# Cat came home with a shaved patch?



## Golgotha_tramp (Feb 27, 2011)

Funny question but I though I would see if anyone has seen this before.

My friend has just posted on facebook that her cat has come home from her afternoon poddle with a shaved patch.










Has anyone seen or heard of this before.....why could this have happened

As you can imagine she is confused and a little concerned.


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## raggie doll (Sep 16, 2011)

has it actually been shaved i mean does it look like it has been shaved or just a bulk of hair missing?


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## Golgotha_tramp (Feb 27, 2011)

She believes shaved (she is a hairdresser so I would assume that she's checked to see if it's pulled out at the root).

Looking at the photo it's a large and pretty angular patch to have been pulled out - I could be wrong though.


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## Dante (Feb 21, 2011)

Very odd that it's in the general area that a spay would be done.. 

My only very far fetched idea is that someone could have shaved her to see if she was spayed (by finding a scar) in order to ascertain if she was owned or a stray..

As I said, I can't actually imagine that happening though.. Very odd :shocked:


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## Nico0laGouldsmith (Apr 23, 2011)

that looks like my cat hahaha but my cat hasn't been shaved 

very strange I don't think I would let the cat out for a bit though if that happened because obviously someone has picked it up and taken it somewhere for them to have shaved it :/

the above about the checking to see if it is spayed does sound like the most likely reason though


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## raggie doll (Sep 16, 2011)

i was going to say the same i would not be letting her out again


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## Superash (Aug 23, 2011)

. Is it a pedigree cat?


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## Tracy Lou (Jun 15, 2011)

That is very strange.  I would think about reporting it just in case that has been other incidents in the area. But I would not be letting her back out for a while. Poor little girl must have been scared.


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## raggie doll (Sep 16, 2011)

well me being paranoid would never let her out again also WTF i hope it was just someone checking for scars but omg its weird


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## Oscars mam (Aug 22, 2011)

Omg that is very weird!!!! I would also report it! Poor thing


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## jo-pop (May 27, 2011)

Superash said:


> . Is it a pedigree cat?


What she said ^^
If she is a pedigree could it be potential thieves wanting an entire female? Just a thought.
Scary. I'd be keeping her and any other cats in from now on


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## Grace_Lily (Nov 28, 2010)

How bizarre! Have no idea why it would have been done, would report to the police, take her to the vets for a check up to be sure and keep her in for some time.


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## MCWillow (Aug 26, 2011)

Grace_Lily said:


> How bizarre! Have no idea why it would have been done, would report to the police, take her to the vets for a check up to be sure and keep her in for some time.


^^^^ exactly that!

And if they are checking for entire females, its a bit of a waste of time just shaving there - my vet will only spay pedigrees with a midline incision - I am sure he isnt the only vet to do midline spays.


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## waxmonkey (Sep 20, 2011)

I read this and assumed it was a case of the cat spending time near another house/family who had wanted to see if he/she was spayed or maybe even microchipped and belonged to anyone. I know the shaving has nothing to do with micorochipos but it may have been a 2 for 1 deal or something 
We recently took a cat in and, while we would never have shaved anything, we were keen to make sure he didn't belong to anyone already. Maybe it was a well meaning but ignoarant person who wanted to make sure the cat was ok and had no malice at all. Maybe not but possibly a collar for the cat to identify him/her as "owned" by someone? I'm not a big fan of collars for my cat but it's a good way of identifying to others that the cat in question as a house cat rather than a stray cat if this kind of thing is happening.

Or maybe a note that says "don't shave me, it's cold".


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## natty01 (Sep 4, 2011)

if the shaving was done where a scar would be , is it possible there is a local trap and spay programme ? if so she could have been trapped and then carted off to the vets . i know some places have that in areas where there a lot of feral cats reproducing .


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## meecatz (Dec 15, 2011)

What a weird thing to happen, keep an eye out for more weird things like that happening:skep:


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## Golgotha_tramp (Feb 27, 2011)

thanks for all the opinions.

No, Kitty is not a pedigree, she's a rescue Mog. Speaking to Amy (my friend) they don't use collars are her OH lost a cat to a faulty safety collar.

Apparently she was only out for a few hours? But the check and spay could be a plausible explanation. I've suggested she keep her in but she is not litter trained (at all) apparently so she's a little reluctant. I have suggested a paper collar saying "I am not a stray - please don't shave me" but I don't know if she'll do it.

Funnily as I was typing there was an article on the regional news that the RSPCA and CPL are joining forces for a "Chip and Spay" pre-Christmas drive, but didn't give an more details. I might suggest she contacts them both to see if they are doing anything in her area.


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## ChinaBlue (Feb 3, 2008)

May be an idea to phone around a few of the vets and/or local rescues to see if they have been asked to shave/check a tabby recently to see if it has been spayed? Very bizarre.


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## Ingrid25 (Oct 1, 2011)

jeez thats so wierd- hope it was just somebody checking if she has been spayed like said before, but thats just wierd......


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

How completely bizarre! Like the others, my first thought was that someone (with good intentions or not!) had shaved her to check whether she's spayed or not, but what a strange thing to happen.


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## broccoli (Jul 1, 2011)

there is no way someone could mistake that cat for a stray...........


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

I think I am in a 'won't give people benefit of the doubt' type of mood, but I think someone shaved her to check if she was spayed to see if they could mate her and sell kittens. 

She may not be pedigree but she has lovely colouring and therefore they may think her kittens could be sold as 'bengals'. It would be the kind of thing my ex-neighbour would have done to make a quick buck.

Of course, there could be a perfectly innocent explanation, but your friend's cat does not look neglected or feral so I don't really think CP or RSPCA would simply trap a domestic pet and neuter them.

Personally I would try and litter train her and keep her in. I don't think I would risk further damage to my beloved pet if I was uncertain as to why this was done.

Sorry for negative and suspicious post - bah humbug!


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## Bonnie82 (May 4, 2011)

I told my OH, whose theory is "I think a kid got chewing gum in her fur so the kid's mum shaved it off."


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## MoggyBaby (Mar 8, 2011)

Is the cat microchipped given that your friend is not keen on collars?

If so, and she has been caught up in this 'Chip & Spay' scheme, I would be kicking up all sorts of merry hell if they had done this to my cat!!!!!! :mad5: If a cat is chipped, it is not a stray and should be returned to the place where it was found. They should absolutely NOT be shaving it to check for spay scars!!!! 

It is certainly very troubling and I would be keeping my cat indoors for the forseeable future whether it damn well liked it or not.


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

The Chip & Spay scheme doesn't mean they catch domestic pets and spay them. It means people can bring their pets to the centres (run by CP & RSPCA) and have them neutered and chipped, either for free if proof of benefits, or at reduced rates.

I doubt in 2 hrs the CP or RSPCA would have caught the cat, taken to a vet, shaved it to check, and returned it to the orginal location. 

They take longer than that to answer an emergency call!!


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## Paganman (Jul 29, 2011)

I dont know much about cats but to me that looks like the area is the outside of the upper left thigh? or am I seeing it wrong?

If so, surely thats not where a vet goes in to spay?

My guess is that it touched off something very hot and the fur protected the skin maybe.

Very odd all the same.


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

Don't think a cat might not be mistaken for a stray because it comes home every day.

We had a tom coming over to us every single day, trying to sneak in to steal food, and he tried in every house in the neighbourhood. We all thought he was a stray, but lived one street from us.

One of mine pulled the same trick, he turned out to have acquired a respecatable number of 'homes'. He just walked in with the resident cat of one of his chosen homes (he was dominant enough to bully any cat into accepting him) and, after eating, made himself comfortable in the best chair of the house. He even stole steaks and chicken legs from the kitchen. 

We have had to rehome him to a farm, because he was behaving like a stray, even though he had a home, he had at least 5 foster homes, and 10 or 20 homes he would raid.

So if your friend's cat spends a lot of time with someone in the neighbourhood, this person may well believe she is lost and treat her like a stray. The other person wouldn't know that when she goes out, she is in fact going home, like your friend wouldn't know she is making herself comfortable in someone else's home.....


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