You love your cat and you want to do everything within your power to ensure that it stays safe. This means that you want to protect it from threats such as fleas and ticks.
Some people try to use vacuums on animals to get rid of fleas and other such pests. This might seem to be a crazy idea at first, but there are those who say that it works well.
Can you vacuum your cat or is that going to cause you problems? It might depend on the situation as well as how your cat feels about it.
Read the information below to learn about using vacuums on cats. You’ll learn about whether it can be done and why some people might want to try things such as this for grooming purposes.
Technically, You Can Vacuum a Cat
Technically, you can vacuum a cat if you want to try to do so. It might not be a good idea depending on the temperament of the cat in question.
Many cats are going to be naturally afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Many vacuum cleaners are quite noisy and this is going to make animals want to stay away from them.
If you approach your cat with a vacuum cleaner, then there’s a chance that it will flee in terror. The same thing will happen when you approach dogs with vacuum cleaners.
Of course, not all pets are afraid of vacuum cleaners. Some get used to the sounds that vacuum cleaners make and they’re able to act calmly around people who are using them.
Even so, it might be a stretch to say that your cat will be comfortable with the idea of you vacuuming it. If this is going to work out, then you’re not going to be able to use just a standard vacuum.
You’ll Need a Hose Attachment
You’re going to need a hose attachment if you want to vacuum your cat. If you have one of these attachments, then you’ll be able to calmly use the vacuum on the cat to try to eliminate fleas or excess fur.
Some people do this as a simple grooming method when they own long-haired cats. If your cat sheds a lot of fur, then this method might be appealing to you.
Just try to make it something calm and relaxing for your cat so that it doesn’t react poorly. If the cat doesn’t like what you’re doing, then it might simply run away.
In the worst-case scenario, you could get clawed by the cat or bitten. Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with anything such as that.
Truly, whether or not it’s okay to vacuum your cat depends on how the cat responds to the idea. If the cat is terrified of the vacuum cleaner, then it probably isn’t going to work out.
Also, there are other ways to deal with the problems that the vacuum cleaner would be trying to solve. It’d be better to use flea treatments on your cat and to comb the cat than to try to vacuum the fleas away.
Likewise, there are other ways to control excessive fur shedding issues. This doesn’t mean that vacuuming your cat is terrible, but it just isn’t going to be practical for every cat owner.
Grooming Long-Haired and Medium-Haired Cats Is Important
Cats groom themselves quite a bit and some cats might not need much help grooming at all. Long-haired cats and medium-haired cats are a different story, though.
If you want your cat to look its best, then it’ll be a good idea to help groom your cat daily. You can get away with grooming short-haired cats on a weekly basis.
Those who are trying to prevent issues with fleas will want to use a fine-toothed flea comb on their cats regularly. This might be all that you need to use when you have a short-haired cat.
Long-haired cats and medium-haired cats will likely require wide-toothed combs as well as longer brushes. Brushing your cat can actually be a very calm and soothing action once the cat becomes accustomed to it.
Sometimes using the fine-toothed flea comb can be a bit more strenuous, but it should go fine overall. You’ll be able to comb out excess fur while also getting rid of any fleas.
If you combine this with treating your cats for fleas using things that have been recommended by your veterinarian, then your cat will be just fine. You don’t need to use a vacuum to take care of things such as this.
If your cat doesn’t seem to enjoy getting brushed, then just try to be gentle. Perhaps you should take things slower and try to speak calmly to the cat.
There are cats that simply never become comfortable with being groomed this way. In this situation, you could try to use a pet grooming glove instead.
Grooming gloves make it seem as if you’re just petting the cat instead of actually removing excess hair. You just pet the cat with the glove on and you’ll be able to remove a lot of excess fur.
Cats might find this more soothing than combs because it won’t feel painful at any point in time. If your cat doesn’t cooperate with being brushed, then try using a grooming glove.
Don’t Bathe Your Cat
For the most part, you’re not going to need to bathe your cat. You would only need to bathe a cat if something unusual happened and you really needed to clean it.
Cats find water to be very stressful and dunking a cat in the water will cause the cat to experience anxiety. Many cats will try to run away if you attempt to put them in a tub.
A healthy cat is not going to need to be bathed under normal circumstances. There are exceptions to that rule such as when a cat has been exposed to something that requires it to be bathed.
Cats that have skin conditions might need to be bathed because they need help. Bathing is sometimes recommended by veterinarians as a part of a regular treatment plan for cat skin conditions.
For normal grooming concerns, it’s not going to be necessary to bathe the cat. Your cat would probably get more stressed by being forced to bathe than it would be by the vacuum.
Final Thoughts
You can try to vacuum your cat if you think that it’s a good idea. It shouldn’t be something that you absolutely need to do, though.
Some cats might be comfortable with the idea of being vacuumed, but others will not. You should consider your cat’s temperament as well as whether it seems to be scared by the vacuum or not.
If the cat reacts negatively to the vacuum, then you should probably avoid using it on the cat. It could be an easy way to get rid of excess cat fur and you might even be able to use it to get rid of fleas as well.
However, it’s also possible to accomplish those things using conventional cat grooming methods. You could simply comb your cat to help it get rid of excess fur.
You can use a fine-toothed comb to eliminate fleas that you might find on the cat. Also, your veterinarian can give you treatments that will help you to keep fleas at bay.
Now that you know all of this, it’s easy to see that vacuuming a cat isn’t a necessity. It’s not a terrible idea if your cat seems fine with it, but it really depends on how your cat reacts to things.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.