Stiff matted fur

[berghill]

Our semi-feral cat has returned home this morning and yesterday morning with patches of extremely stiff, matted fur on her back. It has no smell, is not sticky, but not soluble in water either. We cut off yesterday's lumps, (not well received, but not a problem in that she has very thick fur at the best of times.) So todays lumps must have arrived during last night.
Cannot be mites or ticks or fleas with the speed at which is has reoccurred. Any ideas what it might be and how to soften it?
TIA

 

[silent meowlook]

Be careful when cutting mats. There is no way of knowing what is going on here. Need to trap and take to a vet with experience handling ferals, have them sedate and properly clip and groom to see the underlying cause. There is nothing you can put on the hair to make the mats come out. If clipping the hair with scissors you run a huge risk of cutting the cat as their skin is paper thin.

There is always a reason a cat gets matted, be it poor health and not grooming to wounds. But no matter what this needs to be addressed if you want to help the cat and the only way to do that is with a sedated exam.

 

[berghill]

Thanks. The mat is well away from her skin. As I said, she has very thick fur. One problem is that she cannot groom herself on her back. She cannot reach it. She does have some back issues in terms of suppleness.
At the moment she is fast asleep on the couch in the Living room, where she usually spends most of her days. We did discuss keeping her in at night, but that is not really an option, she attacks our 2 other elderly males and then they want to go out at ungodly hours.
Her name is Jemma which is short for Jemimah Piddleduck, so named because she refuses point blank to be house-trained, which is another problem as far as keeping her in overnight.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I presume the 'new' mat is in close proximity to the 'old' mat? Jemma is likely getting into something specific when she is out at night. If you have any idea where she goes, you could take a look around the area to see what she might be getting on her fur. Sounds like she has either found a new spot to hang out in, or something has been placed in her usual hang outs that wasn't there before.

If Jemma will tolerate it, gently kneading the mat, starting at the end and moving toward the skin as you go, might work. The kneading will usually help to loosen the tightly knitted hairs. Again, if she will tolerate it, once you get even a tiny bit of fur loosened up you can run a comb just through that part, and then continue kneading.

Ever consider using a tray/box with soil/mulch/leaves in it to see if she might use that if you choose to keep her inside for a few days, just to see what happens with her fur in that area?

 

[berghill]

Thanks.
We wondered if the stuff was from a tom? She is neutered, but we still get visitors every now and then.
Unless she has changed her habits recently, she does not go outside our garden (fairly large). The only time we have seen her elsewhere was when she was spooked by the unannounced Firework Display on the school field at the bottom of the Drive. She is very timid by the way.
Dealing with her back could be a very painful exercise, not for her, for us. She is lightning fast with her extremely sharp claws and teeth.
We will try teasing out the mat and see what happens.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I'm not saying it couldn't be a tom, but semen tends to be at least a little bit sticky and have an odor about it.

There are also dangers in allowing this to go on if that is what is happening. A tom, wanting to mate, can hurt a female cat that is trying to get away.

 

[silent meowlook]

Honestly, best for you and her is a sedated exam and groom with a veterinarian

 

[mani]

Is there any chance someone is putting glue on her fur? I know it sounds odd, but people do very odd things and I can't imagine what on earth if could be if it's only on the outer part of the hairs and is hard and odourless.
Is it possible she's going under machinery and there's oil or other substance there?
Does it have a colour?

 

[berghill]

If I tell you that we have friends who visit us on a regular basis over the last 9 years who have never actually seen Jemma, then you will realise just how timid she is. When our daughter and family visit, Jemma will not come into the house for 3 days after they have gone, except to snatch a bit of food.
Our elderly neighbour is superb with cats, the other two rush out every morning to call for him. Jemma has never been within 3 metres of him.
Catching her to put glue on would be highly unlikely.
Thanks, We will continue gently trying to soften it enough to comb out the fur. A long slow job we think.

 

[Norachan]

We will continue gently trying to soften it enough to comb out the fur. A long slow job we think.

If it is something like glue you can use oil, such as olive oil or another edible oil, to dissolve the glue. Google it before you put it on her fur though, as not all oils are safe for cats.

If she is covered in something that might be machine oil use flour to soak up as much of the oil as possible before you try to cut the matts out. Machine oil is toxic to cats, but the flour will absorb most of it and stop it spreading to other parts of her body.

The only other thing I can think of is that it might be tree sap. My cats sometimes get drops of pine sap on their fur, but this usually has a pretty strong smell.

 

[mister obama]

Our semi-feral cat has returned home this morning and yesterday morning with patches of extremely stiff, matted fur on her back. It has no smell, is not sticky, but not soluble in water either. We cut off yesterday's lumps, (not well received, but not a problem in that she has very thick fur at the best of times.) So todays lumps must have arrived during last night.
Cannot be mites or ticks or fleas with the speed at which is has reoccurred. Any ideas what it might be and how to soften it?
TIA

My cat use to hide under old cars and junk trucks leaking oil and grease, try a little dawn dish soap disolved in some warm water,
feral cats love to hang behind restaurants that keep grease tanks too, also soluable in the dawn, they don't like getting wet...

 

[berghill]

No trucks round here and the nearest restaurant is at least 2 miles away. As I said, we don't think she actually leaves the garden.
We thought of tree sap as there are Monkey Puzzle tree logs at the top of the garden, seasoning before being used for wood turning. However, the resin from them is very highly scented. Also the matted fur is on her the back of her body, and if she rubbed against the trees the resin would be on her flanks. No other resinous trees nearby.
Slowly but surely the lumps are getting teased out and she is happy to have the treatment, at least for a few minutes before she lashes out.
A trip to a Vets, by the way is traumatic for both of us. I have to go and get a sedative for her which is £50. Then get her into a carry box. The 10 minute drive even with a sedative means that she arrives at the Vets having been sick, urinated and defecated in the box. Any treatment is on top of the £100 fee just for the appointment. Well out of our pocket these days as O.A.P's
Thanks for all the suggestions, I think we will leave it at that, as a mystery.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Fair enough, as long as it stops happening. Otherwise, I guess you will have to try to unravel the mystery by checking out your entire garden, and/or seeing if she might actually be leaving it at times. I hope it doesn't happen again!