loved sitting on the top stair. One day when I came home with the car I failed to take my glasses off before I got out of the car. The cat gave me the normal glance -- and freaked. I realised at once what was going on and took the glasses off. He calmed down at once.

Of course, this doesn't mean they're -- your cats -- not being hit by a double whammy of strange looking dog, and strange smelling dog.

Lovely dog, I hope his hair grows back soon.


----------



## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Your dog is gorgeous! The nice thing about hair is that it will grow back, and he will be nice and cool this summer (I have seen that stupid lion cut they do on chows, and hate it).

The kitties will adjust. I have 2 cocker spaniels and when they go to get groomed the kids are never happy with the way they smell when they come home.


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

He looks like a beautiful dog! :luv I really like his face, compact body and alert expression.



marie73 said:


> Anyone else see a scary face in the upper left hand corner? 8O


Yup! It reminded me of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" painting:


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

ok. Here is one picture,you should be able to see his sunburn and the abrasions he got from his escape.










eta: we were going to get him finished so it all grew back evenly, but Ive decided not to and to touch him up later once his hair has grown back enough to cover.


----------



## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Oooooooooohhhhh!  Poor baby! That sunburn looks tender. atback


----------



## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Are you sure those arent razor burns from being shaved?
Are you applying anything to them to help them heal? 
You have a very very beautiful dog!


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

They arent razor burns. They are definitely sun burns.

I said in the OP I was applying "doggie aloe lotion" which is actually a cream used on horses and dogs, for sunburns,minor abrasions, and protects chaffed, cracked, and wind burned skin.

Right now he has entered depression, his little "I escaped!" abrasions are really starting to ache especially when he lays down, he has been given the all clear to sleep on the couch that wont hurt his skin, is wearing a shirt because he got cold, and has been given doggie ibuprofen for any pain he is in. Watching his eating, he refused to eat this morning, got him to eat though a few minutes ago. it was eggs and some bread, but at least he ate Something.

I had to take his collar off though, it irritated him and he started makeing a sore on his neck where he kept scratching at it. atback 

worst. decision. ever.


----------



## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

So sorry he has sunburn. His fur will grow back, Mommy. atback


----------



## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

Poor little bear! What a sad face in that second photo. Breaks your heart! The guilt must be awful for you.
I'm not a fan of lion cuts either but, I've got to say, this one looks like they shaved him _way_ too close! And it looks sloppy and choppy. If you ever decide to do it again (hahaha!) I'd go to a different place. There should be some fuzz left there (about 1/4-1/2 inch?) just for the purpose of protecting the skin.
Thankfully, fur grows back and he'll be fine in a few days, I'm sure.


----------



## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

I souldn't be. But I'm laughing.


----------



## AmberD (Dec 29, 2003)

Jeanie said:


> So sorry he has sunburn. His fur will grow back, Mommy. atback


It might not.

I'm sorry, but my stomach twisted a little when I saw that picture. I don't know where you took your dog, but they did something very bad. First of all, that doesn't even look like a nice shave down, which should leave about 1/4" of hair. It looks like a horrible hack job with a surgical blade. And while Sirius may very well have been sunburned, I very strongly believe that a lot of that is razor burn. Blades that incredibly short get hot very easily, plus being that close to the skin probably irritated it a great deal. I cannot believe a professional groomer could do such a hideous thing.

Unfortunately, we do see double-coated breeds have issues regrowing hair after being shaved - and when I say "shaved," I mean a civilized #7F blade. Huskies, chows, Labradors (oh yes, people get labs shaved), etc. will often be fine when they get shaved. Sometimes, they won't. Sometimes, the hair grows back patchy, and/or grows back a different color and/or texture. Sometimes, it is so bad that people have to continue to have their dogs shaved regularly just to keep them looking even. I have a Sheltie client like that; she always looks like a shaved Sheltie but with weird patches of longer - but sparse - hair. Single-coated dogs rarely have these problems, but I'd be very worried that especially with such a close cut, Sirius may never look the same. I'll cross my fingers that I am wrong though.

I'm very sorry. I would definitely express concern to the groomer that they did a horrible thing to your dog. If they care, they should stop using whatever blade they used and educate themselves a little better.

ETA: This is an old picture of a lion cut I did when I first started grooming. It's not perfect, but you can see a normal length of hair that should be left:


----------



## kitari (Dec 3, 2008)

Right now I'm doing everything I can to make sure his fur does in fact grow back. He isnt even allowed to sleep by his favorite window at the moment because the floor there is tiled. Body rubs to help promote blood circulation and applying that cream several times daily for fast healing of his burns, which have are going away quickly, that stuff is magical in that regard, my horse had a bad sunburn once and with this stuff it cleared up in 2 days. 8O 

As for the cats go. They are barely tolerating him with a shirt on.


----------

