If you have long haired cats, they've probably gotten mats at one time or another. My elderly cat who passed away last year had long since started to neglect his grooming. He was a feral, so I could only brush or trim him very gingerly. I actually had to take him to the vet for shaving at one point because he'd get so agitated with my grooming efforts.

He's over the Rainbow Bridge now, but I wish I'd had Scaredy Cut when he was alive.

It would have relieved a lot of stress for both of us. This product is a pair of scissors that acts as a clipper. That means it works silently to clip nervous pets without a major struggle.

A Grooming Tool for Dogs and Cats

Scaredy Cuts is actually good for both cats and dogs. Some pets don't have a mat problem, but they just need regular grooming. If you have a dog that falls into this category, Scaredy Cuts will help you keep her looking good at home. I know it's easy to bring your dog to the groomer, but that can get expensive if you have a breed with hair that requires frequent attention. At the very least, you can use this product to do some trims and lengthen the time between appointments.

My dog, Bolt, has short hair, so I don't have to worry about that with him. However, I adopted another older cat after my old man died last year, and now she's having similar problems. She has very long hair, and her health is starting to fail. She used to be a meticulous groomer, but now the mats are starting to crop up in her coat.

She's a lot more mellow than my feral cat, but she still loses patience if you mess around too much. I was able to use Scaredy Cuts on her to very carefully trim away the mats. I also used it to give her a rear body trim to minimize the chance of any more mats dropping up.

Simple to Use

Scaredy Cuts works in a very simple way. It's a pair of scissors with a large plastic comb attached. The comb holds the hair in place while you cut in. Just move it along the animal's body, cut as you go, and voila! A stress-free trim. There's no clipper noise, so there's really nothing to agitate your pet, and the comb offers protection for an accidental snip.

The Scaredy Cut kit comes with several different sized combs so you can choose one that works best for your pet's size and hair length. They snap on and off easily so you can switch them around if you have multiple pets with different needs.

This product is making life easier for my elderly cat and I. It's amazing how quickly a cat can develop mats when it stops grooming itself. Now I can head that off by keeping Mewsette clipped at home instead of stressing her out with a trip to a groomer.

If you have a cat or dog that needs frequent trims, it will help you out, too. I know that not everyone wants to “do it yourself,” and if Bolt was a high maintenance dog breed, I'd probably rely on a groomer most of the time. But if you want to save money and travel time, Scaredy Cuts is a very helpful tool.

You can find it at major pet stores or on the company's website. It costs less than a single groom (right around $30 for the kit, or $40 if you also buy the tiny scissors accessory), so it's a good investment even if you only use it a few times each year.