Grooming a Cat With An Attitude

Originally Posted by georgiagirl8

I was coming in to post with the same problem. Thumper is a maine coon mix. She has a lot of matts on her too but she has a major attitude issue and she's very strong. If she gets you into the "thumpie lock", you ain't getting out! lol. And she doesn't like it when we start messing with her too much, which is why she hasn't been brushed well enough to keep them off of her. We don't want to take her to a groomer because she has such an attitude that she may have to be put to sleep in order for them to do it and I don't want to take that chance because thumpie is old. A friend of ours had to do that and her cat almost didn't wake back up. I'm not willing to chance that. So I don't know what to do. Is there anything we can use to get them out ourselves that won't upset her too much?

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I had posted this as a reply to the thread "matted hair" and no one responded. See, my problem is kind of different since Thumpie is so tempermental. Anyone have any suggestions?

Take her to a vet clinic and have them knock her out. Pay the extra $40 and have a prescreen run to test kidney and liver values. If everything checks out okay she should be fine for sedation and they can shave her down.

What's worse? Her body going through the "stress" of anesthesia, or her going through the stress of being awake while you try to groom her? I'd rather knock my cat out, regardless of age, than struggle and stress them out if they are that serious about not being groomed.

Hmm, I don`t know the answer but I`ve had similar problems with Maisies coat.

Over here there aren`t many cat-groomers so if a cat needs matts removing it is done under sedation at the vets.

Maisie is old too so I don`t want to get her stressed either but she loves to have her cuddles on the bed so we`ve got into a routine where I go in and get under the covers. She comes and lays on top for some fuss and I groom her with a soft brush and Slicker brush until she looks like she`s about to get angry. Stop for a while and let her be. Then after a bit she wants more cuddles so I stroke her face and very carefully run a wide tooth metal comb over her. Sometimes I can only use the comb 3 or 4 times but she`s getting used to it. If I find a matt I can`t comb out over several days then I very carefully cut it off. Always helps to have some chicken handy because when she is mad, she`s really mad.

I don`t know what you`ve tried so I don`t know if that helps any.

Good luck!

I can ONLY brush Ferris' back and a little bit of the sides, and he's a fluffmonster - he starts getting mats when his fur gets too long, and it becomes impossible for me to keep him mat-free under his legs.

He was feral born, and will lash out and make me bleed if I do things he really doesn't like, so last May I had him shaved down for the summer at the vets.

It did WONDERS for him, and he loved the results so much that he became much more loving and cuddly.

There are folks on TCS that will argue and tell you that if you can't groom a long hair you should never own one, but ever cat is different and not every cat will allow you to care for them the way you need to, so I absolutely am in favor of a shave under anesthesia if required.

Once shaved, you have to try to get them more used to the touching and try to get them accustomed to the brushing. I say TRY because that's all you can do with some cats.

My Ginger I can brush her belly and she doesn't like it but submits. Ferris? I'd lose an arm if I tried.

So I agree - give the shaving by the vets office a try - you and your cat will be happier as a result.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

There are folks on TCS that will argue and tell you that if you can't groom a long hair you should never own one, but ever cat is different and not every cat will allow you to care for them the way you need to, so I absolutely am in favor of a shave under anesthesia if required.

Once shaved, you have to try to get them more used to the touching and try to get them accustomed to the brushing. I say TRY because that's all you can do with some cats.

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I'm actually one of those that say that....however, I will allow for certain circumstances like in Ferris' case....

What I really don't like is this example:

Today I bathed/groomed 3 cats at the shop. Two "white" DLH and a black and white DLH.

Obviously the owners care for them to a certain extent. They were all healthy, good weight, bright eyes, pink gums BUT their coats were a MESS! All three had matting problems - not severe but there it was. All three were no longer WHITE! Heavily stained but I had no choice in the matter, all they wanted was standard grooming. Even so, I only managed to get only about 25% of the staining out. Some of the staining will NEVER come out - it had already gone all the way down to the root of the shaft.

To the OP. If you can't get to the mats, go to the vet and get it shaved. Start again slowly so that the cat will know that combing is not a bad thing.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Abymummy

I'm actually one of those that say that....however, I will allow for certain circumstances like in Ferris' case....

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LOL, thanks, Adilah. I know you know how much I love my Ferris, and that I would never, EVER let him get the way you described with your examples. That kind of obvious grooming neglect makes me so sad.

The answers are pretty much the same for a difficult cat as they are for a more docile cat. There is not really an easy way to get mats out except to pull apart gently with the fingers while holding the skin down, picking at them with a comb, or taking your cat to a groomer and have him shaved and then try to establish a regular grooming routine. The problem is that mats are painful. Especially once they get tangled down tight to the skin. So I'd suggest the option of taking him in to a groomer/vet to be shaved and then try to prevent the matting from happening again.