Professional Grooming Questions

sabian

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Thanks for all this. This will be long because it's impossible to make it short. I'd written this on another thread so apologies to anyone who read this in the other one.

In the end, I wound up bringing her to our vet, for the vet techs to deal with. Couldn't find not one single reputable cat groomer anywhere near me. The one I found refused to let me stay in the room with her, and I later read some things about her which I wasn't happy about so glad I decided not to use her.

Anyway, all the vet tech know and adore Luna and she's been fine with them to date although always a bit cautious. Unfortunately, on our way I noticed she seemed more stressed than normal in the car. I should have just taken that as a sign to turn around but didn't. Got there and she was panting rather hard already. It's almost like she knew what was coming.

Anyway, left her w/the techs and they said they'd call me when they were done with her. I went grocery shopping. Half hour later I got a call to come get her. OMG she got completely fractious with them. They could not handle her. So that was that. When I got there I asked what my options were and we decided that medicating her would be the solution. Was given a 'script for Gabapentin and told to give her 1mil next time about 2 hours before bringing her in.

I decided, once home, to ask if I could give it a shot myself at home and the vet was fine with that. I first tried doing 1/2 dose and she was calm, but not quite sedated enough. Managed to be able to groom her, get a couple of smaller knots out of her but she really needed more medication to get the job done right. A week later, gave her the full dose and well that, was the way to go! Spent nearly 2 hours working out mats from her belly. Awful job, was like doing surgery. I got almost all of it done without clippers, working slow with mat cutters, tiny blunt end scissors, my fingers, a comb and other various tools. Even clipped her claws before she started waking up.

Unfortunately I missed a few under her hind legs which I didn't noticed until a week later. Decided to giver her 3/4 dose that time because the full does did kind of make me a bit nervous seeing her so out of it. I should have stayed with the full dose though. I did manage to get more out of her, but she wasn't quite deep enough into sleep and would occasionally open her eyes and whimper a bit (not that I think I was hurting her, I think it's because she's fearful of the tools). At least I got more off her that time also but there still are a few more I need to get off so, I really need to get another go at it. I have enough of the medication for another 2 times I think and the vet was ok with refilling if necessary.

Unfortunately, I do think this is going to be the only way I'm going to be able to finish the job. If you have a recommendation for good clippers please do send that along.

On the plus side, I've been working with her to acclimate her to being groomed on a daily basis. I'm able to manage to comb her head, neck, and back now without too much fuss if I catch her when she's calm and a bit sleepy. Sometimes, I even can get her sides and upper belly, under her front leg pits if she's really sleepy and feeling lovey. But, as soon as I go near her back area well, that's that. And that's the part she needs the most of course so shaving it off is what needs to be done so that we can just start from scratch. But there is progress, she still battles me and bites the tools most of the time but I do seem some light at the end of that tunnel if I keep at it with her.
I don't really know what kind of shears you would need to get but, I see that your working with a groomer so, I would find out from them what they use and maybe ask your vet what they use. I can say that I bought a pair of Wahl pro series rechargeable shears from Walmart when my MC had some really bad mats. I paid about $50 for them 12 or 13 yrs ago and they wouldn't touch the mats. Granted they were really bad. He had developed what my friend called a coat of armor. My friend helped me try and shave him, they groomed their own cats and those shears just basically bounced off of it. I took him to the vet and their shears cut through it like butter. As long as you stay on top of it the cheaper shears will work but, if it gets matted close to the skin in tight mats they're useless.

I done a search for commercial grade animal shears and it looks like you may be looking at around $150 + for a high quality shear. Nothing that I came up with was a Wahl brand shear.

Manny doesn't like to be brushed but he has gotten better. The one thing I got that seem to help with that was a brush that you wear like a glove similar to this Pat Your Pet Five Finger Grooming Glove - Chewy.com
He was still leery of it at first but he has gotten use to it. I got mine at Petco or PetSmart. Can't remember which but it's similar to the link I posted.

Manny's actually pretty good at getting his own mats out if he can get to them. He got one not long after I adopted him on the thigh of his hind leg. I was dreading trying to get it out and, one day I heard him making a lot of noise in the kitchen. When I walked in there he had pulled it out and was playing with it like a toy. Recently he had some come up on his chest down around his front legs. They were getting tight around the skin and I started pulling them apart and got most of it out but, he finished up on his own. His mane is bad to get mats in it but he's pretty good about letting me get those out. I just pull those apart and work them out that way. He can't get to those to get them out. I have found that I have to do it at the right time like, after he wakes up or, when he's in the mood to be petted etc. One thing I always do is after I get a mat out, I show it to him, he usually sniffs it, I'll tickle his nose with it and let him see me throw it in the trash. Who knows if it helps but, it can't hurt.

I know it's hard now since she's so young but, the one thing I have found about cats over the yrs is, over time they realize your actually trying to help them out and, the more you do it, the more they are prone to let you do it. I know Manny has gotten a lot better over time.
 
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sivyaleah

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Well seems we've had a breakthrough of sorts or I've figured out how to handle her.

I've discovered that she's ok with me grooming her when she's sleeping! Nearly every day, around 3pm she goes down for a deep nap.

Now that I'm working from home, it's obvious when this happens since she nearly always chooses to nap on the bed in the room I'm working out of. I've been keeping the Greyhound comb and mat cutter right by my side so when I notice her asleep, I quietly move my chair over to her and get working.

As long as I'm gentle, and use my fingers to work the mat out first and then start using the comb to help untangle it from the top down she doesn't seem to really mind what I'm doing, or notice. In the past week I have managed to get out just about every single mat she had on her, including one leftover large one.

Yesterday, I even combed out her belly completely. Even got under the deep areas of her back legs. Wow, so nice to see it soft and lush instead of tangled and curly!

So now, every day I work on her a little bit to make sure any new ones forming are taken care of asap and to find any others I've missed. I know there are still a few smaller mats lingering at the very back of butt area that need to go, I've felt them, eventually I'll get those also, just requires her being positioned in the right way for me to tackle them. I'm patient now though!
 

Furballsmom

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discovered that she's ok with me grooming her when she's sleeping!
lol

told ya :thumbsup:

Seriously, though, what I think is happening is that you've been so gentle, consistent and yet persistent, that she's gradually becoming more comfortable with you doing what needs to be done.

BIG kudos and good for you!!
 
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