Hi there,

I have a 12 month old blue persian and a 9 month old black persian, both seem to have different hair types. My blue persian seems to develop knots and matts just by looking at her. She spends all day outside and sleeps inside at night. My black boy does not seem to get knots at all. we try to brush / comb (Suisha) the blue persian every other day, yet still matts appear all over her. We shaved her stomach to get rid of alot of the matts, but they still seem to appear on her legs and sides. I am desperatley after any advice on how to avoid these mats in the fisrt place, I have a matt splitter which helps but Susiha is not very tolerant when grooming her, she seems to have sensitive skin when you pull at her knots, she gets very distressed and tries to bite us. PLease help me make grooming time a pleasant experience for the both of us.

Thank you.

Bec.

Hi Rebecca, I also have a Persian who gets matted up without even moving. He tolerates his back and his face being combed out but anywhere else forget it. He's not difficult about it he just growls and yowls and makes me feel bad.:(

I have a couple different combs for him one of which is an undercoat rake. I found it helps in big sections where there isn't any knots and it is a big help in getting all the loose fur out from his coat. I also have a flea comb that I use to tease any mats apart and away from his skin so pulling them out doesn't hurt. I have a comb that I use that has long and short prongs on it for general combing in smaller sections and a regular brush to smooth everything out.

I've found the easiest way to get mats out is to grasp the mat at the base so your fingers are between the skin and the hair. I then use the comb and slowly break it apart until there's nothing to it or it's small enough to pull out. I would never use scissors though, I'm too afraid he'd move and I'd cut him.

Also a couple times a year I have him shaved into a lion cut and he seems to love it. He becomes more active and social with the other cats and he never needs a combing.