Hello! I hope your week wasn’t too harsh, and you’re ready for a quick dose of cats! As I mentioned in my last blog post, today I will talk about buying cat clothes, and how to make it an easy and positive experience. So let’s get into it, and see what things you should consider before buying cat clothes! 😊

Safety. Yes, I am starting with the most important one! And it is going to be a different kind of safety than what I spoke about in my last blog post. This time we will talk about the actual design of the shirt/sweater. A lot of the time I see sweaters that are covered in beads, little buttons, etc, from the bottom to the very top. Or sometimes sellers incorporate some beads in their cable knit that goes throughout the sweater. And it looks very beautiful! BUT! Have you ever thought that your cat can actually reach them? And chew on them/rip them off? Have you ever thought what would happen if the cat would swallow those beads? That’s one of the main reasons why I attach the buttons only at the neck using a special stitch, which: 1) it assures that the cat won’t be able to reach and chew on the beads/buttons, 2) the button is attached so strongly, that the sweater will wear out before the button comes loose (tried and confirmed by my cats!). So whenever you see something cute, think if it is also well thought through and safe for your pet, as that should always be your priority.

Always make sure that the clothes are not only cute, but also safe for your kitty!

Sleeves or sleeveless? Or maybe one opening for both legs? I talked about this a little bit in my last blog post, but this is my opinion in short: if it’s your first cat sweater or your cat is not comfortable in clothes, choose the sleeveless option. If your cat is OK with wearing clothes, you’re free to choose whatever you want. And what about one hole in front for both legs? That tends to be pretty comfortable as well, just like the sleeveless option, I have made sweaters with only one hole as custom orders before. But make sure that they’re made from a very stretchy material (like knit is, for example), otherwise your cat may and will feel restricted.

Always check a size chart. I can’t stress this enough – always check a shop’s size chart! Every single shop has a different one, and if in one shop you buy size M clothing for your pet, it does not mean that your pet will be size M in all the shops. Just an example – my sizes run big, so if your pet is a size M somewhere else, it’s a big possibility (s)he will be size XS or a S in my shop. If you check the reviews in my shop, you will see that most of those couple 1 star reviews that I have come from people complaining the sweater was too big/too small. That’s why you have to check a size chart! And this leads me to my next point.

Sleeveless sweater is always a good choice for beginner!

If your cat is in between sizes, request a custom order. Yes, that can happen, and it does happen quite often to be honest! Most shops do custom sizes, so feel free to ask about it. Never settle for an ill fitting clothing! I do custom sizes free of charge, while some shops may ask you to pay additional fee for making a custom size sweater.

When in doubt, ask. If you’re unsure about the sizing, always ask! Believe me, the seller will not think you’re silly or something! I know how difficult it can be to choose the perfect size. For example, when buying jeans, I always need to buy like 10 pairs at once and cross my fingers that 1 or 2 of them won’t fit weirdly! Similar is with cat clothes. Better safe than sorry!

Length of the sweater. You might have noticed that I do not put length of my sweaters in the size chart. And that is because I would need to adjust my size chart all the time, because I have so many designs! Some clothing is longer, while some is shorter, but overall most of my clothes are pretty long (I am pretty sure you can see that from the pictures! 😊 ). I always gladly adjust the length of the sweaters that are made to order, so if you’d like the sweater to be made longer or shorter (or maybe you have a specific length you want to request?), contact the seller and I am sure they will be more than happy to work on custom size for you.

Every design has a different length, so choose whatever you like the most. Or request a custom length – every pet is different and loves different things!

Difference between sewn and knitted cat clothes. If you had been shopping around for cat clothes, you may have noticed a few things: for one, those shops that sell hand knitted clothing have fewer items, and secondly, they’re often a bit pricier. And you may wonder why it is the way it is. As someone who lives in Finland – which is a pretty expensive country – I can give you a few points:

• Yarn is often more expensive than fabric, especially fancy yarns like mohair or alpaca cost a lot more than a piece of fleece or jersey fabric.
• Sewn clothes are significantly quicker to make. I am a quick knitter and I’m not that great at sewing, but even I can make a few sewn cat shirts in an hour. When it comes to knitting, depending on the sweater’s size and how intricate the pattern is, it can take up to 4 hours to complete a sweater. I am not talking about people, who use machines for knitting, but someone like me who hand knits and hand embroiders everything.

Super stretchy and soft acrylic sweater will make any kitty happy!

Should I go for knitted clothing or a fleece/jersey one? Now that depends on you completely! Knitted cotton clothing is great for summer, and wool or thick acrylic ones are great for winter. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I chose knitting over sewing mainly because knit is much more stretchy than fleece, meaning that it will be a lot more comfortable overall. Warmth wise, bot fleece and wool clothing are warm.

Check shop’s reviews. Yes, that is important. What is even more important, it’s how the seller deals with negative feedback. We all are cute and lovely when we’re being praised, but how does the seller handle the criticism? If the review is 3 stars or lower, the seller can and SHOULD have a response, because 3 stars is not an amazing review. In other words, the buyer wasn’t satisfied with their order. If the seller has 1-3 star reviews, and there are no responses under them as to how the seller is going to handle an unsatisfied customer, that’s a red flag! That means there’s a big chance that when you receive your order and in case you would be unhappy with it, you will be ignored, and nothing will be done about it from the seller’s side. Also, if seller does respond, check how polite and helpful their response is. You wouldn’t want to buy from someone who is rude/unhelpful.

Always check the reviews – they’re very important!

If there’s a problem with your order, always contact the seller first. Those few negative reviews I have in my shop were left without my knowledge. Person orders without looking at the size chart, the sweater arrives, it’s too small/too big, and the person leaves a negative review without ever even telling me about it. I mean, there’s no way for me to know whether the sizing the person orders fits their cat (only they know it), and if someone orders a size XS, for example, I make them a size XS and send it off. There’s no way of me knowing whether it is the true size of the cat or not. I always assume that the person checked the size chart, which is available in each listing, and if they had any questions, they’d contact me. I have a good return policy, which some people choose not to use, but leave a bad review and then even after I message them offering some options, they never respond. Oh well. So, don’t be that person, and be smart about it – you can always get your money back or the product that you originally wanted. 😊

The only problem Bacha has is too few cat toys!

And last, but not least – don’t forget to leave a review! Always reflect on your experience regarding the shop. Were the products up to par? Was the seller helpful? Did the seller do their best to solve issues if there were any? These are just few of the questions that may help you reflect on your experience, and help others decide whether it’s the shop they want to go for.

I hope this blog post was helpful! I have something fun planned for the upcoming blog posts, so stay tuned and have a great week ahead of you!

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