belly matts on my old girl

[catnapt]

hi
i have an 18 yr old short haired tiger girl, she has a dense undercoat though and with out frequent grooming she gets matted quickly

well she has always taken care of her belly, i have never had to brush her there, pet her there, sure, she loves that, but now she is getting matts on her belly

i did have to have a small area on her flank shaved about two months ago, its the side she sleeps on and being 18 she sleeps a lot, we had a few warm days and she just *blew out* her undercoat so fast, it was a matted mess, and the kindest thing seemed to be to have her shaved there

but now its her belly- and she has been seeking out warmer spots than she usually does, so i am guessing that with her advancing age, she is finding it harder to stay warm? she has less muscle mass and less fat but is maintaining her weight right around what her vet said was good.

so i dont know what to do.

should i try to see if i can cut them out with scissors?


given her age, is it unwise to have her shaved even though summer is coming? we still get some chilly nights here

i can't imagine she will let me try to comb these out, but i will give it a shot anyway, and see how that goes
sometimes i can pull the center tuft of the matt and the loose hair just comes out, other times that does not work

any suggestions welcome, esp from those with older cats

althea

 

[rosehawke]

I can tell you from experience that it is EXTREMELY difficult to cut these mats out with scissors without cutting the cat. In Annie's final year grooming just got pretty much beyond her and I had those mats to deal with. She made it to 16. If it was me I would have her shaved and see if she would tolerate wearing a sweater. Or another option I've seen lately is heated pet beds.

 

[jen]

Ha! I didn't even think of a sweater! That would be so cute! I was going to suggest the heated bed though.

 

[catnapt]

will a cat wear a sweater tho? and where would i find a cat sweater?

i am wondering if i should ask her vet about this

this is all new to me, i have never had a cat this old

my first cat died young, she was only about 9

then i got Kali who is now about 7 and adopted Mickie at age 16 from my sister

i had a 13yr old blind deaf diabetic with some serious eye problems who lived with me for a year

so, i dont have a lot of experience with older cats

i am definately more nervous about my old girl than any other cat i have had

i love her so much, i want her to be with me as long as she can, as long as she is healthy and comfortable

but those matts cant feel too good


she has a snuggle safe disk for her bed that gets heated in the microwave.
mostly now she tries to find a place to sleep where she is surrounded on all sides, thats what makes me think she may be cold, she didnt used to do that

thanks everyone
althea

 

[rosehawke]

Well there aren't cat sweaters, per se (how speciesist!) but a small dog sweater should do just fine.

 

[catnapt]

*blush*

didn't even think of that, i am so cat oriented


althea