Feral cat with knotted fur

[nicolina]

I was hoping anyone here could help me with my cat Fox.

He's a feral cat I adopted four months ago and he's really sweet. He's much more confident now, but I can not touch him at all.

Usually I'm fine with that, but now I saw that he has a pretty big knot of fur on his neck. I don't want it to get worse and cause him pain in any way

so I hope that someone here can help me.

How do you get knots out if you can't even touch the cat? 

I've tried to distract him with treats, but he won't let me get anywhere near it with my hands OR the scissors...

I hope anyone can help me!

You can sort of see the knot in this picture. It's pretty big:

2014-12-26 11.57.30.jpg

• nicolina
• Dec 26, 2014

 

[hexiesfriend]

You may be able to distract him with eating while you clip the mat with hair clippers. Maybe distract with catnip and do the same thing.

 

[spiffykitty]

Four months is a short time, when you think about it, so over time he may become more comfortable being touched.

This is a behavioral challenge more than it is a grooming issue. 

You need to be able to touch your own cat. 

How much time do you spend playing with him, using balls or better yet, wand toys?

Do you feed him yourself, or does someone else feed him? 

I'd suggest feeding him yourself, twice a day, so he sees you are the provider of food. 

Don't free feed him unless you have to do that for some reason. 

Do you have treats that he is crazy about? There are so many types of treats. Find ones that he can not resist.

Most cats enjoy being stroked on their cheeks, under their chin and behind the ears. Start off by trying to do this every so often. Pick a time when he is relaxed, not when he is playing. Gently stroke him for a moment or two.

Meanwhile, you're better off finding a professional cat groomer to handle the grooming. We're used to handling all sorts of cats, though even a professional can be defeated by a cat.

Mainly, you need to be working on socializing him, every day, so he slowly improves. 

I think it's a bad idea to use scissors on a cat like him. So many owner mistakenly cut their cat when they try to cut off a mat.

Good luck! You can get him to accept more touching. It just takes consistent effort.

 

[nicolina]

@SpiffyKitty

Thanks for your answer! Somehow I didn't get an email that my thread had a new answer so I completely missed this.

Luckily it sorted itself out. I managed to grab it quickly the day before new years. It was hanging on by a thread so it just slid of him.

To answer your questions:

I do feed him myself, since I'm home most of the time. The cats get fed three times a day. I also spend a lot of time playing with him, giving him treats or just talking to him. His favourite toy is the Neko Flies wand and he can even put his paws in my lap if we're playing with it.

I did a LOT of research before adopting him. I have 21 years of cat experience, but I had never had a feral before and I wanted to take care

of him the best way I could. 

I have tried stroking him when he's relaxed, but he gets really stressed and goes into hiding...

However, I have recently been able to pet his tail!

Considering he's two and a half and have never (I think) been touched, that's amazing after only four months!

Not the best picture, but I just had to capture the moment! <3

2015-01-06 19.38.59.jpg

• nicolina
• Jan 8, 2015