To bathe...or not to bathe.....

I Just adopted my first long haired cat (my others are short & medium hair) and I'm discovering a world of difference, so I have a few questions:
1) she's 18 months and I'm not sure if she was ever professionally groomed (or groomed at home). How traumatic to her would it be to bring her to have a professional do it at this age? It will be a while before we do this because she currently has URI, but her coat is a mess - it's dull and knotted in some places and she now has food matted in it from my unsuccessful syringe feedings (don't worry - I took care of the most important thing first - she's seen a vet for her cold). I would just like her to get a good clean start once she feels better, but don't want to traumatize her anymore. How long should I wait after she feels better?
2) I've found that when she uses her littler box, she winds up wetting on her fur as well - do folks usually have the hair back there clipped or shaved or something? She uses the litter box like my others, but she just has too much hair and it always gets in her fur and she doesn't like how it feels either.
Thanks

I am not really sure about this but I would probably try to bathe her first myself to see how she reacted. If she is aggressive you will probably have to find a vet/groomer who can handle aggressive cats. If she does ok then I would just take her to a groomer. I do have my persian shaved. When he is shaved he doesnt have to go to the groomer as often.

If you can find one of those groomers with a mobile van that comes to the house, I'd use them. Talk to the groomers and let them know about the cat's circumstances. If the fur is badly matted, then its better to let a professional shave the cat down and let the fur regrow.

As its growing out, establish a grooming routine so it won't happen again. You'll need a wide, medium and fine width (teeth) comb for longhairs. Also if the cat is having problems with the litter box, it won't hurt at all to keep that area under the tail/back legs trimmed shorter.


Also you cannot wash the cat until all the mats are out of the coat.