I work at an emergency clinic and believe it or not we’ve seen cats on emergency for severe matting. Sometimes the matts are so bad the poop gets stuck on their butt eventually constipating them. When we sedate and shave these guys to clean them up they often have really sore inflammed bottoms with skin infections. Other times they present with behavior problems that the owner assumes is pain related (which it is) and on examining we find the animal so matted that it can’t walk without the matts pulling on its skin, and sometimes they also have skin infections underneath. We always sedate or completely anesthetize for these clips and use a 10 blade so they at least have a light coat of fuzz left. Once they wake up and get over the embarrassment they are new cats, all happy and sweet.
I haven’t tried the furminator but I planned on ordering one this week. I just noticed one of my cats has a big matt on his back that he gets from time to time. He’s not obese so I’m not sure why he can’t groom himself there. I also have one long haired cat that gets matts. All the short-haired cats love to get brushed, the long haired hates it but I figured I’d give the furminator a try anyway.
Mo will get over his upset and embarrassment soon and feel lighter and happier.
I’ve mentioned before how every few years I have a client (typically a little old lady type) who brings in her cat, and says, “I need to get my pussy shaved”. Try handling that line with a straight face.
(my cat-related guilty pleasure: spraying them with water and watching them run around all freaked out. Star’s the best, cuz he’ll just run circuits around the apartment. I am an evil woman.)
You want real fun, put little pieces of tape on their paws. Priceless. meek, you’ll want to lock up all scissors and trimmers and shavers in your house. Because that cat is not going to let the lack of opposable thumbs stand in the way of sweet revenge.
How do you hold them down long enough to get them on?
I managed to get tape on one of Durga’s paws and she was off. And pissed at me. And then I was harassing her later that day until she actually hissed at me repeatedly. And yet, half an hour later she wanted attention. Silly cat.
(I don’t harass Stella [much] because I don’t want to lose an arm, I don’t harass Star because we’re fairly certain he was abused [for values of harass that don’t include holding him and attacking his tummy until he wants to go], and I don’t harass Salmon because she’s damnably hard to get a hold of. Which means all my evilness gets directed at Durga.)
