long hair cat's fur matting

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

yes, as he gets older it gets worse.

Yes, as cats get older they can't bend to reach all their spots as much anymore.
Also....if a cat is FAT they won't be able to groom themselves well either- they can't bend in half!
I know several people with obese cats who have short hair and tons of matted fur and they also smell....because they can't clean themselves anymore- too FAT.

[Aggie_Ama]

Eeek! My kitty is medium fur, it is so soft I figured all I had to worry about is hair balls. It isn't coarse like some longer haired kitties, will it still matt? I have only had one long hair cat (a manx with a full tail) and he never matted. My schnauzer matts badly so now she gets a summer clip year round.

[spokewench]

My Big Kitty is part Maine Coon. Great cat; but hair has always been a problem. He likes being brushed and I used a brush like the one shown above for years; but still it came down to the fact that you could not keep him from matting at certain times a year. I took to having him groomed in the fall and the spring and this would keep most mats out; with some brushing on the side done by me.

Big Kitty is 23 going on 24 now; and this year, his fur was really matted down low against his body; small mats, not big ones you could comb out; and it is hard on him to be pulled on to have the groomer remove the mats. So, we bit the bullet and gave him a shave. He looks funny, but he is much easier to take care of and no mats. The funny thing that we found out though was that his fur, he is a mixture of white and black tipped tabby, is chocolate brown on the underside and only tipped with grey and black on the ends; so now he is a short haired chocolate brown cat with white. He's been shaved for a couple of months now and no black has appeared yet!

spoke

[Tuckervill]

My cat is not fat. The vet said he was BIG, though I never thought that. I guess I was just used to his size. I've had him since he was a kitten and I've never had him groomed. I don't know how he would react to that.

I just found out that one of my son's three cats has become a diabetic. I thought it was going to be the old fat rolly-polly one, but it's the young skinny one! The fat one, Sadie, can be one of those cats who doesn't clean herself well enough, and gets to stinking. They put her on weight control food and she's much smaller, but still overweight.

I guess I'll give the groomers a call.

Karen

[Karma007]

The only solution for my maine coon was a spring shave. He hated the actual event, but was so happy afterwards. You could scratch him right down to the skin and he loved it.

[Biciclista]

Eeek! My kitty is medium fur, it is so soft I figured all I had to worry about is hair balls. It isn't coarse like some longer haired kitties, will it still matt? I have only had one long hair cat (a manx with a full tail) and he never matted. My schnauzer matts badly so now she gets a summer clip year round.

yes, my fine haired medium haired cat had mats as he got older, and was very traumatized by my attempts to get rid of them.

[Aggie_Ama]

Thanks Mimi. Maybe since she is kinda a baby (1 year) I should start brushing her now. I didn't do that with my dog and it is a nightmare to brush her.

[Biciclista]

brush the cat now when she doesn't need it. be very careful and watch her body language. the minute she doesn't like it anymore;stop. try to stop while she's still enjoying it. Treats should follow a good brush session.
if she attacks you, even if she's right (because you pulled her hair), tell her no, but don't be harsh. When she's 10 or 12, at least then she won't have a bad attitude.

[redrhodie]

I was hoping the grooming spray would be the answer, but it's not solving the problem. I have managed to get him mat free due to daily brushing, combing, and cutting, but every morning, I go on mat patrol, and there's always at least one new one lurking deep.

Maybe the spray is helping the brush get down deeper into his coat, but it's not helping break up the mat once it's formed. Since I can't give it a good review, I won't mention the brand. It also makes him smell really pretty, which I hate. His natural scent is unoffensive, and I'm missing that. I can smell him coming now. He smells like a lady coming from the beauty parlor. He hates it, too. He makes the face when he sees the bottle. Poor little guy.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Maybe the spray is helping the brush get down deeper into his coat, but it's not helping break up the mat once it's formed. Since I can't give it a good review, I won't mention the brand. It also makes him smell really pretty, which I hate. His natural scent is unoffensive, and I'm missing that. I can smell him coming now. He smells like a lady coming from the beauty parlor. He hates it, too. He makes the face when he sees the bottle. Poor little guy.

Ewww!!

I think the quick daily combing here and there does more than anything to prevent the mats from forming. I think you just had a lot of catching up to do and if you do a little every day it will only get better and better. Don't forget you are still brushing out lots of hairs that are already shed (maybe that were shed long ago even) but are just hanging around deep in his fur. Once you get caught up on that there will be less tendency to knot next to the skin. At least that's what i found with mine over the years.