I mean, I liked the concept they presented in Beastars where those with thicker, warmer fur would shave it down and sell the fur for various uses.

As for whiskers? I don't think I would, but I also have grown a big beard, so there's that. I guess it depends on the society that would form. I kind of feel like they wouldn't shave whiskers personally.

I remember seeing that in the show, and the thought of them being casually out in the open only wearing underwear made me laugh very hard.

Heh. My headcanon is that most anthros don't grow facial hair beyond the fur. Trimming the vibrissae-whiskers... I wouldn't, if I had them. May not be as useful as it would be for a feral, but it's still sensory input.

None of my characters shave their whiskers. Still plenty useful for sensing air movements.

I don't think they would shave the whiskers (especially cats). But they probably would shave and keep the fur short for summer. Maybe even have it turned into stuff

I have a mustache. It grows fast enough that I would look like a terrier in two weeks if I didn't thin it back with a shaver and comb.

Long whiskers? I like the look, but they might get tripped by everything like hats to the AC vents in your car. Interesting issues only animal based folks deal with.

As far as I'm aware Whiskers don't grow that long before naturally falling out like our mustache/beard hairs. So they would just reach whatever their max length is, fall out, and get replaced by a new whisker.

Mine doesn’t.

I'm with the others. Body fur is definitely going to be trimmed in warm weather. Whiskers are going to depend on actual usefulness to an anthro. If they work as extended organs then it's unlikely they'll be cut or trimmed unless they'll regrow.

I've asked artists to give my horses whiskers before, so I suppose that means all mine keep theirs. Horses don't have great binocular vision though I imagine anthro horses might have more of it with their eyes situated more forward

Grooming is a definite "yes," although trimming might be less common. But I can see some anthros doing fur sculpting (sort of like full-body hair styling). And then there's medical necessity, or removal of small cosmetic issues (irreparable snags, discolored fur, etc.). A lot would depend on social expectations and the anthro's specific features.

I also assume a lot more development of dyes and coloring techniques.

St. Bernards likely would trim the hair back around their eyes and largely not look like the animals we see today. Interesting alternatives.

Ah, yes, the sliding scale of "medical / practical / comfort / cosmetic."

or the other dog breeds with cheeks hanging down to the ground about to go blind because they can't blink anymore... then again since those traits are man-made, would a feral evolving to humanoidness have such a feature at all? it's a definitive disadvantage: exposed eyeballs, tissue, dirt caught inside, etc.

same with bobtails and similar breeds. evolution might normalize the fur growth. (though I had the strange idea of a bobtail character with no eyes at all, like the folkmanis hand puppet, yet still able to "see")

Probably not, as it would be an evolutionary disadvantage.

That's the issue with heavily bred breeds; they have a whole host of issues that impact quality of life and survivability outside of a domestic situation.

absolutely. and I take a lot of pity to these poor critters we humans distorted into somethign that can't walk straight... I don't want to get to know people who find traits like these beautiful. :0

Definitely, especially depending on their job field. Maybe some jobs would require specialized clothing or the like. But plenty of others, like those that involve high heat or contamination risk, would all but demand that any furry characters involved to be carefully groomed.

I can imagine those in the medical profession might even show fur damage on the hands from the frequent exposure to harsh antiseptics.

Well if you look at most of them, they don't have fur, just colored skin. Just a few convenient tufts on elbows/knees/shoulders and sometimes (facial) cheeks. They just have full body tattoos because they all lost their fur in mutation accidents.

Hmmm... I might trim some of the thicker fur down during the summer. Possibly more often, if shedding might be an issue.
Not sure about whiskers though. Maybe if they got too long.

MINERVA'S SECRET
YOU SHOULD KNOW
SHE CLOSELY SHAVES IT
ALL BELOW
BURMA-SHAVE

"Those who know don't let 'Bloom' show."
USE FUF!

(Fuf is a mythical product I created for anthro-animal people in my stories which is applied to white fur to keep it white.)

Between the pawpads gets trimmed and shaved-- otherwise its a slip n' slide indoors on hardwood and linoleum!

Or just don't build hardwood floors or linoleum? I mean, humans don't make oiled bowling lane style floors.

Girlbun shaves, but that's because she's lewd. Squirrel's as much of a 'fuzzy skin' 3D print as fur. Boybunny likely sheds, we'll know in five months or so. Bunny's bestmaus doesn't even cut her hair, I don't think. Goes aaaaaallllllll the way down. Does have a permanent lewdcut. Human needs to trim their eyelashes, but hell no.

Grooming would definitely be a thing, otherwise it'd get out of hand. Heavy, hot, annoying...

Also, NO. Don't shave whiskers, whiskers are needed for certain sensory functions! They should naturally shed uwu

No we don't shave/cut the sensor hairs. For the fur, a stiff brush to remove the loose undercoat especially while shedding.

My opinion is that whiskers are there for a reason, so they stay there. Blackspots for example sheds twice a year, and that takes care of the need to shave anything. Once after winter, and once before winter (like any double coated animal would)

I have a red panda character who only shaves her mound (and a little outward) completely bald down to the bare skin. This mostly came as a solution for me not wanting to lose crease line definition in the crotch while also being too fucking lazy to invert the linework colour from black to white to make it show up against the dark brown fur. The shaving workaround kinda stuck, and combined with her permanent state of below-the-waist nudity, it just makes her all the more lewd than she already is (as intended) lol.

Many people shave patterns (or even moreso, use hairspray to *LIFT* the animals' fur in distinctive patterns), either for the fun of it, or for an extra shade of 'Stylish' for competition/events. I used to do this with my Miniature horse, and have seen it done a lot in the equestrian world.
I could easily imagine furry/anthro characters doing so, too!

I failed my shaving throw.

Baaaaaad...

I Iiked it.

In my worlds, whiskers have either evolved away or become vestigial in most species. Fur styling is mostly a matter of personal choice. Most species have a seasonal shedding period that involves a week or two of more thorough brushing or a stronger fur dryer setting after your shower.

In my universe, I have "fur" and "human hair" separate, except for horses. The way I have "hair" shaving is with some kind of special razor that only affects hairs of a certain density. Kind of a hand-wave, I know. Some characters I don't have hair grow on "human" areas at all, but that's more of just a design choice on my end.

As for whiskers... I forget to draw them anyway, lol.

Polishing

I like whiskers on my anthropomorphic characters personally. A similar discussion came up years ago on the Playmouse forums, the popular consensus was that furry ladies didn't shave their legs but probably instead used special shampoo/conditioner on their leg fur to keep it extra soft and silky. Resulted in few pinups of bathing beauty's shampoo/conditioning their legs.

I assume it would be about the same as with humans. Some shave everything, some shave a little, and some have never touched a shaver in their life. We can grow beards, mustaches and sideburns, but everyone has their individual preferences about each of those.

Some people shave their arms, legs and other body hairs, while others let it grow. Some choose to shave their head, while most don't. Some make their genital areas smooth like plastic, and others prefer to grow a forest down there. Furs are in the military might shave their fur short, like humans shave their hair short. Long fur around machinery would be as dangerous for furs as long hair on humans is, after all.

A lot would depend on climate too. Obviously, furs in a hot humid climate would probably be more likely to shave than furs in a cold climate. Shaving or not would be partially based on comfort, but also on the social norms in whatever areas they were in. For many, how and if they shaved might be a fashion statement. Everything mentioned above would probably apply to furs wearing clothing too. Many would and many wouldn't, just as some humans love to walk around their house naked, and some prefer how clothes feel.

No one answer would ever apply to all furs.

I'm a sheep; of course we do!

Koofins had some interesting ideas on some of that, like how to keep things sanitary in food-service jobs: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/44331421/
Personally I prefer having the whiskers kept and shaving being applied as needed for health, comfort, and convenience.
Heh, I can imagine an incautious overall-long-haired couple getting busy, going to sleep, and waking up with an embarrassing intimate tangle that requires an ER trip! XD

In my canon, anthros will trim their fur back for cosmetic, hygienic or safety reasons. Shaving down to the bare skin, though, is considered horribly perverted unless it's done for medical reasons, like clearing the area around a wound before surgery.

If I were to wake up as my fursona, I would 100% be trimming my hair/fur.

Probably not shave, but I'm pretty sure they would have their fur trimmed. Maybe even have fur patterns or stylized pictures trimmed into their fur. There will probably fashion around it.
Even simple trims will be difficult for one person to do themselves, so there will be fur stylists. And with fur on the entire body I think that there will be no nudity taboo. You do have to get naked regularly for the fur trim.

A fur stylist would probably also offer a combing service with an assortment of different combs and brushes. Sure they could do that at home by themselves, but how many of us have even a fraction of the tools a hair-dresser at home? Though family grooming sessions will probably also be a regular event.

I personally solve this problem by having seasonal dimorphism

Summer coat is lean and sleek

Winter coat is thick and insulating

I would think it's a matter of choice however to shave facial whiskers

We can't fail to mention  Claire_laMouf here.

There was a photo going around some while ago, of a husky dog shaved bare except for his head. I'm pretty sure the consensus was that since dogs pant instead of sweating (aside from their normally exposed skin, like paw pads), that it was unnecessary.

https://petrescuereport.com/2017/co.....-shaved-husky/

I have seen some argument that it destroys the dog's underneath-fur layer, and expose the skin to UV rays unnecessarily. it probably depends on the dog breed's fur structure, but huskies and similar are bred to survive in wintery climates., while others are just fluff. poodles don't have any underfur at all, for example.

We raised huskies in se louisiana. Hot, humid. Most of the time, they'd stay inside during the worst of the heat. We would always help them blow their coats, De shedding tools work great, same as you use on horses. Shade, plenty of water. They ran around just fine in the summer. Short walks at a run, longer ones at a walk. They loved to swim. No health issues. I thing we clipped them down.... two or three times in all those years. Only about an inch or two, never even close to the skin.they did fine

Would they need to after winter? Or would they just shed like normal animals do?

most of my lion characters cut the mane in front of the chin short for convenience. easier to keep clean when your chest is right below the mouth instead of far behind like on ferals. some long furs might be trimmed, headhair gets cut or styled. fur tattoos change the colouring of select hair strands permanently.

whiskers? personally I see them as important. some might trim them a bit short, but if you look closer nobody can see what happens right in front of their muzzles, anyway. so whiskers are still important to some extend.
besides, nothign like tickling someones face with them. :)

It depends on how artistic the species is. I'm a poodle. That comes with a cultural tradition merging old utilitarian cuts with artistry and class distinction. Also, say that a großespitz moved near the Equator, they would shave their fur down simply to not die. A winter fox has the floof, but imagine if they visited the opposite hemisphere. They'd need a trim.

Well if a Furry shaves, are they still furry since they would possibly have no fur left? I mean when people ask me if I am a furry I tell them "Of course not, I shaved" :)

I thought it was sacrilege to shave any and all fur off. :P

But honestly, I do love body hair and beards. *blush*

yes, one of my character shaves often, and for some reason some people were weirded out by it.

Why would you not want whiskers? They give you additional information about your surroundings.

Well, I have to go to the groomer every few months to get my cheek-and-neck ruff trimmed.

Shaving down to the skin completely? I could see one doing that to feel the brisk air on their skin.
Full body trimming, instead of spending weeks shedding? Sure thing.
Whiskers? Do they bother you? Snip.
While I'm at it, I'm an advocate of wet/dry vacuums for furs. Steam cleaner attachment would be bonus, why shower or bath when you can steam clean yourself.

❄ Folks, the steamer head would NOT be blowing hot steam onto the furry, it would be blowing into the intake of the vacuum, so that the fur that gets pulled into the intake gets cleansed.

As a dragon (presented mostly by an anthro form), the need to shave fur was not a problem. Creating another body/proxi, which is a disguise, an anthro bunny, fur never was a problem as well. The body was created by a divine ritual, which can host my true dragon essence (body included), so I have it easy:

It's a creation of magic, and thus is fine-tuned to serve my needs, and does only have a few flaws...shaving, fur, hair, and such are a non-existing problems for my disguised form.

As a creation that mimics nature, it still does cute but silly things, like letting blush be visible through fur, but also reacts normally to the laws of nature, like getting wet when water hits it. A bunny usually have big bushy fur, but mine is just a bit shorter, but still super-soft (also pink, cuz why not?)...As a magical creation, there was no real reason to give it all the flaws of the 'real deal', just those, that would draw attention, if they weren't present! It's a disguise, but it mimics most major functions of a normal anthro bunny's body, to keep the deception working!

It’s a mystery to me why human hair doesn’t stop growing or why furries need it.

Though I could imagine something like an arctic fox in the tropics wanting a shave

As my Phantom Bunny character is somewhere between a human and a rabbit, she has both pubic hair and underarm hair. Her regular rabbit fur is light white, and lets you see the light flesh underneath. Other times, she is very light white. Maybe she has a tan sometimes.

Whiskers are super sexy! I always make it a point that any and all of the ladies in my collection have whiskers of some kind, depending on their species; some have small, short, fine whiskers, some have a full walrus mustache, hee! Because whiskers! Meowr! And of course, I'm mighty proud of my own full set of whiskers as well, but then again, I am a feral cat so I would never get rid of my whiskers even if I had the means to >~_^<

I'm not sure I could handle a full fledged mane, but dear lord! NEVER clip the whiskers back! A long whip that tenderly bends at the end, and lays back near the base turns into a stiff dagger that stabs you if puahed right..... And it will get caught on everything! Like a hangnail on your finger. Ow!

I would assume many would at least for grooming purposes. At least to take care of any shedding.
I would really like to be a real fur, but I dread shedding like a heavy coat / double coat dog. I don't have a heavy coat, but still.

Would probably also need to shave specific areas for things like tattoos, medical analysis and injections, piercings, etc.

Style Wager and Greg Older's species, 'Hooda', shave... strategically.

Personally, I go with the idea that a trimming one's fur to lighten the coat, or for a good grooming is something furs of all kinds would likely do. Quadrupedal or bipedal. So, if you have a particularly thick coat and want it thinned, there's likely a specialist to help out with that. Most creatures with complex undercoat situations would likely need more than just 'trimming it down'. I would also think that our feathery friends would have a similar treatment for plumage, and that scaled critters would appreciate a good buffing or similar. All of this would fall under a bit of grooming, some more complicated than others.

As many others have said, I would expect vibrissae to be the kind of thing you don't trim more than a little. And that would likely be to help balance the features, but not really diminish their overall reach. Since they have use for sensing all kinds of things, cutting them crazy short or some other huge amount would be pretty detrimental to their sense perceptions.

As a quadrupedal fox, I would likely appreciate a coat grooming every so often, and I do 'trim my whiskers', in so much as that I make sure that they balance out my muzzle and I don't look like I should topple over due to a whisker imbalance.

Everyone seems to be forgetting about the Poodle cut.

"Furry" characters (at the moment) are fantasy characters in stories. So what you are asking is maybe a larger question than people might think. In the potential stories there is an appearance range from alien humanoid science-fiction format through human-form with increasing 'animal-style' towards more and more feral appearance, and then into more and more abstract fantasy appearance. They can all be "furries" in the stories, including science-fiction human form. There is more under your question than just the surface coat.

By the questions you ask, this is more about the idea of a more science-fictional furry, with a lot of physicality and culture close to our human culture, or 'uplifted' mixes of genes, or even sf aliens designed with a furry style.

So asking about the grooming culture about 'hybrid anthros' is a humanoid anthro culture question. It's asking more about what furry-fan humans (the ones reading this right now) would be comfortable with exploring in a story.

These questions presuppose that your readers are a furry character. They could also role-play one of several furry characters, or perhaps tell stories with imagined furries as repertoire characters.

However, my furry would probably shave parts of their whiskers, and other parts of my whiskers, they would attempt to trim in a semi-stylish way. 🐺

All this grooming talk is making me concerned for those with skin conditions...
As a human, it is easy to cover up skin conditions, but it's already a pain in the butt to treat skin conditions that exist among hair.
Now imagine that scenario but as a furry, patchy spots that are constantly irritated by the movement of the fur.

I have eczema irl, and I would hate to see myself with patchy bald spots on my fur if I were a furry.

Eeeep! Yes that would be horrible!
Others would think you had Mainge.
Of course I've know dog's and Cat's to physically pull their fur out as the result of skin allergies for the very same reason you have mentioned so there's that ...

Depends. Clipping longer fur makes sense, like cutting your hair to shape/neaten it up. Shaving cutouts for *personal* areas makes sense, both things humans do for the same reason. Fur art? Look at some of the amazing things they clip into camels! We already shape our eyebrows, why not whiskers? Personal choice though. Some anthros look amazing with those long semi rigid hairs

Errr uhhhh.......no to the blade.
Draggy may be a feral but I'm certainly uncivilized...I do brush my long fur each and every night using the one hundred stroke program.☺️
I have no whiskers though and you make a very valid point about the heat of summer. Yes at times it is unbearable however given that my natural habitat is wooded mountains I am more fitted for the winter months. (This is true in rl also as I suffer through the summer but thrive in the spring and fall.)

Note the degree of reality you're going for. Removing a real-life cat's whiskers will AFAIK kill them rather horribly in a manner similar to unending vertigo. Don't even trim them.

For advice on this matter, you should ask
 clairelamouf

Whiskers must be! There's no other option.

Trimming - I don't know. I would imagine that creatures with fur would have their thermal regulation adjusted in different way than them hyoomans. I mean, fursuiters are at risk of overheating. But there are animals around the same body mass with their own fur, and they can exert physical activity without overheating themselves as easily.

For the art usage, I imagine fur not being trimmed in noticeable ways. Although then, I have another concept. There's hardly a realistic way for creatures with dense fur to have tattoos. But how about some artistic shaving in patterns? I can easily imagine this being a thing.

I suppose the whiskers might help serve as 'airspeed indicators' for a flyer, so making any modifications for cosmetic reasons might be awkward.

Real 'roos have rather long thick eyelashes so the flyers probably don't need mascara for their eyes, but an anthro 'roo buck might want to trim or pluck their eyelashes if having long thick eyelashes is considered 'feminine'.

The question about trimming or shaving whiskers led me to wondering about the opposite and using mascara on them so they're more visible. Things like that seem to be fashion issues, so 'teenagers' will probably be doing the opposite of whatever their parents did.

I think it would depend on the species, circumstance, and personal preference. I can see some animals shaving down for religious purposes or because they like shaving patterns into their fur. Maybe some would have medical conditions. Many, however, would not as with some animals fur isn't just a protective layer it's a sensory thing as well. Plus maybe their culture considers it taboo (another reason some within that culture might just as a fuck you to tradition). I know it would look kind of weird for an anthro roo to as save for a few tufts here and there their fur isn't all that heavy in the first place.

I'm kinda sorry I missed this one. My more humanoid anthro-animal characters in my stories do shave but rarely on their faces.

Yes. I like whiskers too. Keeping them trimmed and neat might be a sign of good, social grooming.