Matted fur

alf

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My cat has very bad matted fur. She has it all over her back and I can't seem to get rid of it. I brush her once in a while but they keep coming back. About a year and a half ago we got her mats shaved but they came back. Is there any easy way to get rid of them?
 

kittenkiya

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Nope. I have had to cut mine out of the cats, they wion't put up with being shaved. I have a Maine Coon cross and I have never seen a coat mat up so fast in all my life. I would have to brush him for two hours everyday, just to keep it clear.

Have you noticed any dry skin near the mats?
 
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alf

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About the dry skin thing I am pretty sure I have seen it and it looks like bad dandruff.
 

kittenkiya

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That has been driving me nuts for about a year. I've changed the food, I've added butter, olive oil, any kind of safe additive to help with the coat. It's finally down to just where the mats are, but of course, that's on the back, right where you can see it. I was just wondering if it was just KittenKiya's fault. The rest of the coat shines like a neon light bulb.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by ALF

My cat has very bad matted fur. She has it all over her back and I can't seem to get rid of it. I brush her once in a while but they keep coming back. About a year and a half ago we got her mats shaved but they came back. Is there any easy way to get rid of them?
The only way to stop them coming back is to comb her everyday, if it's really badly matted you may have to get her shaved again, then comb everyday.
 

goldenkitty45

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A brush won't get mats out. You'll have to shave her again and then get several combs - wide-toothed, medium-toothed and fine-toothed and use them every day to keep the mats out.
 

jen

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once the mattes are out, a zoom groom every day or so helps remove the undercoat which should cut down on mattes.
 

mzjazz2u

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Once the mats are out it will only take a couple minutes of combing daily to keep them out. If your cat is long haired, a zoom groom will not take out enough of the thicker undercoat or the top coat to prevent matting. At least that has been my experience with my Persian cats. Keeping the coat in a soft condition also helps although many people do not like to bathe their cats. But it works very well. Once every month or two with a conditioning cat shampoo usually is plenty. Please don't use anything with Tea Tree Oil in it. Sometimes bathing is necessary for some cats coats. Just makes it much more managable.
 
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