The issue I have with scissors on any level is even if you’re careful, if the mats are bad enough the skin can be folded up inside, and no matter how careful you are, scissors can still cut the skin. You really have to make sure you can absolutely feel the surface of the skin and it doesn’t sound like that’s possible in this case. Cat skin is so thin you cannot tell if the scissors are cutting into it until after it’s done and you see the result, you cannot feel it happen.
Clippers are your best option, and you already have them in the house. Can your SO help hold him? And yeah, the temperature you mention is pretty cold for an outdoor kitty to have to deal without fur, even in patches. Since you have to shave down to the skin (groomers/vets would use a #40 blade), it will take a couple months for it to grow back long enough for any warmth/protection. (Possibly even longer, my guy who had a surgical shave took 3 months before it wasn’t sparse looking and only in the last week has fully grown in where you can’t tell were the borders were. His surgery was November 18th.)
I’m leaning toward waiting. Where will he go after the bath right now while it’s so cold out? He’ll have to stay in until he’s completely dry. Maybe take the clippers out with you and run them a few seconds at a time up to a minute until he gets used to them? Even touch them to him (not the cutting part) and let him rub on them if he will, to get used to the vibration.
I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, you are taking the best care of your kitties indoor and out that you can. But maybe due to that, and the issues this kitty is having with fur he can’t maintain on his own - have you considered re-homing him with someone who can keep him inside and keep him combed out or be able to afford a lion cut every spring? He sounds like a special case since he’s not able to take care of himself. Lack of grooming has several medical issues connected to it, as well - those should really get checked out. Your local shelter might be able to help with that, too?
No, my local shelter will say, “Gee, I’m sorry, but we can’t help you, thank you for taking care of the kittens the strays have had in your yard, and here is 40 lbs of cat food to try to help you out.”
The last litter of kittens Squatter had, we tried to take to the shelter, only to learn that they had found a litter of five kittens left duct taped in a box on their front porch, and could not take any more kittens.
Add to that that Dunder DOES have special medical issues, he’s allergic to fleas and will tear his fur out because of them, AND he has an overactive immune system. (I forget the name… “stoma” something… that makes his body reject his teeth…? He needs steroid shots for it…) Anyway, people want to adopt “perfect” kitties, not ones with health care issues. Then, add to to story that Dunder has litter box issues, he** will not **learn to use the box, which is why he is relegated to being an outside cat… when we do not refer to him by name, his nickname is “Tub-Shitter.” Litter box clean, still shits in the tub. Love him a lot, but he’s a Dunderhead.
Stomatitis. If your vet hasn’t checked a blood test for Bartonella, it needs to be done asap! I can pull statistics for you, and even send you the information your vet needs to send a sample to the one lab in the country that tests for it (not as expensive as it sounds), if s/he doesn’t have the information already. A HUGE percentage of cats with stomatitis have it because they’ve contracted Bartonella - and guess how that’s transmited?? From Fleas!
If the Dr doesn’t want to send the sample out, some doctors will do a 14 days course of an antibiotic called Azithromycin and hope for the best. Azithromycin once a day for 14 days is often curative. A titer a month after the treatment is recommended, though, because if the azith doesn’t work then another course for a longer time (and possibly a different antibiotic that isn’t as well tolerated) is needed.
I’ve seen cats have an amazing turnaround in their health and oral inflammation when tested and treated for Bartonella if it comes back positive. One kitty in the shelter went from shy and nearly untouchable to the sweetest lovebug once he was treated. I can’t say strongly enough how much this titer needs to be part of diagnostics for stomatitis.
If your guy is positive, it could turn his grooming problem into a distant memory - he possibly isn’t grooming because it hurts his mouth too much. (Another anecdote - we did have one kitty in the shelter once who had no barbs on his tongue. He was a dirty mess and needed to be combed and wiped down daily. And he got adopted!)
I think it’s easier to separate fur from skin when both are dry, but second the idea of working a comb between the skin and the mat, and using that as a guard to avoid the skin. You don’t have to cut off all of a mat to weaken it.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread. I have two jobs, and on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I work from 10 am to 10:30 pm, so my internet time takes a backseat to sleep and work!
What is Bartonella, and why would the test need to be done asap? I would like the information my vet would need to have a sample tested, and why is there only one lab in the country that tests for it? Why would my vet not want to send the sample out?
I have another cat that is having problems with her teeth; she is the next one to go to the vet. I thought it was because she is (give or take) about 14 yrs old…but only 5 yrs ago, I was told she had remarkably little plaque for a cat her age, and at that time, the vet did not even recommend a teeth-cleaning. If it is possible that she might have this too, I will get the vet to do the tests, because my Pretty Girl, aka The Evil One, is my joy in life. I am the only human she loves. Her fur is not matted, but she drools a lot, and sometimes squalls when trying to eat dry cat food. I thought it was just her age. :smack:
Also, “titer” is a word I am not familiar with…but if I understand my dictionary correctly, did you tell me that the cat(s) will have to be blood tested every month? By the vet sending a sample to the only lab in the country that does the testing?! (Hello, third job, goodbye my dream house!)
Bartonella is a bacteria. Ever heard of Cat Scratch Fever? That’s Bartonella. It requires fleas (sometimes ticks) to complete its life cycle, therefore cats and dogs who have been exposed to fleas should get tested if they have anything “off” about their health (described in the handout). The majority of people exposed (through cat scratches or bites - rarely from fleas/ticks themselves) just get sort of mild flu symptoms and then they’re fine - but there’s a list of chronic issues people can have, too. Dogs I can’t speak to really, because I’ve only dealt with it in felines and subsequent human exposure (only 2 people I know of - many dozens of cats). And the vets I work with, if they’re dealing with a cat with bad stomatitis and also have knowledge of that cat being exposed to fleas at any point in its life, then they test for Bartonella.
As far as testing goes, often just one or two are needed. The titers are rated +1 to +4. An initial test that comes back as +1 is no problem and no treatment is needed. Anything higher, and we see several +4’s a year, a course of Azithromycin is needed. Six months after treatment (sorry I got that 30 days incorrect, it’s 180 days!), then another sample is tested. If treatment was successful and the titer is down to a +1, then treatment was curative and you’re done. If the titer is still +2 to +4, then further treatment is needed. So the testing is only needed until a +1 is achieved. Here’s the form veterinarians can use to give clients the treatment information and when the next titer is due, maybe that’s clearer.
Some vets are resistant to adding one more billing account or dealing with additional laboratories is all. These guys are easy to deal with though, and I would think a vet who practices in an area where lots of people have outdoor cats would want to test for Bartonella, but if it’s a low income area it could be something not enough clients have wanted to pay for. In cases where clients are resistant to paying for lab testing, some vets may just prescribe the Azithromycin treatment and hope for the best. It’s just that without testing they won’t know for certain that’s what the problem is, so it could result in using unnecessary antibiotics, plus if it doesn’t work and symptoms like stomatitis don’t improve, you don’t know without testing whether a) there was Bartonella to begin with, or b) whether another course with a different antibiotic might be necessary and the symptoms could still be Bartonella.
I hope that makes sense for you. Their website is veterinary-oriented so it’s wordy and not entirely in layman’s terms, but I think you’ll be able to figure it out. Let me know if you have any other questions!
My SO fixed the brakes on a car that belongs to a friend of a friend. The friend’s friend just happens to work for a groomer. So Dunder got his clipping!
He came home and didn’t act normally for a couple days. He was quite skittish, and ran from everything, including the SO and me. (Took a couple days, but he’s back to normal now.) He has some nicks here and there and a (dime sized) wound on each of his…I want to say elbows…? One of them was pretty deep.
Took him to the vet for his shot a couple days later, and when I pulled him out of the carrier, the vet blinked at him with a WTH? expression. I explained about the clipping, and showed her the wounds. I told her I thought the groomers had done it. She told me that she didn’t think they would have, he probably had them before he went. I’m not so sure. I think that would be an especially hard place to clip, and I really can’t imagine how he would have gotten matching wounds on either side. He got an antibiotic shot, just in case.
He’s going to get brushed regularly, because whatever happened to him, I don’t want to have to have him go through this whole ordeal again. Obligatory pic. Sorry it’s not a really good shot of him. I had to feed him to get him to hold still, and if I tried sitting down, he left the food to get petted! https://static.dyp.im/slPCp09p9r/d01f34cf88b50c7a4f365adb923c1fa6.jpg Sea Dragon Tattoo, the Bartonella testing has been sidelined for a while. Dunder belongs to my SO, and he’s his responsibility. I am the lucky one that gets to take him for his shots, but he’s the one that pays for it.
Also, Pretty Girl has been to the vet, and her gums are infected. She’s lost a couple teeth. She needs to have a few (or all, not sure) pulled. I’m scared for her.
I’m sure he feels so much better. The wounds are likely not from getting clipped (those would be linear) but rather from tight mats constantly pulling the skin. It’s actually really difficult to get clippers to cut skin - I use my fingers as buffers against the cutting end when clipping an animal and I’ve never cut myself. I’m also using far shorter-cutting blades than that groomer used, as I’m doing medical prepping and shaving them to the skin. Once in a while a re-sharpened blade can cut if it’s been sharpened unevenly, but it’s always a straight line, not a divot like in the picture. Same with grooming accidents that come to us as wound repairs, they’re similar to what you’d see if scissors were used.
As described in the OP one concern was that the mats between front legs and chest were connected. The elbow wounds speak to that. I’ve seen some horrific skin infections/wounds from bad matting. One was bad enough the police were called and the owner arrested for neglect. I won’t detail that one, it wasn’t anything like your kitty’s mat issues!
It could also be from allergy issues. I’ve seen cats with pretty bad food allergies get awful looking skin and ear and foot infections. They get much better on limited ingredient diets, and have bad breakouts if given the wrong food after that. Also, as mentioned before, it could be from flea allergies, too, or a combination. I’m surprised your vet hasn’t mentioned any of this.
You could ask about bartonella testing the other cat - any of the cats, if any of them have dealt with fleas it’s a definite issue to address. The fleas will carry it from one to the next within the same population/area.
Anyway, yay your little guy got a shave-down and hope everyone else in your household stays happy and healthy !
Thanks for the update, Why Child! Glad you & the SO were able to barter for some goodness all 'round. I’m glad your kitty is feeling better. Having the feeling of my hair pulled, but as a whole-body sensation, must be terrible.
Glad to hear you got it all sorted out and kitty is more comfortable now. Just wanted to toss in a link and a recommendation for anyone whose cats get frequent knots. Mat cutters can be very helpful. I have one that looks like this http://www.amazon.com/Salon-Essentials-Cat-Mat-Breaker/dp/B0056V9RCK/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1432869435&sr=1-2&keywords=matt+breaker and I love it. Use a comb or your fingers to make sure you don’t cut skin, snip away as much as you can with scissors, then use the mat breaker to detangle the rest. If a mat isn’t tight against the skin, you can often use this tool to just rake it out.
Maybe my cat has never had such horrible mats, but in my experience, if you keep on top of it, you can just cut out or pull out mats before they get out of hand. I’ve never worried about cutting the cat’s skin, but sometimes, I’ve cut though a mat, rather than cutting it all the way off, to avoid getting too close. Then I’ve been able to comb out what was left. Anyhow, good lluck in the future.
that makes his body reject his teeth…? He needs steroid shots for it…) Anyway, people want to adopt “perfect” kitties, not ones with health care issues. Then, add to to story that Dunder has litter box issues, he** will not **learn to use the box, which is why he is relegated to being an outside cat… when we do not refer to him by name, his nickname is “Tub-Shitter.” Litter box clean, still shits in the tub. Love him a lot, but he’s a Dunderhead.
(Took a couple days, but he’s back to normal now.) He has some nicks here and there and a (dime sized) wound on each of his…I want to say elbows…? One of them was pretty deep.
Glad you & the SO were able to barter for some goodness all 'round. I’m glad your kitty is feeling better. Having the feeling of my hair pulled, but as a whole-body sensation, must be terrible.