If you look in my profile you'll see my cat Swiper. He's a beauty and his fur's lovely. But he's got a very fine undercoat with his lovely long fur and he mats up terribly. His fur, too, is very fine--it's like touching a mink coat--so soft and silky. Wow..... you just want to keep petting him.

I can brush him a little bit until he decides to start biting the brush and clawing at it too, playfully. He has all his claws and generally is very gentle.

The matting starts unexpectedly very close to the skin and then becomes, sometimes overnight, like a dreadlock. Sometimes I can get him to stay still long enough to cut down the mat, but usually it's too close to the skin for me to get it all.

So how do I deal with a cat with this type of fur? I can't take him to a groomer--I'm a really bad cat owner because he doesn't have all his shots up to date. It's never posed a problem for me because my cats have been all indoor cats. So please don't skewer me on that. My dogs go regularly, just not my cat (and former cats who have lived very long, healthy lives). And all my other cats have been DSH cats and the hair thing has never been a problem.

HELP!! I feel like a TERRIBLE pet owner because I can't stop this matting.

Hi Gazelle,
We found it very difficult to stop the matting in our little Persian. Worst areas were around the tail and down the back of the legs. Particularly difficult in this hot climate of ours. She was totally indoor cat as well but the matting did happen very fast no matter how much we groomed her.

We had this comb that had a rattle in the end of it which helped her relax and play gently as we brushed her. Also helped to give her something to chew on as she lay there. We found it very difficult and the mats do start so close to the skin. I used to wonder if we spent too much time on brushing the soft unmatted area of the coat and should have been paying more attention to those other areas.

A couple of times we did take her to the grooming place and they seemed able to get the matts off just fine, but we also found that the colour of the new growth was different from the rest of her... not that it really mattered. Just an observation. I think it's easier and safer to do it with clippers if the mats can't be teased out with a comb. Scissors are too risky I feel.

I hope to hear advice from other people about how to help the problem.

Thanks, Lara. He doesn't get them where your cat did. His are mainly located on the sides of his body. I even found one or two very small ones starting under his chin area. He has sort of a "ruff."

Maybe clippers would work, but I don't quite know how to get him used to them before I attack his coat. <sigh>

These are really dense mats. As I said, they can form and get to be huge clumps overnight. When you cut them, the hair's so hard underneath the part you cut. Teasing with a comb doesn't work--I've tried--and he won't sit still for that.

I've seen cat muzzles but ouch, the claw part is what gets me. Don't know if I can muzzle him and put booties on him too.
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Where I live you can buy this coat conditioning liquid. It might not get rid of the mats there already but if your cat can deal with a wash, then that might help.

Need full on protective gear on to wash a couple of the kitties I've had. LOL
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Strangely it was the Persian and the Himalayan that were the worst. The moggies didn't mind the occasional wash as much.

I sure do know what you mean.

Gazelle,
I had just logged out of the site here again and getting ready to get to sleep and there was a segment on a tv show here with our "Dr Harry" who is a vet. He was talking about a detangling spray-on agent that means you wouldn't have to totally bathe the cat. Apparently there are natural/organic ones which don't contain harsh chemicals. It won't get rid of the really thick mats that are there already, but it might be worth looking into for the future grooming of your kitty.

good luck with it.

I'll have to check into something like that and see. I don't know how he'd react to getting a bath, but he doesn't seem to really mind water too terribly. He lies in my sink in the bathroom and sometimes I have to run the water on him to get him OUT of it so I can use it. He's crazy.

How I get my animals used to things, clippers, the nail clippers, brushes, etc...

Day 1 - Put the gadet on the floor - off, if it turns on - in front of pet. Pet the pet, tell him how good he is, give him a treat, the closer he gets to the tool, the better he is.

Repeat until he's just treat seeking.

Then he has to let you just touch him with it - still off - for a treat and some loving.

Then, away from pet (he's on one side of you, the tool is on the other) turn it on, let him hear the sound for a few seconds until he just ignores it and looks for the rewards.

Do that a few days until you can get him to just let it near enough to touch him.

When you can bring the tool out and he just lays down, go ahead and try a little clip (not whole body, not worst problem area, just a couple seconds). Reward if he does okay.

If he struggles, do not let him go, hold him there and clip (or what ever) until you get him to resign to it. If you let him go, you lose. He will always see it as a battle. If you keep him till he relaxes and you let go, you win and he will become more and more comfortable with this every time.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's more work to fight with them every time. Often this process only take 3-4 days, but it can take a couple weeks or more with the really stubborn ones and ones you train once they're older.

Wow, they ARE expensive, but did you look at the customer satisfaction rating on Amazon? It's like 4.5 stars for over 1800 people. That's pretty dang good. And they have them on sale right now for 50% off. I'm going to try one. I'll let you know how it works. I ordered the medium one (and got free shipping). That way I can use it on my dogs too.

You're telling ME! Ouch. Gloves would be good. An "I love me" jacket for cats would be even better.

Kitt, that is sad. I had a female who lived for almost 18 years--she was about 1-2 months shy of her birthday. I mourned for quite a while.

Swipes takes care of his nails very well. He's constantly grooming them. I probably should clip them, but he's pretty good about only scratching on his post (or on the carpet).

B2, that's what I'm afraid of. The mats are so close to the skin and I can't tell if I'm grabbing skin and fur or just fur. I'm afraid to trim down too far.

If I gently pull Swiper's hair, I can dislodge the loose stuff. But he doesn't like that either. I do it all the time with my border collies--pull out clumps. My girl border is awesome. She'll sit there and let me pull out fur to my heart's content. And she's so much more comfortable afterwards. But Swipes.... well, I'm not so sure that'll work with him. I DID manage to get one clump up like that, but that was a fluke.

Oh.... and if I pull stuff off him and set it on the floor near me, he quick grabs it and EATS IT!!!
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I DO feed the boy. He gets Natural Balance cat food--why? because he started eating the dog's Natural Balance food and still does. In fact, when I didn't have my dogs for a few days, Swipes sat by their bowls and subtly informed me that he wanted dog food.
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I'm telling ya, he thinks he's a dog.
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That sounds like it might work, Brain. I'm probably going to have to look into a clippers too. And Swipes is STUBBORN. He KNOWS he's being bad, I get close to him and he backs down, but when I turn my back, he goes right back to it. I've given up trying to keep him off counters. Now I just keep him off my kitchen counters when I'm cooking stuff.

I've never had a cat like him. He's VERY Maine Coon-like but I don't think he's a Maine Coon. He just has the personality traits of one.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'll keep you posted on how the Furminator works when I get it.
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My cat also used the scratching post but I still cut his toenails from the time he was a baby.

He also ate dog food if he got the chance and the dog ate cat food if he got the chance
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