matted cats

[kitwit]

Hi to cat people.

Are there a good pair of clippers, for cats with matted hair? Something for the novice beginner? Any help with bee much appreicated by my four cats!

[Traci]

If you've never used clippers before on cats, maybe it would be better to have your vet check your kitty(s) and determine the severity of the mats first. Many vets have on-site groomers available, so ask your vet about it.

The problem with clippers and cats with severe mats, is that the clippers get very hot within a few minutes and can seriously burn a cat's sensitive skin. Also as problematic is keeping kitty calm and not stressed during clipping.

If the mats are not embedded too close to the skin, you can try using a de-matting tool, which looks like a metal comb, sold in almost any petstore (or petsmart, etc). But, be careful with mats because if they are too close to the skin, and you use brushes, combs, dematting tools, etc, you can risk pulling the skin and causing harm to the cat.

Again, depending on the severity, check with your vet first. Once the mats are addressed, keep a good regimin of brushing your cats once or twice weekly to keep mats from forming.

Are your cats indoors only?

[kitwit]

Hi

My cats are all indoors. I took one of the cats to the vet, but it was very traumatic for me and the cat, because of all the dogs barking, so loud. I thought I could find a clipper (not to loud), to do it myself. Or is there a video/DVD on how to groom cats, especially for matted cats?

[Traci]

I can appreciate that you want to do this yourself, however, can we just determine first, how bad are the mats? Are they matted to the skin? How many of the cats have mats?

Btw, all vet clinics are somewhat stressful, and no pet likes the vet clinic, however, it's more important that our pets are seen and evaluated by our vets.....the stress usually always subsides when the pet is back home.

[stacymtz]

Hello. My local pet superstore takes your pets into a private room to groom them. Maybe yours will to. It can't hurt to call and tell them your situation and see if they can help. Good luck. Stacy

[Tambrey]

once you get them under control...go to WalMart and get a seam ripper in the sewing department...keep the rubber tip on the sharp point and then use the ripper to slice through between matted fur and his skin...you will not cut your cat at all yet it will slice cleanly through the fur to remove the matte...and it is small enough to get right against the skin if need be...

a friend of mine who's mom showed Persian's told me this trick...and it works great

[Tina B and crew]

I also vote for a visit to the vet...that is where I take my long hair Gizmo to get groomed. Yes it's stressful to a point but they know what they are doing and are less likely to cause injury getting the mattes out. With regular brushing you shouldn't have to take the kitty in very often. I only take Gizmo maybe twice a year. It seems like his mattes just appear overnight!

[mamabear]

I have to STRESS that the importance of knowing how far the matts are , are very important. If it is to the skin, is the skin broken at the flesh? Is the skin irritated and bacteria set in below the matt where you can not see it? You have no clue unless you get kitty in to see the vet. GRoomers can be a great tool BUT they are NOT a vet and I hate when I get a client in(dog business) and they say well my groomer said this and that is why i didnt go to vet. THat just angers me to no end, so please take what groomers say with a grain of salt.

Cats get stressed when out of their environment BUT if kitty is in bad shape the vet will soon have to see him if you happen to cut him or irritate any area that might have a lesion on it. Cat matted cat or dog or any animal is NOTHING TO TRY by yourself unless you know for sure what you are looking at and how far to go.

WHy on earth would your kitty be so matted if kitty is an indoor only cat? Cats groom themselves all the time almost like an OCD problem LOL so why would kitty be so matted , could there be illness and that be reason why kitty isn't grooming properly. If there are more than one cat that is going through this then WHY , could it be the food, are you brushing the cats at all? Is there enough water? How many litter pans are there for them? I AM NOT setting blame on you, and not asking you to answer these questions to me, but I am saying that you should be asking yourself these questions and finding out the answers will help determine if this is a serious problem or something simple. Getting kitty to vet asap would be best. I have LONG hair(3 feet of it) and it HURTS when I get a knot and I mean a real knot in my hair. I can't imagine what it must be like for that kitty to have those matts and suffering and since they tend to not show pain, I am sure he isn't showing it to you that he is uncomfortable.

Once you bring kitty to vet and he determines how bad they are or help you get through or show you how you can then a good bath, antibiotics if dr says you should for any infections that might there, and then proper grooming on your part would help for sure to insure this doesnt happen again.

CALL YOUR VET, the kitty will get over the visit faster than you will. Just because you get stressed too doesnt mean the kitty shouldnt go. Please for kitty's sake go. If you try this on your own and mess up you will feel horrible.

[Tina B and crew]

mamabear....I have a long hair indoor cat who gets the occasional matt or two in his fur even though I brush him regularly so it isn't necessarily a sign of neglect. I've come to the conclusion that it is partially due to static in the air as Gizmo never got matts when we lived in Florida but gets them at the change of seasons up here, especially going into winter. They almost literally pop up over night. I have him groomed about twice a year now. He is healthy other than hypothyroidism and is on a vet RX'd diet so it isn't his health or diet that is the cause, in this case anyway..


I've also found that not all cats are good groomers. Gizmo was never a big groomer...never, not from the time he was a kitten. He'd rather be doing other things like play or laze around sprawled out on his back...LOL

[mamabear]

TB and crew, Oh i hear ya on this one... I also had long haired kitties as well and know for sure that that hair can be a pain. Just trying to make sure that there is no reason for the lack of grooming on kitties part. And if it is just that he needs extra grooming then that is fine but if not then a vet visit is in order. Specially if she has never done this before and doesnt know what to look for. I always hated when they got matts, there were summers where you would brush and brush and it didnt matter.

My Sassaroo(yes I called her that) was a Torti w/white and she was just beautifully long and she had to be groomed every day to keep up with her hair. I loved doing it and so did my Great Dane but when he started coughing up hair balls I stopped him from doing it. LOL The other cat use to groom her while the bird preened her while she slept. I always had a very funny house. All animals all were great together. LOL