matted fur
 

Billy and Lily are getting lumps of tangled fur on their undersides. They
are beyond combing and brushing out, and I'm scared to try to cut them off.
They seem to trust me enough but I don't trust myself. Who can tell me the
safest procedure? I don't want it to get any worse than it is.

"Pat" wrote in message
...
Billy and Lily are getting lumps of tangled fur on their undersides. They
are beyond combing and brushing out, and I'm scared to try to cut them
off.
They seem to trust me enough but I don't trust myself. Who can tell me the
safest procedure? I don't want it to get any worse than it is.


Pat, truly my best suggestion if it is that bad is to have a groomer or vet
shave those mats out because if they're that bad you run the risk of cutting
them by accident and their skin is very thin -- trust me, I never felt so
bad as when I did that very thing to my elderly long-haired cat, Shetra
(RB), using cuticle scissors, and then had to get 2 stitches put in at the
vet's. Once the bad mats are shaved off you can work on keeping them combed
with a pretty neat comb that I found at Petsmart -- it has rotating tines so
you can actually loosen the mats with less pulling on their fur -- a slicker
brush has also been useful. However, I was warned by a groomer to never try
using those de-matting blade cutters that they also sell at Petsmart and
other places -- these look like curved razor blade-like combs with
handles -- apparently unless you really know how to use them you can cut the
cat with those by accident, too.

Hope this helps,
Christine

in article , Pat at
wrote on 1/5/05 9:35 PM:

Billy and Lily are getting lumps of tangled fur on their undersides. They
are beyond combing and brushing out, and I'm scared to try to cut them off.
They seem to trust me enough but I don't trust myself. Who can tell me the
safest procedure? I don't want it to get any worse than it is.


You need to get at them before they get too close to the skin. Use round
tipped scissors and be very very careful. I would think you would need
someone to hold them while you worked. However, I will say we always left
the underneath ones for a groomer or vet to shave off.

Pat wrote:

Billy and Lily are getting lumps of tangled fur on their undersides. They
are beyond combing and brushing out, and I'm scared to try to cut them off.
They seem to trust me enough but I don't trust myself. Who can tell me the
safest procedure? I don't want it to get any worse than it is.

After trying that once with Tigrita (one of my long ago
cats), I leave all such "surgery" to the vet (or a
professional groomer).

The fact that she yelled when I clipped at the mats didn't
mean much - she'd scream bloody murder when I changed her
flea collar. There were several very bad mats on her tummy,
so I started clipping - evidently I must have nicked her
side with the point of the scissors - not visibly, at the
time. Hwever, she indignantly exited through the pet door,
and when she returned a while later, she had licked it into
a huge gaping wound on her side - which required stitches
and a "belly bandage" (which drove her nuts). After
absorbing the vet bills for THAT, it seemed cheaper (and
much easier on the cat) to just let the vet handle the mats,
instead.

If you're not confident with cutting them out yourself VERY VERY
CAREFULLY then I would invest in seeing a groomer

We once had a cat come in for some sort of surgery. I came in and the
cat was quite shaved and there were lacerations all over its body. I
asked the doctor what had caused them and she said,

"This cat's owner tried to cut out the mats with scissors"

yeeks.....

Don't mean to scare you really but if you're really really careful you
might be able to take care of it. But personally, I would let a
groomer handle it. I've brushed cats that have been so matted that I
just reach for the trimmers.


Kristi

I just spent a long time on the project. It's not as difficult as I
originally thought it would be. Of course the fact that both of these
kitties love to fall asleep on their backs spread-eagled helps alot. First I
taught myself to feel the difference between matted fur and skin by pinching
with my fingertips. At first it was trial and error with help from the cat
letting me know when I was pinching something that has nerves in it! Then I
learned how to slowly slowly cut without waking kitty up. This was crucial
because the moment kitty wakes up kitty wants to grab hold of the scissors
and play with them.

I can't believe how fine their belly fur is. Nothing else like it in the
world with the possible exception of angora rabbit fur.

Pat wrote:
I can't believe how fine their belly fur is. Nothing else like it in
the world with the possible exception of angora rabbit fur.

Isn't it sweet? I adore rubbing Persia's soft belly. She used to grab my
hand and bunny-kick me when I tried to do that (and she still has her back
claws! OUCH). Now she just lays back and purrs :)

Jill

in article , Pat at
wrote on 1/6/05 1:18AM:

I just spent a long time on the project. It's not as difficult as I
originally thought it would be. Of course the fact that both of these
kitties love to fall asleep on their backs spread-eagled helps alot. First I
taught myself to feel the difference between matted fur and skin by pinching
with my fingertips. At first it was trial and error with help from the cat
letting me know when I was pinching something that has nerves in it! Then I
learned how to slowly slowly cut without waking kitty up. This was crucial
because the moment kitty wakes up kitty wants to grab hold of the scissors
and play with them.

I can't believe how fine their belly fur is. Nothing else like it in the
world with the possible exception of angora rabbit fur.


Wow. Good kitties! That will be an ideal time to comb them too to prevent
matts.

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 04:29:04 -0600, "jmcquown"
yodeled:

Pat wrote:
I can't believe how fine their belly fur is. Nothing else like it in
the world with the possible exception of angora rabbit fur.

Isn't it sweet? I adore rubbing Persia's soft belly. She used to grab my
hand and bunny-kick me when I tried to do that (and she still has her back
claws! OUCH). Now she just lays back and purrs :)

Jill


I stick my face in Stinky's. You would too, if you ever saw him on
his back. He's a very non-aggressive, non-defensive kind of guy, so
he just kind of grabs onto my head with his front and back paws and
looks confused (I've been told by onlookers ;))

He's very proud of his big, blindingly white belly. ;) When he's
lounging around on a bed or on his favorite hassock, sometimes I will
just yell to him "SHOW ME THE BELLY!" and he flips right over. ;)


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Pat wrote:

Billy and Lily are getting lumps of tangled fur on their undersides. They
are beyond combing and brushing out, and I'm scared to try to cut them off.
They seem to trust me enough but I don't trust myself. Who can tell me the
safest procedure? I don't want it to get any worse than it is.

I think that the only way I will ever again trim a knot in a cat's fur
is to slip a large-tooth comb between the skin and the knot. Then I
cut the fur above the comb. If there's still a little tangle, it can
usually be combed out.

My poor little Persian, Roxy, didn't even whimper when one time she
lost some skin as I thought I was cutting fur, but was really cutting
loose skin. (It still makes me physically ill when I think of it!)
Cats are a loose skinned animal and it can be so difficult to tell.

Regards and Purrs,
O J