Matted cat!!

bodlover

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Hi everyone, one of my long haired cats has become extremely matted, I do brush her regularly with a slicker brush and comb, but she is actually "semi-feral" and won't let me hold her for long. When I first adopted her and her brother I cut the matt off them as they came to me that way, her brother is still no problem - he loves being groomed, but she just won't let me for more than 5 seconds! Most of her fur is fine and silky smooth, its just one patch on her side thats looks awful! I thought about getting her shaved but I wasn't sure as most of her coat is fine, also I don't think the vets etc really do that here in the uk, and I don't think she'd let him near her anyway! (shes a mummys girl only). How do I go about dematting her? - theres no way she'll sit on my lap long enough for me to use a dematter. Any suggestions would really be appreciated! Thanks!



 

Anne

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From what I've read, you could try putting some cornstarch into the mat and then try to seperate it, first with your fingers and then moving on to a wide toothed comb.

Some matts are too bad and need to be cut off. Just be careful when you do that, so as not to hurt the skin.

You say that she is only matted on one side. I wonder why is that, could it be that she is not grooming herself on that side? Has it always been like that?
 

michelerad

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I have quite a few long hair cats so I went out and got a special comb for mats. It has like a razor edge and get the mats out pretty easy. I got it at Petco and I believe it was called a grooming comb or De-matter or something like that. It has curved "teeth" on it. It looks like something that could hurt the cat but it realy does work. I have also tried cutting them but it is sometimes hard to hold them down and cut at the same time, if you have someone to help you that will work. I have to have my husband help me cut my cat Skylar. She is also matted and it hurts her so she will not let me touch her. I try to explain to her that if she would just let me cut the mats she won't hurt anymore. It is hard to reason with a cat
 

alexnell

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Are there cat groomers in the UK? Alex hates being brushed and he gets violent when I try to snip his mats (thankfully, he doesn't get that many). I take him to the groomer to get shaved for the summer. She's able to get away with messing with his fur because he's terrified of her, almost as much as the vet.
 
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bodlover

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Hi guys! Thanks for all your suggestions! I am pleased to announce that she has been successfully De-Matted!! hoorah! I did it with a little help from my Husband - he held her, I cut her! (personally I think I got the easy part! ha ha) - She actually wasn't that bad, after a few minutes she kind of gave up struggling and let me get on with it! (I think she knew it was for her own good!)

We do have groomers in the uk, but they don't like to shave cats as the climate is too cold (even in the summer its generally chilly! Only about one week of hot sun!), but I think Ill buy a dematter comb, and maybe Ill try the cornstarch!

Thankyou all!

 

sunlion

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About that matting on one side . . . Has it come back? Someone asked why it was and I got to thinking (bad habit). My daughter has a place on her head where her hair is always very matted, and she is tender-headed besides so combing it out is difficult. We finally figured out that it is where her head rubs on her pillow at night and on her car seat during the day. Is the mat on the side where your cat lays most often? Maybe if you can get her to lay on the other side sometimes it will help.
 
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