Grooming a Longhair

My cat, Meeko, is a longhair Himalayan, is about 10 years old now and we're have trouble brushing him. He's never liked us brushing him, he always thinks it's a game and swats at us at the brush. Lately he's got some really bad mats that have made him cry out in discomfort. One time he ran across the room and suddenly rolled on his back trying to bite the mats, then he'd spring up and try and bite them again. When he finally got ahold of his mat he shake it like a dog playing tug-a-war. We tried cutting some of it off with safety scissors but he'd get so mad he'd swat at us and run away. Now he's scared of the scissors.
By clipping little bits at a time of a 2-week period, we've got most of them off and he's in no discomfort at all now. But we want to get the rest off. Do you have any suggestions how to? Also, does anybody have any suggestions how to make grooming time easier for Meeko and for us to groom him more successfully?
Your help would be greatly appriciated. Thank you!

First of all, you never use a brush to groom a longhair cat. Always use several combs - wide tooth, medium and small toothed. Brushing does nothing and as you found out, your cat's coat gets matted very easily.

I would start by taking him to a professional groomer to get all mats out and have a new start. If he's too badly matted, they may have to do a shaving job but the coat will then grow out and you can start over. Then you will have to create a grooming routine - probably a minimum of 3 times a week. Have the groomer or someone that knows how to groom a longhair cat show you how to do it.

Having a longhair cat and watching friends do their persians, I know pretty much how to groom them.

First start with the head and ruff and gently comb to the skin. Then work on the back, sides and tail, leaving the tummy for last. You might only get part done on one day, but set a time to work on getting the entire coat groomed. You should start with the widest toothed comb working your way down to the finer toothed (the wide and medium on the body; the finer on the head, ruff and legs) Make sure you get the mats out before they get too bad.

Your cat should not be telling you when its done - that is YOUR job to start and stop. Right now he protests cause it does hurt from the mats. As you get used to things it will become easier and faster to groom and your cat will learn to tolerate or even enjoy it.

Gives a treat at the end to show him that good things come after grooming.

Ok. Thank you for your advice. We worked on it again last night and he was surprisingly calm. We've almost got the mat all the way out (there is very little left). It's also hard to groom his stomach as he doesn't like being touched there at all (although some times he allows me to if he's in a really good mood). Also, he's badly allergic to treats but I might give him a little catnip if he's been good and I'll be sure to give him alot of attention and pet him after a job well done.
Oh, and also, I didn't know about the combs. We always had a couple combs for him a while ago but they didn't seem to work that great so we got a brush. I'll be sure to look for some good combs next time we're in a pet store though. Thank you for all of you help. It helps me alot. Thanx!

I brush Prego every day. About twice a year, he sheds and gets mats and then I let the groomer take care of it. She is extremely good with him.

It took a long time for Prego to get used to being brushed when we got him, but now he enjoys it. He purrs and purrs. He has overstimulation agression, though, so sometimes he swipes at me when I stop brushing him. Sometimes he'll give me the "warning meow." In that case I stop and come back later because the warning meow means if you don't stop, he is going to scratch you. Mostly he's a very good boy, though.

Also, I only do Prego's stomach when he's standing up. It's much harder for him to try to scratch if he's standing.

The best combs for Persians are wide toothed metal combs.

about once a year, usually in the summer, we get our long-haired Ragdoll Blueberry shaved. This gives her a break from the difficult task of grooming herself, and gives her a brand new beautiful coat of fur. When she gets shaved she loves it! She is much more energetic for a few weeks, and I know she feels a bit relieved. For the rest of the year she gets brushed/combed every night. The most difficult is her belly, and sometimes I need help to hold her in one place. But it is worth it.

When I brush Prego's tummy, I sometimes hold him up a little, so his paws can't quite touch the ground. It's harder for him to run that way

Brushes have their places in grooming long haired cats. Combs are best for getting the tough spots but a brush will fluff and get more dead fur out after combing. Haven't met a groomer or show cat owner yet that said never use a brush!

Well in all the years I've shown cats (over 20) I've never seen a persian owner use a brush in the show hall They always have various size combs.

We use brushes at home but never in a show hall - gotta use combs then.

I use a Zoom Groom on my 2 longhaired cats.

Snickers has long flowing hair, very bushy tail, thick beard. I brush him pretty much every day, all over, to avoid those awful hairballs.

He loves to be groomed, though, he actually sits by his Zoom Groom and waits!

The Zoom Groom isn't a brush or a comb, it's got little rubber nubs on it that catches the hair & does very well. No pain involved for him and fun for me.