Owner of a long haired kitty..knot help!

hiya,
im still getting used to fidget as iv'e only had her a few weeks now and i know she has never been for professional grooming, even though we brush her everyday. today i was brushing her when i noticed what i thought was a huge flat piece of cotton wool, on closer inspection it turns out the cotton was fur and impossible to undo, i don't know what to do as i can't afford to take her the groomers and i was wondering if i should cut out the knot as she has been scratching it a lot...but being quite a big knot it may leave an uneveness in her fur and im not sure what to do. i'm taking her the vet in about a week to be speyed (God bless the thing, she's going through her first heat!) but its quite a while for her and i to wait to sort this out as we really want to get rid of it! help me please! also, when i bought her she had a collar (with a bell if any relevance) but should i remove it? im not sure as she has long hair and this might be the future cause of more knots.
would love some advice as soon as possible, thanx

Have you tried untangling the knot during a bath? Sometimes wet fur is easier to untangle than dry. Otherwise you probably are just going to have to cut the knot. So her fur will be a little uneven--it'll grow back and she'll be more comfortable not chewing at that knot all the time.

If the knot is near her collar, it's possible I guess that her fur could be getting caught in something there and knotting up. I don't know--my cats are short haired and besides they're indoor, so they don't wear collars. If she's an indoor cat, and there's little risk of her getting out, then she probably doesn't need a collar (especially if you don't have an i.d. tag on her). If you do want her to wear a collar then for safety the collar should be breakaway, so if she gets it caught on something it will come off and won't choke her.

ok i will definitely remove the collar, the bell was satrting to get a little annoying anyways!and about the bath..is there any advice for bathing long hair kitties? i know im concerned but she's my first baby and she's my responsibility so naturally im not use to all these new things!

Go to this thread...

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37447

...and scroll down to the post from mzjazz2u. She has a website on there about long hair kitties with some grooming advice, including how to give kitty a bath.

Please don't bathe your kitty before getting the knot out. Take her to a groomer and have them shave the area, they will give her a proper bath after that. The knots can cause real problems with skin disorders and infections too. Persians are notorious for knotted up fur.

i think an investment in getting your kitty to a groomer is a must, definitely do it before going for spaying, the vet will look over any area under the knot and tell you if you need to do anything else.

I too have a longhaired cat, and i know his 'tough' spots by heart. On our weekly groomings, i slightly cut away any fur that I know will become a problem later, it's always on those spots you never see on a cat anyway unless you look closely.
- between hind legs/tummy/britches
- under front arms

I have a persian cat who gets knots sometimes when I miss a spot while brushing him. If your cat has a knot, just one knot, clip it off as long as it isn't too close to the skin, then be careful you don't clip the skin too. When you have the cat spayed, she will be put out for the procedure, you could have the vet clip the knot out then if you aren't comfortable doing it. Sometimes, in the summer, I give my cat a lion haircut. But only if it gets real bad. With a persian or longhair cat, you are going to have to get used to brushing daily, clipping knots out, and you can even buy a professional shaver for cats. I found one at the thrift store that works just fine. Good luck.