Is there an easy way to de-mat a cat?

Hi! So I've had this cat about 8 months, she's approx 8 years old, no tail, thick almost double coat like a british shorthair. She keeps herself well groomed and lets me comb her from time to time but has only recently let me pet/massage her all over. Anyway, while petting her this evening I noticed that the area over her left rump is quite matted - she quite patiently let me brush the area and then use a wide tooth comb but they weren't doing much for the mats - tried the narrower tooth comb but she got quite cranky with me. Any suggestions - would wetting the area with a washcloth help?

Please don't suggest taking her to a groomer as when she is in the car she soils herself and drools/vomits. Car rides are strictly for important vet visits only. Any advice appreciated - thanks!

First of all,do not wet it. It will make it worse. If you can't get her to a groomer or you don't have a mobile groomer to come to your home, you can try corn starch baby powder on it. Shake it on liberally and gently work it in, then starting at the farthest spot from the skin, use the comb or your fingers to tease mat apart. Try to hold the base of the mat when you do this. When mat free, comb completely down to the skin when grooming. With a coat like you described I would never brush since the brush doesn't't really get into the bottom layer of the coat. They look good on the top but are felted underneath. Good luck. With my couple of Persians that are impossible to comb(turn into tornadoes with claws and teeth) I just shave
down myself.

I have a persian who, being older now is not keeping herself mat free anymore, so what I am unable to work out I use a hairdresser's straight razor and with a short swipe downward, close to her skin will work it out that way.

The key here though is to make sure the razor is held at such a slant that it's almost laying flat up against her body, only slightly raising the non razored edge a bit so there's not much room for error.

It also won't leave a missing clump of fur like it does if it's cut off by scissors either. Much better blended look.

I've never been able to remove fur matting on my own. From my experience, the cats I've tried with have squirmed too much that it made me nervous. I actually had my vet do it for me, so if you're due for a visit anyway, that would be a good thing to ask. There was no extra charge for me. They just shaved it off with an electric trimmer.

I used to have a British shorthair with an amazingly thick coat an an aversion to being groomed much, even by me. When his mats got really bad I would take a pair of *curved* nail scissors and cut the mats out as close as I dared. I would make sure that the points of the scissors were curving up towards me. Usually that would work.

My current British shorthair (the other one's litter mate...lost the brother to chf a year ago) is more tolerant of grooming but does still have occasional problems and objects to the more intensive grooming needed to free the mats. Yesterday I gave him some catnip treats for the 1st time and he allowed me to remove loads of small mats with a slicker style brush (the only sort I have found to work with matting). I think he was so high he didn't care, and really enjoyed the whole process!

The only other thing I've found to work is to use a slicker brush for literally 30 secs at a time, focus on one mat at a time and very gradually loosen and remove them over a couple of weeks.

I agree with catwoman707 that bald patches from cut in clumps out is not a good look, but I'd be too scared of accidentally cutting the cat with the razor blade to try that method. I am a wuss in that respect though...was too scared to clip my pony for years in case I cut her by mistake!

A word of caution about using scissors on a cat. The skin is very elastic. If you must use scissors I suggest slipping a comb between the skin and the mat and clip on the mat side of the comb. A breeder friend of mine rescued a Persian cat that required many stitches because the person who relinquished her had tried to cut the mats out. It is best to go to a groomer if possible me.

I should say that when I have cut mats out with scissors I've never gone really close to the skin like in shaving. I find that if you leave maybe half an inch of mat then it becomes much easier to work what's left free. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression - I'd never want to risk cutting my cat by mistake!

Thanks for the replies so far. I've been trying to gently tease out the mats while she's sleeping and using scissors to cut the end of the mat out - which does make it easier. I'm not too bothered if it looks a little strange but it's really only a few mats and in just such a small area - over her left rump - next vet visit I will ask him to shave the mats out and also to see if she has pain there or in her neck to see why she isn't grooming that small bit of herself. I wonder if it has something to do with her spine as she has no tail?