All of a sudden, my 5 year old maine coon Sean started to get really greasy fur and grew dreadlocked clumps near the base of his tail/flanks/his butt. On the advice of my vet I bought some cat food that advertised omega 3 (or 5 or 6 or whatever) fatty acids. After eating this for a while, the greasy feeling has gone away completely. Now, should I cut out these clumps? Shave them out? (my beard trimmer is useless against his dense fur, I've tried...) Or take him in for a complete haircut? He normally has such a thick, luxurious coat, that I hate to have it all patchy and crappy looking if I cut out the clumps. Then again it's getting colder and he loves to hang out on the balcony, so I dont really want to take his entire fur coat. He did get shaved once before when he had a skin fungus, looked like a panther 'till he got fluffy again. What would you do?
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fur clumps on maine coon
- Thread starter jaws808
- Start Date
See if you can comb the clumps out - start by using your hands only, no comb and the use the combination of hand and comb. If that fails use a very good pair of hairdressing scissors. Don't cut across the matt, cut along the matt - detangle if you will.
Continue combing in sections until it's all done.
If all else fails send to a groomer.
Hope this helps.
Continue combing in sections until it's all done.
If all else fails send to a groomer.
Hope this helps.
This is good advise. As was said though, don't cut across the mat because it is too easy to cut that paper thin layer of skin. If it is just around the back of his tail and butt, then you may get away with just shaving the private area. I had a cat that tended to get poop clumped up around her butt so I had to do the "sanitary shave" on her. If you have a professional groomer do it, they should be able to do it so it's not real clumpy. Just ask to have the private area shaved. You may want to keep it that way all the time if it looks decent. It will work well to keep the mats away too.
Frankie get's butt dreads too. In fact she has some I need to work out this weekend. I never knew about the cutting w/ it instead of across though. I know their skin if VERY fragile but neither of mine struggle when I'm trimming them so I've never had a problem.
It's not so much that the skin is cut because the cat struggles (although that does put them at high risk) but it's more because the skin just gets cut or rips so easily period. Especially if the mats are really close to the skin.
