Potty Path??

Question
Hi there,
Thanks for volunteering and giving of your time!
I have a wonderful LARGE kitty.  About 24 lbs.  He is slightly overweight (and we have him on a restricted diet) but according to his vet, he is also just a big kitty.  So one of the problems he has is that he cannot reach his...ummm...bottom to clean himself after he uses his litter box.  So sometimes he gets a bit dirty in the area and also sometimes his littler gets clumped up on him in the area.  Last time I had him to our old vet (we just made a cross country move) she gave him what she called a "potty path" where she used a shaver to trim the hair in that area.  It was a great success.  Now it has grown back in though and he needs it done again.  When I called some of the local vets in our new area I was told I'd have to pay the full price for an office visit to have them do it for us.  I have a shaver and the other vet said that it would be fine for me to do it myself.  Soooooo (sorry to be so long winded) I was wondering if you could just sort of talk me through it.  I'm a bit intimidated about it.  When the vet did it back in NM my cat was not phased by the sound of the machine.  And he is also pretty mellow in general (just lays there with barely a protest when I trim his claws).
Thanks again,
SR Abramowitz

Answer
Hi!
Thank you for your intrest in this site.  
Did you happen to call any of the groomers in the area to see if they could do a 'quickie' potty trail trim for you?  I have a couple clients I do this for.  They just pop in and I do it while they wait and charge just a very nominal fee.  But if you would like to try this yourself, here are a few pointers. Put him up on a counter or table for his grooming, not in the floor, as he  may be tempted to walk away.  It will probably be easier with someone to help, just to hold him up, support his back end to a standing position. Then you can lift his tail up and take the clippers and simply clip away the area that needs to be short.  Let the weight of the clippers do the clipping, you are simply guiding it.  If you shove the clippers through the coat, the blade will most likely jam up.  Cats have fur, not hair, so the soft coat can sometimes be a little difficult to clip unless your blade is relatively sharp.  With a little practice you could become quite proficient at this!  Just be very careful when getting down to the skin, as cats have very thin skin that can cut easily.  If you feel ANY resistence in the clipping process, STOP and make sure you are not clipping skin! Resist the urge to use scissors, as even professional groomers shy away from scissors on cats.  It is very easy to snip the skin and not the coat. Good luck with your grooming endevors and thank you again for your support of this site! If you have any more inquiries, feel free to ask again!
Tomay