Small mat in my cat's fur

[CatLover49]

Hello
I have a nine month old mackerel taby
And hes got a small mat and another one starting to develop..what do I use and what do I do to slowly get this small but tough mat out of his fur
And get the one thats just starting to develop
Its down towards his hind leg
Underneath his hind leg towards his behind
TIA

 

[John Perram]

I would suggest getting it removed with clippers. Cutting it out with scissors could cause severe injury to a cat. Cat skin is very thin. I get my cat groomed every 2 months with a lion cut. But my cat is a long hair.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If he will let you, I would knead it gently apart between your fingers with two hands, starting at the tips of the hair mat and work further and closer to the skin. You can usually gently pull the mat apart by doing so - without pulling on the skin. If you are hesitant, start with the smaller mat, and then you can move onto the larger mat.

It sounds like he could use regular brushings to help prevent the mats. If you don't already do so, I would start getting him used to being brushed on a routine basis. You might have to start out slow, doing just a small area to begin with, and then working to get him comfortable with the process over time.

Depending on where the mats are actually occurring, could he be getting soft poop in his hair 'down there'? That being the case, you need to see what could be behind the softer poop, and maybe in the meantime, help him clean that area with a hypoallergenic wipe after he uses the litter box.

 

[daftcat75]

This is the magic solution. I can't explain it. But it works. It worked twice on mats that Krista had. And at least a couple other cat guardians have told me that this worked for theirs too.

Oiling Point Of Fur Mats (Using Olive Oil To Remove Clumps Of Matted Fur)

 

[CatLover49]

I would suggest getting it removed with clippers. Cutting it out with scissors could cause severe injury to a cat. Cat skin is very thin. I get my cat groomed every 2 months with a lion cut. But my cat is a long hair.

Oh I would never think to use scissors on my baby
Is there a tool
Well especially for that..that I could purchase

 

[CatLover49]

Hi. If he will let you, I would knead it gently apart between your fingers with two hands, starting at the tips of the hair mat and work further and closer to the skin. You can usually gently pull the mat apart by doing so - without pulling on the skin. If you are hesitant, start with the smaller mat, and then you can move onto the larger mat.

It sounds like he could use regular brushings to help prevent the mats. If you don't already do so, I would start getting him used to being brushed on a routine basis. You might have to start out slow, doing just a small area to begin with, and then working to get him comfortable with the process over time.

Depending on where the mats are actually occurring, could he be getting soft poop in his hair 'down there'? That being the case, you need to see what could be behind the softer poop, and maybe in the meantime, help him clean that area with a hypoallergenic wipe after he uses the litter box.

Yea its gonna take a little bit a day til get it out
And no..no poop problem
Ive tried little bit today
Hes a feisty little fellow

 

[theyremine]

I second the olive oil! I used it on my semi-feral who had 3 mats down her back. They literally came off in my fingers in a matter of days.

 

[John Perram]

That olive oil is genius. I would give it a shot.

 

[daftcat75]

It took this thread to jog my memory about why I have a picture of a clump of hair on a plate.

This was the last mat that just fell right out of Krista's coat within a few hours after applying just a few drops of olive oil to it.

Confirmed!

This is from Krista's Care thread for the day of this photo:

Also, she's had a small mat in her fur on her back for awhile. I decided to try the olive oil trick. I loaded a syringe with olive oil and kept it in a cup near my TV chair. I waited for her to join me in my lap and while she was getting her scratches and pets, I squirted some oil at the top and underneath the mat. By the end of the day, it fell out like magic. She's looking a little hairless where it used to be. But she must feel a lot better not having something there tugging on her all the time.

 

[theyremine]

I used a small amount of olive oil about 1ml and did each mat separately . The first two came off in my hand in a matter of 2 days or so. The third one required a second dose (don't think I got it in the right spot the first time) But amazingly, it appeared Pepper suffered no noticeable hair loss. I learned about this method in a old post by daftcat75 and it saved me $500 in vet costs.

 

[sivyaleah]

Get yourself a mat cutter. It will glide through mats and you kind of saw it off,
This is the one we use: MASTER GROOMING TOOLS Dog Mat & Tangle Splitter - Chewy.com
And then start grooming regularly.
FYI for what it is worth I tried using olive oil once and all it did was make my cats fur disgustingly greasy and have to figure out how to clean that out.
I have used very small blunt tip scissors at times but I know how to use them, have steady hands, and know my cat well enough to recognize when she's had enough. I can get small mats off her with this method when she's napping sometimes. I do not recommend doing this unless you are super confident that you won't hurt the cat or you.