Mats?
 

My male cat, who is 15, has longish hair and it is prone to getting
mats. This year is especially bad and he's getting a bit testy with me
as I try to deal with them.

He's never really been a fan of brushing or combing - unlike my mother's
cat who INSISTS on at least five or six brushings a day - so for the
last while, I've actually had the best results by plucking out the mats.
I just pull them out slowly but firmly. He rarely protested to that in
the past and it worked fairly well.

Now, however, he is giving me warning nips - nothing to break the skin -
if I try to pull out some mats.

I'm wondering if I should acquire one of those electric groomers and
deal with the mats that way?

I did try scissors in the past but I inadvertently cut too close one
time. It left a hole the size of a quarter and scared me because it was
probably three weeks before it even began to scab; I thought it was
never going to heal. I really don't want to repeat that experience.

Would an electric groomer be safe in that sense? Or is it easy to cut
too close and break the skin with those too? I've never tried a groomer
and certainly don't want to hurt him.

Otherwise, I may have to get the vet to do it....

--
Rhino

Mats?
 

Rhino wrote:

Would an electric groomer be safe in that sense? Or is it easy to cut
too close and break the skin with those too? I've never tried a
groomer and certainly don't want to hurt him.

That's what I used on my calico this year. But the blade probably needs
sharpening. Next year we will be ready with a sharp blade for her very
fine long hair. Naturally cutting their hair also helps reduce furballs,
that's what we are doing it for. I plan to whack it off like she were a
sheep once per year before summer.

Mats?
 

On Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 1:18:37 PM UTC-5, Rhino wrote:
My male cat, who is 15, has longish hair and it is prone to getting
mats. This year is especially bad and he's getting a bit testy with me
as I try to deal with them.

He's never really been a fan of brushing or combing - unlike my mother's
cat who INSISTS on at least five or six brushings a day - so for the
last while, I've actually had the best results by plucking out the mats.
I just pull them out slowly but firmly. He rarely protested to that in
the past and it worked fairly well.

Now, however, he is giving me warning nips - nothing to break the skin -
if I try to pull out some mats.

I'm wondering if I should acquire one of those electric groomers and
deal with the mats that way?

I did try scissors in the past but I inadvertently cut too close one
time. It left a hole the size of a quarter and scared me because it was
probably three weeks before it even began to scab; I thought it was
never going to heal. I really don't want to repeat that experience.

Would an electric groomer be safe in that sense? Or is it easy to cut
too close and break the skin with those too? I've never tried a groomer
and certainly don't want to hurt him.

Otherwise, I may have to get the vet to do it....

--
Rhino

This method takes some patience but I use a seam ripper to remove mats from my cats if I can't comb them out easily. I pinch the base of the mat and run the seam ripper through the mat several times and it combs out. My cats have never minded this because they don't feel much - my pinch prevents any tugging on the roots. The seam ripper breaks up the mat. Just be careful to keep the pointy end angled away from the cat. I have never poked my cats but I have poked myself! I might have learned this trick on this board - it was a long time ago though.