Older, Grumpy Male Cat Grooming Question

greycatlost

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Hello,

I have a male tiger cat, about 14 years old named Scrubs.
Every year around this time(summer) he sheds a lot of hair and it clumps and mats, especially around his back and tail/butt area.
As he's gotten older he has stopped taking care of grooming himself with this, so this year it is the most clumped and matted I've seen.
Last year I took him to a groomer to have it brushed out. She wore long thick gloves and had to hold him down really hard. She only got through a 1/3 of it and had to stop because of how much he was, well, not having it.
She also asked for me not to bring him in again!
Ugh.

Scrubs is a bit grumpy about his hind end and I would just leave him be but it's a lot of clumped hair.
What can I do? He is not a spring chicken.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
 

red top rescue

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There are several things you can do to prevent matting. One is to make sure he has an excellent diet of wet food containing (1) muscle meat protein, (2) animal fat, and (3) very low carbohydrates (such as corn, wheat, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes and the like.) Check the Nutrition Forum for more advice there. Fat and animal protein (not vegetable protein!) are the basics for healthy skin, and thus a healthy coat. It's even more important in older cats.

Second, if he is already matted, start new by getting him a summer clip -- perhaps a lion clip where all is short except the head and the very tip of the tail. That will get rid of the dry undercoat that is causing the tangles. Once he has a fresh start from being clipped, you can get him used to being brushed with a soft brush, something that will not hurt and pull his hair but will feel nice on his body. That may help cure his hatred of being groomed. As his fur gets longer, get a wide toothed metal comb called a greyhound comb and keep grooming with that. It removes the loose undercoat and prevents tangling.

Finally, clean coats do not mat. Some cats have more oily fur than others, and some cats need to be bathed from time to time to keep their coats soft and tangle free while other cats may have fur that never seems to tangle. As his fur is growing out from the clip, if it starts to tangle, it may be time for a bath. Often you can get that done by a groomer at your vet's office, or you can learn to do it properly yourself, or you can have a professional cat groomer come to your house once or twice a year.

It's up to you to prevent the mats, and you can do this pretty easily with proper diet and regular grooming, but at this point, I highly recommend getting him clipped for summer.
 

verna davies

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Hi. I have a young grumpy cat that hates being groomed. A while back she rolled in something sticky and as she wouldnt let ke brush it out I had to cut the sticky fur off. It soon grew back. I now use a grooming glove and she doesn't seem to mind in the least. If your cat will allow you to stroke him this may well work for you. They sell them on Amazon if you want to look at one.
 

susanm9006

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There is a grooming brush called a Furminator that trims undercoats while it removes mats. I can only groom my cat a couple times a year since catching her is a major undertaking but this tool helps tremendously to keep her matting down.

Another rather expensive alternative is to have your vet shave down your cat once every six months or so. Because they sedate the cat they need to do bloodwork in advance to make sure it is safe so getting the cat done is pricey but it is the best way to stop the matting .
 

Purr-fect

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Our long hair cats are combed daily. We no longer brush them. On advice from this forum I started combing the fur and find it gets out more loose fur and reaches deeper into the fur than the brush, which in retrospect made the fur look nice but only affected the top coat.

Our guys get a few treats while they are being combed and now jump up on the table when called to be combed.

The mats are cut out VERY CAREFULLY with a small pair of scissors that have long thin blades, allowing me to get closer to the skin and with greater control. A few times each week my wife holds greg in her arms, on his back and I trim one or two mats out. We dont do more than that at a time as we dont want to make it unpleasant for him. He then gets a treat and cuddles. On going maintenance is key. Otherwise the matted fur pulls on their skin and becomes painfull and eventually only an upsetting
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trip to the vet will fix the problem.

Note ......never cut the mat right to the skin....I once cut arnold when I first cut his mats.... he never even flinched and I did not know until I saw the scab healing!

Now I pinch the matt at his skin, gently, and cut ABOVE my fingers. I then tease the remaining mat apart.

Just do one mat a day and give a treat..... before you know it , he will look and feel better.
 
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greycatlost

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There are several things you can do to prevent matting. One is to make sure he has an excellent diet of wet food containing (1) muscle meat protein, (2) animal fat, and (3) very low carbohydrates (such as corn, wheat, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes and the like.) Check the Nutrition Forum for more advice there. Fat and animal protein (not vegetable protein!) are the basics for healthy skin, and thus a healthy coat. It's even more important in older cats.

Second, if he is already matted, start new by getting him a summer clip -- perhaps a lion clip where all is short except the head and the very tip of the tail. That will get rid of the dry undercoat that is causing the tangles. Once he has a fresh start from being clipped, you can get him used to being brushed with a soft brush, something that will not hurt and pull his hair but will feel nice on his body. That may help cure his hatred of being groomed. As his fur gets longer, get a wide toothed metal comb called a greyhound comb and keep grooming with that. It removes the loose undercoat and prevents tangling.

Finally, clean coats do not mat. Some cats have more oily fur than others, and some cats need to be bathed from time to time to keep their coats soft and tangle free while other cats may have fur that never seems to tangle. As his fur is growing out from the clip, if it starts to tangle, it may be time for a bath. Often you can get that done by a groomer at your vet's office, or you can learn to do it properly yourself, or you can have a professional cat groomer come to your house once or twice a year.

It's up to you to prevent the mats, and you can do this pretty easily with proper diet and regular grooming, but at this point, I highly recommend getting him clipped for summer.
Thank you for the response, this is all great information!
 
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greycatlost

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Hi. I have a young grumpy cat that hates being groomed. A while back she rolled in something sticky and as she wouldnt let ke brush it out I had to cut the sticky fur off. It soon grew back. I now use a grooming glove and she doesn't seem to mind in the least. If your cat will allow you to stroke him this may well work for you. They sell them on Amazon if you want to look at one.
I will definitely buy one of these and give it a try. Thank you!
 
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greycatlost

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There is a grooming brush called a Furminator that trims undercoats while it removes mats. I can only groom my cat a couple times a year since catching her is a major undertaking but this tool helps tremendously to keep her matting down.

Another rather expensive alternative is to have your vet shave down your cat once every six months or so. Because they sedate the cat they need to do bloodwork in advance to make sure it is safe so getting the cat done is pricey but it is the best way to stop the matting .
I think this may be the best option at this point, I am going to talk to his vet about sedating him to cut his hair. Thank you for the advice!
 
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greycatlost

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Our long hair cats are combed daily. We no longer brush them. On advice from this forum I started combing the fur and find it gets out more loose fur and reaches deeper into the fur than the brush, which in retrospect made the fur look nice but only affected the top coat.

Our guys get a few treats while they are being combed and now jump up on the table when called to be combed.

The mats are cut out VERY CAREFULLY with a small pair of scissors that have long thin blades, allowing me to get closer to the skin and with greater control. A few times each week my wife holds greg in her arms, on his back and I trim one or two mats out. We dont do more than that at a time as we dont want to make it unpleasant for him. He then gets a treat and cuddles. On going maintenance is key. Otherwise the matted fur pulls on their skin and becomes painfull and eventually only an upsettingView attachment 189907 View attachment 189907 View attachment 189907 View attachment 189907 View attachment 189908 View attachment 189908 View attachment 189907 trip to the vet will fix the problem.

Note ......never cut the mat right to the skin....I once cut arnold when I first cut his mats.... he never even flinched and I did not know until I saw the scab healing!

Now I pinch the matt at his skin, gently, and cut ABOVE my fingers. I then tease the remaining mat apart.

Just do one mat a day and give a treat..... before you know it , he will look and feel better.
A cat that just lays there while you groom it? That's like a dream come true! Thank you for the advice, I will give it a try.
 
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