I first joined this site a few months after getting Ozzy as a rescue cat from Cats Protection, in July 2004, they had "guestimated" his birthdate at approx Jan 2000. He was hard to home, due to his cattitude, and had been with them a few months. We took him on, and he settled well, he just never took to being groomed, and although he has semi long fur he kept his coat in good condition until a few years ago when it started to mat, he has a greasy coat which apparently doesn't help.
After trying to tackle the mats and ending up on antibiotics after he bit me, we had to resort to him being de-matted under general anaesthetic at the vets.
Then there was Covid, and vets only dealt with emergencies, then my leg broke and I was virtually bed bound for 6 months, with a frame on my leg. His coat was matted but I felt couldn't be dealt with during the cold weather.
So, at 22 yrs old, today he went to the vets, they were very nice, none judgemental, and not only shaved off his matted fur, but clipped his claws, removed some scale off his teeth, and cleaned his ears.
At his age he has some mobility issues, a bit wobbly on his legs, and he can't jump up any higher than ground level, but he seems content, enjoys his food, isn't on any medication and still sits outside a couple of times a day for an hour or so.
I'm wondering if his mobility might improve now the mats aren't there. We'll see, but for now we'll just concentrate on making sure he's warm.
After trying to tackle the mats and ending up on antibiotics after he bit me, we had to resort to him being de-matted under general anaesthetic at the vets.
Then there was Covid, and vets only dealt with emergencies, then my leg broke and I was virtually bed bound for 6 months, with a frame on my leg. His coat was matted but I felt couldn't be dealt with during the cold weather.
So, at 22 yrs old, today he went to the vets, they were very nice, none judgemental, and not only shaved off his matted fur, but clipped his claws, removed some scale off his teeth, and cleaned his ears.
At his age he has some mobility issues, a bit wobbly on his legs, and he can't jump up any higher than ground level, but he seems content, enjoys his food, isn't on any medication and still sits outside a couple of times a day for an hour or so.
I'm wondering if his mobility might improve now the mats aren't there. We'll see, but for now we'll just concentrate on making sure he's warm.
