Don't worry Gillian, Smokey's not having a number 1 all over
!
I was thinking about getting him clipped to perhaps normal cat length. The reason for this was I was sat chatting to someone at the vet's when we first had Smokey. She had a wonderful full-coated blue-point persian and obviously took great care of him. I asked about his coat and she said they had him dematted every summer as persians don't like to be too hot. I thought all cats love the warm but the fact that this cat was soooo beautiful made me think the lady knew best so I've wondered ever since.
I'd actually hate to mess with his coat now, it's so big and woolly so I'm glad you've erred on the "no" side.
For some reason, I think Smokey really likes my clippers. I gave him a beard trim yesterday to stop him eating his fur every time he washes and just zipped through all the little bobbles on his armpits. He purred and purred and seemed a little disappointed when I put the clippers away!