Poor 'Peyrion

Nathan and I are very fond of our cat, Hyperion. However, owning him has taught us one thing about ourselves. He is the very last long-haired cat we will own. First there was that whole business with his being constipated...now this.

To be fair, this is mostly our fault. We were not very diligent about brushing him. Before too long, his coat began developing thick un-brushable matts in different places. There was a particularly thick one on his back. His back fur started to get dirty and a dingy grey color. We decided it was time to do something about it. Nathan's first three day weekend (which he gets in the summer at work) we spent shaving Hyperion.

I kid you not.

Nathan wanted to do his whole body, except his head and puffs on his paws and tail, go for a "lion" look. However, once we got the matts taken care of, we decided we had tortured him enough and just evened up his back. It's a little hard to see in this picture, but from where his back foot is folded up on his body, on back is shaved. He has little pink patches showing through.

We think, though that this might actually help keep him cooler during the humid summer.