Long haired cat has dread locks!! help please?

LOTTOWINNER

"My" cat is not fully domesticated and spends most of her time outside, she wasn't handled until she was about 3 months old, she is reasonably friendly but if you try to lift her when she doesn't want to be lifted she will let you know her displeasure.
The problem is she has matted fur on various parts of her body, it feels like lumps, mostly on the neck area, I was thinking of shaving her when the weather improves, although she wouldn't be very happy about it, me thinks!!

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to get rid of them?

anniehoo

Ooooh this isn't going to be as easy as just shaving her unfortunately. Well it is, but the shaving part wont be as easy as you think.If she already has matted areas no amount of grooming is going to fix it. Not many well socialised cats will let you shave them let alone a half socialised one, so you may have to go down the route of sedation and a professional groom unfortunately.

Will she stand still for any length of time and let you brush her? If you can get this far then do this daily (only brushing) for about 2 weeks until she associates this with being pleasurable, then try and isolate the mats and work up to the shaving.

If it was me, id get her professionally done this time then start working on a positive grooming routine with her from then on. As ya know mats left for too long will start pulling on the skin and hurt. They will also make the skin unhygienic and potentially hide any underlying skin issues/lumps etc

kiffer

I have had good luck snipping matts out of cat hair with a scissors. It was a blunt tipped one so that I wouldnt stab the cat if she struggled.
I snipped the mat off about 1cm from the skin and then later it made the matted fur easier to work loose... but she was a docile cat that didnt mind being handled.

Rochester

If you can break up the knots with your hands by pulling the strands apart, you might be able to either cut or comb. Be very very careful with a scissors, their skin is very very fine.

LOTTOWINNER

Thanks for all the advice, she does let me brush/comb her, so I'm hoping she will co-operate, I would get her down professionally if it didn't involve transporting her in a cat box, as she is very nervous and gets extremely distressed when boxed in, it was bad enough when I got her neutered so I would prefer to avoid it if possible.
By the way, her name is Lucky!!

boomerang

There is a great little mat splitter by Mikki that cuts mats effortlessly so that you can gently pull them out. It's just the right size for cats and costs about a fiver.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/cat-grooming-cat-grooming-rakes-c-1133_1135/mikki-matt-splitter-p-8676

Irish Stones

My vet once told me that a good way to prevent these matts is that after you snipped them off you have to brush the fur of the cat with talcum powder, regularly, say once a week.
The fur will stay soft and it won't ruffle again.
And it's true

lorebringer

Most cats won't let anyone poke at them for any long period of time without getting a bit peed off. Try brushing/cutting the mats for short bursts to see how you get on. After this you will need to get the cat to a vet for sedation. Long haired cats do get matted if not regularly brushed (and even if they are they can still become matted out of nowhere!) and vets are very used to seeing them for sedation for a groom (it can be very tricky for all involved without!). The stress of the cat box can be reduced by informing the vet what you need done so they can see her asap when you get there and making the period of time between you putting her in the box and the vet knocking her out as quick as possible.

fleabag

One of my cats has always had this problem, She doesn't like being handled much either so I bribe her with cat treats or tuna and then snip away at any dreadlocks I can reach. Even if they're large, if you keep snipping bits off they eventually do become easier and easier, plus it takes any weight out that might be pulling on the skin. I also have a pet shaver that I use just to cut away the fur around the dreadlocks and sometimes she then licks them herself and pulls them out or they seem to detach themselves and are easier to cut off.

I have it in check now, have a good rummage when I'm stroking her and if I find any little ones, out with the scissors and trim away before they get too big.

cuckoo

fleabag wrote: »

I have it in check now, have a good rummage when I'm stroking her and if I find any little ones, out with the scissors and trim away before they get too big.

Me too with my fluffmonster cat. Doesn't matter how often I brush her, little tangles and matts spontaneously appear.