my Matted maine coon Morphy..

[julesradford]

Hi:) I have a 23 pounder called Moprh who doesn't believe in grooming . At All. he's a slob! He will tolerate a quick brushing, but every spring we get into serious problems as he has a dual coat and it matts to form an almost solid felt layer . I can get to his belly as he's a dafty and loves to have it combed but under his armpits and down his sides are a MESS. Last year I paid a ridiculous amount to have him dematted at the vets but this year I can't afford to..and would rather tackle it myself.

Any suggestions?? Currently I try and remove a bit each day but he's NOT good at lying there..as soon as he sees scissors he's off! he's quite a sensiitve soul and I hate upsetting him but he really needs a good shave!!! My husband tends to pop a sock (no kidding) over his head and trims with scissors but it's a slow process and in the meantime he's getting knottier and knottier.

HELP!!!!!!
Juliex
'mum' to Morpheus (maine coon) and Portia (long hair torty who keeps herself immaculate!)

[Sweet]

Sorry I cannot help, hopefully someone here can tho x

[dinahsmum]

Sorry - no experience with fluffies. However, here is a link to a recent discussion http://www.catpages.co.uk/talkcats/showthread.php?t=6679 and I suspect that fluffy owners like Yola and Kay will be around to help you sometime soon.
Good luck!

[Rosie]

I used to have a semi longhaired called Charlie who matted up at least once a year because he would not let you brush him. When they were felted he would actually lie down and let you rip them off a bit like velcrow. He never batted an eyelid. I think what happened was that new fur had grown underneath and the matted hair was just sticking to the new hair not actually still growing.

[yola]

Hmmm. I can't offer too much advise as my persians don't mind brushing (on the whole). And when I do get the occaisonal mat - they will allow me to either comb it out or snip it out!

I think the answer to Morph's problem is to persevere with your 'little and often' routine. If your husband can help you it works better if 2 people are in attendance - and maybe he can distract the mightly Morph whilst you do some serious brushing?? ;)

That's all I can suggest I'm afraid . . . but I wish you lots of luck, it can't be nice for him to be all tangly :(

[ruby]

hi, my sister is a dog groomer ,and she taught me a little, one thing that comes to mind is that the skin under the arm is very delicate, be careful with the scissors, when i had sam 15 from a rescue maine coon cross, i despaired as he was really knotted, but eventually i managed to gently pull one at a time apart, it took time but i got there, i did bath him as well, you can get detangler shampoos , but i dont know if they work

[Samz5]

I'm not experienced with grooming long haired cats, but at the moment I have a cat who because of some artheritis can't groom his rear end (he's 14), hes short haired so I've never had to groom him before and he really hates it when I try and get the matted fur off him.
We are trying to give him some positive association about grooming at the moment, so when I groom him he gets some chicken at the same time, We hope with some time that he'll associate being brushed with getting treats - and enjoy it more!
Maybe you could try this too.

[Booktigger]

My 15 year old hates being groomed, I tried the little and often last year when he was really matted, but he was getting new ones every day - and he is short haired, but has very thick fur. When he went for his yearly blood tests, I got the vet to help - me and the vet nurse held him, and the vet brushed them out for me. Shortly after, I changed his food, and we dont have issues any more, so he doesn't mind being groomed as much cos it doesn't hurt.

[tilly]

I have short haired cats, which can groom themselves for the most part and don't mind the odd brush. But you could try giving him a really tasty treat when you groom him, that he only gets when groomed so that he thinks its a good thing. Not sure if it would work but worth a try. If not try getting your own shaver and seeing if he would tolerate having the worst ones shaved off. He might end up looking a bit bald but it might work. Also cat nip or a relaxing cat spray might help a bit.

Let us knw how it goes.


Sally