Matted fur

[Sarabroughton]

Hi!

My long haired cat has 2 mats on his back near his tail. He HATES being groomed!

I am worried they are getting bigger and not sure how to deal with them best.

One feels quite close to the skin and is probably the size of the top part of my thumb (tip to first knuckle)

As he hates being brushed I have only noticed it now as it sticks out when he sits.

HELP!!!!

[Ruth B]

The only experiance I have had with matted fur was with our Ragdoll and then only rarely as he did enjoy being groomed. One thing is for definate the longer they are left the worse they will get.

You can get de matting tools but I have never had one so can't say if they are any good.

Three options I can think off:

If they are still small enough and he will let you, you might be able to tease them out. You will literally have to pull them out a couple of hairs at a time, slow but if he tolerates it can work well.

The second involves a trip to the vets to have the area shaved professionally.

The third is a technique I learnt when ours had bad matts on the outside of his flanks. He hadn't been feeling well and kept going under the bed so we didn't realise until they were really bad, which of cause was making him feel worse. Get a pair of scissors and a fine metal toothed grooming comb a metal flea comb works really well. They warn against cutting matts out as they are normally close to the skin and you are likely to cut the cat. I found i could slide the come between the skin and the matt and as it was a fine toothed comb the skin could not come up between the teeth. I could then lay the tip of the scissors just on the metal teeth and snip. Again it is slow, a millimetre or two at a time, just make sure the part of the scissors doing the cutting are always entirely in contact with the comb. I say to use a metal comb as you will never have to worry about cutting or breaking the teeth off.

Hope this helps and you can get it sorted before it gets worse.

[alanc]

I have frequently had this problem with my long haired Maine Coon Tilly. She is also not keen on being groomed (although she has been getting better with age). Grass and plant seeds seem to be the root cause of most of the tangles, although I have also found the odd slug stuck in her fur (Yuk!). Little and often is the best approach I find and I also usually give her a brush and comb just before her dinner, when she won't run away and forgets the indignity when food appears. I use the first of Ruth's three methods for preference, although the third has to be resorted to on occasion. There is also a gadget called a knotbuster which is basically 5 upward curved blades which cut through the knots without cutting your cat. Works quite well, but you need to get new blades every 4-5 months as they get blunt quite quickly after which they do not work very well. Only once so far have I had to resort to the vets to get Tilly's tummy clipped.

[Sarabroughton]

Thanks guys! Will try all suggestions!
I'll keep you all posted!

[AndyMac]

My 12 y/o cat is the same - hates being groomed. I have tried 2 different types of brush and also a grooming glove but that does not remove much hair.

The Vet has always mentioned about her hair matting but any time I try to groom her you would think I was stabbing her with pins. I try but after a few strokes the tail starts and then the growling until she swipes at me or the brush and she runs away.

Sometimes when she is lying down I will divert her attention by playing with a ribbon and will give her a brush but I mostly wait until she is lying on me and preen her as best I can just stroking the loose hair or gently pulling at the matted bits. She has developed a lot of thick hair around her neck and she will not let me near it - I am allowed to scratch her neck but anything else I get a bite.

[Crewella]

It is hard, and it becomes a vicious circle as the knottier they get, the sorer and grumpier they get. I've only had long-haired foster cats, but I've reached straight for the (blunt-ended) scissors if I've found any matts.