Is it normal for a husky to have a hairless head?

Can dogs and cats be shaved in the summer?

What's happened?

In early June, a photo of a husky appeared on Twitter. The animal had the hair shaved off its body, legs, and neck. The caption read: "If you've never seen a husky without hair, here it is."

The photo quickly went viral. The author of the tweet clarified that the photo was not of his dog, he found the photo on the Internet. It is unknown why the dog was shaved.

What's wrong with that? It's funny.

Indeed, most Twitter users found the hairless husky funny and amusing, but some began to write that dogs should not be shaved: their heat exchange is disrupted and the risk of getting sunburn increases; one user said that his mother's Pomeranian got a skin infection after shaving and was left bald forever.

So is it okay to shave dogs?

Most doctors do not recommend shaving a dog without medical indications. As Sergei Sereda, president of the Russian Association of Practicing Veterinarians, told Meduza, everything depends on the climate in which the animal lives. “I would not shave the animal. Pets do not get hot because nature made them that way, think about it. Their sweat glands are located on their paws and tongue,” Sereda said.

However, veterinarians admit that it is possible to cut and shave dogs at high temperatures if the animal has difficulty tolerating heat. In this case, the dog should be cut by a grooming specialist, not the owner. If the animal is nervous, it can be put into a drug-induced sleep . The head doctor of the Northern Lights clinic, Tatyana Babenko, believes that if the dog is shaved with a sterile instrument, and the skin is not damaged and no infection is introduced into it, then the procedure will not affect the pet's health. "In my opinion, there is a risk to the psychological state of the dog, so you shouldn't do this for fun," Babenko said in a conversation with Meduza. According to the doctor, after the operation, some animals noticed that part of their body was shaved and felt discomfort - "they closed up and walked along the wall."

Veterinarians do not recommend shaving short-haired dogs - they have a higher risk of getting sunburn. When shaving a dog of any breed, experts advise leaving a few centimeters of hair to protect the animal from the sun. It is not advisable to shave a dog during shedding: you can touch new hairs that will clog the hair follicles - the animal's coat will become irregular. In addition, it is unacceptable to groom dogs that live outside or in a kennel - they can develop myiasis due to dampness.

Can cats be shaved?

According to Dr. Mark J. Stickney, a veterinarian at Texas A&M University, grooming does not do cats any good. Shaving disrupts the animals' heat exchange, which is much better developed in them than in dogs - cats are smaller, so they "cool down" faster. They are also more active - this allows them to hide in dark and cool places when the air temperature rises.

When should pets be shaved?

"You can shave dogs if it's done for certain medical reasons, for example, because of dermatitis. In all other cases, in my opinion, haircuts are a whim of people who assert themselves at the expense of their animals," Sereda told Meduza.

According to Babenko, shaving animals is allowed if it is clear that the dog is having a hard time withstanding the heat (it is lethargic, breathes with its mouth open, has shortness of breath and is thirsty). "Of course, before shaving a dog, it is necessary to rule out medical reasons for such a condition," advises Babenko.

Dogs are also partially shaved before procedures such as ultrasound and echocardiography and before surgery.

Anya Shpilkovskaya, Aisana Ashim