My kitty is matting and she won't let me near her!

lola1962

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I really have a dilemma on my hands. A little background:  Last January I rescued 5 month old siblings.  I was hoping to adopt a pair, and the shelter insisted that these siblings be placed together and with someone with experience with feral cats.  That would be me :)

I was in love immediately!  The male, Max is very affectionate and outgoing, but his sister, Ruby, is still skittish.  I understand why they needed to be adopted out together.  The big problem is that she will not let us groom her.  She will not let anyone pick her up.  She does come to me and my daughters for treats and patting when SHE is in the mood for it!

Ruby has a beautiful full mane around her neck, but it is starting to mat.  What to do?  Even if I could get her, it would be a fight, and I am not willing to do that to her.  I cannot even get her into the crate to take her to the vet for his help with the matting.  

Any advice is surely welcome!  I have the crate right out in our family room and I toss treats into it and she will occasionally go retrieve one, but is out of there faster than lightning!  LOL  She is very comfortable with my daughters, but I don't want to ruin that bond by having them try to brush her.  She would fly off anyway and with feral cats, any work you do to socialize them goes out the window if you break that trust.

I have had cats my entire life.  Last December I had to put down my sweet Duchess at 19 years old. She was feral and it took YEARS, but I finally got her to trust me. I plan on being just as patient and persistent with Ruby, but that doesn't help with her matting in the present.

Thanks in advance.

Lola
 

misterwhiskers

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Any chance of sticking a vet prescribed Valium in either a treat ir in her food, enough to relax her and groom her?
 

stephenq

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Is she calm outside the carrier?  If yes, you cvould either see if a vet tech will make a house call and trim her at home for you, or you could ask for some instruction on how to do it at home.....?  If you MUST take her to the vet you can toss a large towel over her, wrap her like a burrito, and put her and the towel in the carrier.
 

cat pal

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I have a 10 year old Maine Coon (type) cat - adopted him when he was a tiny kitten with a little rat tail. I had no IDEA how much his tail would fill out and that he would grow into such a huge (20 lb) and furry gentle giant -most of the time - except when I try to groom him. Then he becomes really annoyed and rather ferocious, been that way since he was a kitten. I take him to the vet for a "haircut" about every 9 months when he shows signs of matting. They used to sedate him and give him a lion cut. Now they have a technician who is also a groomer, so she works on him without sedation. He doesn't like it, but he behaves better for her because he's freaked out about being at the clinic. When he's had enough she lets him rest for awhile and then goes back to work on him. I generally drop him off in the morning on my way to work and pick him up in the afternoon. It's a full day affair, whether or not he's sedated, but it has to be done. They shave everything except his head/ruff, legs and the end of his tail. He looks like an overweight poodle but he is much more comfortable and happy without all that matted fur and poop butt, and he's good for another 9 months or so. Willis is one of the sweetest and most affectionate cats I've had except when I try to get near him with grooming tools.

That's just the way some cats are. 
 

vbcatparent

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There are some groomers who make house visits if you're willing to pay extra. If you're interested in using treats as a motivator, you can also brush one body part at a time, give a treat, back away for a minute, and then approach a new body part.

I brush my Maine Coon with a furminator about 3-4 times a week. He still gets tangles pretty often that I have to work out. He's never gotten to where he likes it, but he will lay still, thwacking his tail against the floor, and give me about 5 minutes to do my worst. Then he's up walking around as if suddenly quite interested in his toys. He knows he has to be good for a few minutes to get his evening treat.
 

vbcatparent

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Is she calm outside the carrier? If you MUST take her to the vet you can toss a large towel over her, wrap her like a burrito, and put her and the towel in the carrier.
We had to do this with Regent less than a week after he moved in. He'd gotten a major bleeding injury on his back, and even after a month at the shelter it hadn't healed enough. The scab tore off and left blood stains on our bed almost every night. Despite him being very skittish, we ambushed him that Saturday and got him to the vet. It was very traumatic. He messed inside his carrier out of protest, and my DH got a big deep scratch on his arm. Back at home, he hid in the bathtub for a while and then reverted to staying under our bed again. 

It took time for him to get over that, but they did fix his back and shave around his pooper. Sometimes you have to count the risk against the reward and see if the cat's health would benefit from the trauma. Yes they will be angry for a few days but they can get over it.
 
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lola1962

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That is a great idea!  In my 40 plus years as a cat owner, I have never had to calm a kitty down, but it didn't dawn on my to ask for kitty Valium!  I am calling my vet right after Christmas.  Thanks!
 
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lola1962

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Thanks for all of the great suggestions.  The Valium sounds genius to me!  I also never thought to see if the vet or a tech could make a house call.  It would be would be worth the extra money to have it done without upsetting her too much.

I can only imagine how tough it is to groom a Coon!  I I just cannot get her to sit with me.  She just likes to be in the same room as I am and hangs out.  The first feral cat I had did the same thing, but after about 6 years, she eventually let me groom her. 
 
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