HEAVY MATTING

I have a long haired cat of the "Snow Shoe" variety, she is now about 5 or 6 years old.  All of a sudden she startd getting these very heavy mats on her underfur.    This has never happened before now.  I bought a "rake" from Amazon and some spray to help dissolve the mats.  This worked GREAT!  But I wonder why all of a sudden this happened?  I groom her regularly with a wire brush and her sister Peach grooms her, also.    I would like to know why this matting started all of a sudden, particularly since I groom her regularly!

KK

Has she gained weight lately? If so that could make reaching some areas difficult. Sometimes things just change, though. My senior dog never got mats when she was younger but as she's gotten older the texture of her coat has changed some and she's now prone to mats. Other things, like the environment, diet, hormonal changes, etc., can change the coat too. Then of course older cats and cats with health problems sometimes stop caring for their coats as well which could lead to matting.

I switched food, and now Tinky gets some mats on his tummy that he never got before, even though he's still eating a good, low carb wet food.    And he's about the same age as your Snowshoe. 

What's the spray you got on Amazon that helps dissolve the mats?  So far I haven't found anything that really works. 

Can you compare the labels of her new and old foods? Perhaps her previous diet had more of a focus on skin and coat health.

Everything remains the same but I do give my cats a treat (Party Mix) when I have been gone for awhile.  I might be giving them too much.  My other cat, Peach has short hair, so no problem there.   I really APPRECIATE you replying o my post!  Thanks so much.

KK

Hello!   It is called, "Tropiclean" Tangle remover.     I bought the rake, also, the best one they had to offer.     I also used my "baby maniture scissors" the kind of manicure sissors that have a round tip.     I let her sniff around first, both the scissors and the tangle remover.     My Ali loves to be groomed and touched, so it was pretty easy, just messy!    My other cat, Peach does alot of the grooming for both cats, so SHE has a hairball problem.    They are sisters and were raised together and bottle fed together, so they are close!     What would we do without Amazon??!!

KK

Ha! I have a very short-haired cat who would NEVER have a hairball...Except that she grooms EVERYONE! Glad she's not the only one!

My "groomer" is a short haired "ginger" cat.      I am not 100 % sure who is coughing the hairballs.    Those are sur a nuisance!  Luckily I have foudn "Mrs. Meyers" cleaner that gets it right out of th carpet.  All those dyes in cat food really mess up th carpet, but Mrs. Meyers does trick and it smells great!

KK