Thread: Matted fur

hi Danny - oh poor baby with his matted fur! must hurt like hell, because it pulls on the tender skin...
what I find when mine has matted fur:
it does happen but normally it's manageable - and it's usually in parts where her fur is greasier - mine tolerates a bath quite well, so once I got that area under control I bathe her or just wash that area with cat shampoo. May be changing his diet might also help in the future, if his coat is a bit greasier in parts.
MCs are normally not so fearful of water. If you haven't already done it, here's what I do: I run a bath when she's not in the room (the noise would spook her and I want her calm) - about 10cm in the bathtub - I have all the shampoo ready and also towels ready for when she comes out - I read somewhere that cats have a temperature slightly higher than ours but I still don't dare make it as hot as for me - so about 38 degrees celsius (sorry if you are in the US you'll have to translate into Farenheit) then I lower her in there. She is not exacly keen on staying in, so she does try to get out a bit, but really it's not a big struggle like with other cats, you shouldn't have to wear oven mitts ;-) - shampoo, then rinse very well. Then wrap him up in a towel, dry him as much as you can and set him down in the hottest spot in the house so he doesn't catch a cold and let him do the rest. And then brush him again when he's done, I think, if you can...

Also, instead of pulling on the knots to untangle them, I have my trusty pair of scisors to cut out the knots before they become unmanageable. It does lead to some pretty funny situations because as soon as she sees the scisors she runs, so I have to be sneaky. Which tells me that even with scisors it does hurt her a bit. So I can imagine how it must be with the brush...
Also, even though he protests, I would try to get him used to be brushed when he's not tangled (if not already done of course) to make friends with the brush, and give him a brushing every day if you don't already do that - at first he might not like it but he'll soon find it's not at all that unpleasant if there are no knots...

there - that's my two cents - but there are people much more experienced than me here who may have something to add or correct? :-)

hey and do put some pics of your furry here :-) what's his name?