People who share their lives and their homes with cat companions can help keep their cats happy and at the same time, create something that will help keep them warm.
1. Visit a pet supply outlet, and purchase an inexpensive flat trowel-shaped brush for grooming cats.
2. Slowly and lovingly pass the brush through the hair on the back of your cat(s)...this will keep your feline's fur neat, clean and and snarl-free.
3. The brush will soon accumulate a wad of shed cat hair. Slide this off the brush and store it someplace (a Tupperware container, a shoe box, or a Ziploc bag will all do fine.)
4. Continue giving cat(s) daily brushings until you have...well, a whole lot of shed cat hair. There should be at least ten or so shoeboxes of it. This may take a year or more if your cat is relatively short-haired, but if you have a Persian, it might only take half that long.
5. Either buy or sew a jacket with a hollowed-out lining.
6. You know what to do next. Stuff the hollow lining with cat hair. The more cat hair you have saved up, the better, warmer, softer jacket you will end up with.
7. Sew up the seam, and try it on! Note that you may have problems wearing your new jacket around people who are allergic to cats. (It will drive them batty, wondering why they are all sneezy even though there's plainly no cat around to be causing the reaction.)
8. NB: Do not attempt this project using hair from a cat with a known flea problem.-- monde, May 09 2000 Cat Pants http://www.halfbake...om/idea/Cat_20PantsWait until the cat dies, then use the hair. [egnor, May 09 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] Cat Pillow http://www.halfbake...m/idea/Cat_20PillowUse a living cat's pelt. [egnor, May 09 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004] a little light reading for [sild] http://www.pet-expo.com/allergy.htm [po, Oct 08 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004] It is actually possible to make yarn out of pet hair. I've seen it done with longer haired dogs and cats both...-- StarChaser, May 10 2000 People who are allergic to cats would probably be allergic to this jacket as well.-- baf, May 13 2000 Not necessarily...What people are actually allergic to is the dried saliva flaking off the fur in microscopic bits and floating in the air. I think the fur would be beaten up enough to lose this, <tho the manufacture of it would probably put someone allergic into convulsions> but even if not, as long as the lining isn't opened, it shouldn't be a problem.-- StarChaser, May 13 2000 good thing to make certain of is that the weave of the cloth is tight enough to keep the cat hair in. otherwise you'd shed just like your cat.-- urbanmatador, May 14 2000 You're overlooking the obvious: Anyone who lives with one or more cats either spends 10 hours a week brushing cat hair off their clothes, or stops caring and goes around with the stuff all over them. Actual cat-hair clothing would be the perfect solution. Maybe some of it would even shed on the cats.-- Ander, Jul 26 2000 Complete the ensemble with a fishtie, and a pair of good running shoes (for outrunning the neighborhood pets), and all watch the entire fashion industry fall to it's knees in awe.-- Scott_D, Aug 14 2000 Don't forget the steak trousers.-- mcfrank, Aug 14 2000 Sic' 'em, Fluffy.-- thumbwax, Oct 06 2000 The weird lady who used to live upstairs asked if we could save some dog hair from our pooch for her, and then she'd knit tukes and mittens. no joke!-- ukir, Nov 28 2000 I was serious about that. How come you never did it? I hope your hands and head freeze and then you trip and they shatter.-- Monkfish, Nov 28 2000 ...what about a "cat in the hat" to match the coat?
I think if I had a coat like this, I'd be constantly wanting to lick the liner in vain.-- djmills, Dec 13 2000 of COURSE you can make yarn out of pet hair. With my cats, my dad makes bits of yarn all the time. and rabbit fur is even better- we have a rex rabbit, soooo soft. i've made bracelets, NECKLACES of the stuff. nice and strong and durable, too. you could even dye it if you want...-- dragonette, Dec 21 2000 To some pet owners (epsecially cat owners), the pet hair on their clothes is actually a fashion accessory.-- nick_n_uit, Dec 26 2000 This idea is charming but not cost effective. After all, you cannot buy a coat without a liner. And you could buy a big bag of mouse hair for the same amount of time/trouble you took to brush your cat.
Why not just stuff your coat with dead mice?-- Vance, Jan 29 2001 'cuz then the cat would eat it.-- nick_n_uit, Feb 12 2001 yeah! do not adjust your computer screen! we;re gonna scramble your minds, ya buggers! what would you think if ya saw a cat wearing a jacket stuffed of human hair eh!? be alarmed ya buggers, we're gonna completely scramble your minds!-- JoeCornish, Apr 26 2001 Cat hair? I used to raise shepherd-huskies, and in the spring they shen an UNBELIEVABLE amount of hair! From one adult.s shed you could knit a sweater and matching scarf AND mittens! Well, not quite, but I think my male, (Prancer), lost at least 5 pounds in the week or so it took him to do his shed!
Of course, dog hair is coarser than cat hair, more like wool than cotten, so a lot of people can't take it next to their skin, (including me). But if the dog it came from thinks fourty below is balmy, it's GOTTA be warm!-- Ivyonthewall, Oct 08 2002 // What people are actually allergic to is the dried saliva flaking off the fur in microscopic bits and floating in the air //
No offence, but surely this is complete pap.-- sild, Oct 08 2002 link for you [sild]-- po, Oct 08 2002 Urgh, dried saliva! Cats are worse than I thought.-- dare99, Oct 08 2002 hey, wet saliva is a nightmare. you never met a salivating tom? quite disgusting. apologies to Wax.-- po, Oct 08 2002 I'm allergic to most animal fur, including sheep's, and I get symptoms when in contact with a woolly jumper. a) sheep don't lick themselves all over. b) woolly jumpers have been washed lots of times.
But it still affects me. I read the link and I don't dispute the protein in the saliva thing, and I'm glad it's been brought to my attention, but surely there are allergens in the fur per se also.-- sild, Nov 15 2002 I've heard that it is the dandruff from the animal that makes people allergic to them (correct me if i'm wrong). But it sounds like a good idea. I sense a big marketing boom coming...-- galukalock, Feb 22 2003 I love the idea of the cat-hair jacket! U could maybe even sew some cat-hair on hte out side too, so that it would look like a fur coat (and esentially it would be) (+)-- smileydudette, Mar 02 2003 random, halfbakery