Tangled Mess needing tender loving care

ladybug7 · 07-20-2005, 01:36 PM

I am new to the long hair breed. I adopted my gorgous Oliver from the humane society and found him pretty easy to keep up with so far. For some reason he enjoys splashing in the water dish which causes snarls in his beautiful long coat. I have always been able to gently comb out the snags but this time I am not sure what to do.

There is a spot on this left hind quarter that has gotten so snarled he won't let me touch it. He is a sweet heart of a little guy but will turn and gently bite me while he is purring to tell me it hurts. I even tried to gently snip out the chunk at the end with hopes of combing out piece by piece.

I am looking for suggestions for this problem. I am afraid if I don't get it taken care of in the next couple of days it is only going to become painful for him. I thought about shaving him but am deathly scared of hurting him. I thought about buying a detantling spray...anyone ever try that?

Thank you in advance for your advice!!

Deep in Tangles,
Olivers Mom

icklemiss21 · 07-20-2005, 01:46 PM

I haven't found detangling sprays to be of much use. Bathing helps a little with mine. If you can I would just cut the whole piece out quickly rather than cutting small pieces and hoping to brush the rest out.

I am having the same problem with Magnum lately, and am just going to take him to a groomer to be shaved this weekend. The matted fur is hurting him and me trying to comb / cut it out hurts too... I guess its just easier to cut it off.

I just hope he doesn't get too upset going from being long haired to short!

Brynn · 07-20-2005, 01:56 PM

I agree...I think just trying to carefully and quickly cut the entire clump off as short as needed to get rid of the whole thing is your best bet.

It is true that these masses are painful, so the poor guy will definitely need your intervention to help him out. I was raised with a Maine Coon (a long haired kitty) and if we didn't get a brush or comb to a tangle right away, the clump had to be cut...period.

If you are concerned about doing it yourself, see about taking him to a groomer. They may be able to do just that one spot for you and charge you less than a full groom price...but I am not sure about this.

Clippers (electric) should be safe enough to use, if you are uncomfortable using scissors, and I do know that some people will partially shave long-haired kitties in the summer. This is controversial and I have no experience with it, but I remember reading a post about it a couple of weeks ago.

Good luck.

emma_pen · 07-20-2005, 03:25 PM

Be very careful with scissors, as accidents can happen very easily. In fact, I wouldn't recommend cutting matts with scissors at all. Electric clippers are fine, as long as they are in good condition. I shave one of my boys bum to prevent the mess he gets into.

icklemiss21 · 07-20-2005, 04:51 PM

I find the opposite, I put clippers near mine and they go crazy from the noise and freak out making them more likely to get hurt. With the scissors I can just be petting magnum and snip the matt out while he is snoozing.

ladybug7 · 07-21-2005, 12:33 AM

Thank you all for your opinions and advice. I gently tried to comb at it again tonight as I have so many times before. For some reason, Oliver found pleasure playing with a cotton swab he found in his grooming kit and that bought me about 20 minutes of intense combing and clipping with the scissors. I actually was able to get most of it out before he started giving me little warning bites that it was enough, so I quit for the night. I will continue the next couple of days until I am done.

If nothing else, this taught me to pull the comb or brush out every night as a preventative for his beautiful long coat.

Once again...thanks for helping me make the right decision and calming my nerves about this ordeal!

Oliver's Mom

jamdan · 07-21-2005, 12:29 PM

I've got a pair of saftey tip sissor to cut my cat's long hair with. In the summer she gets a short hair cut. We go outside on the leash to be distracted while I cut. She hates the buzz of the clipper. The vet said it shouldn't hurt if her whiskers got clipped, hope he's right. This is the 3rd or 4th summer hair cut and there never have been any problems.

I usually keep the hair under her chin and around her face trimmed all year round. She also likes to bat me with her tail when we go to bed, so I trimmed the hair at the end so she has a shorter reach and maybe I can get to sleep sooner.

Brynn · 07-21-2005, 01:16 PM

Hmm...

I'm not sure about it, but I always thought that it is not a good idea to clip a cat's whiskers. But, on the same note, I don't know that it is necessarily harmful. If your vet said that it is okay, I assume it is. My cats would probably be very displeased with the sound of clippers...I don't think I would dare.

All of the cats I have now are short or medium in hair length. My adult daughter adopted a long-haired (Maine coon mix) kitten recently and she bathes her kitten at least once a week...luckily she hasn't had any hair matting to deal with *yet* and has brushed her daily since she adopted her...so she is used to this.

Long-haired kitties are a lot more work, but they are soooo beautiful!

horseplaypen · 07-21-2005, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brynn

Long-haired kitties are a lot more work, but they are soooo beautiful!

I agree - I'm spoiled now, all my future cats are going to have long hair.

I've been lucky with mats though - one of mine has really silky fur that never mats up... I only groom her once a month or so. The other one (the uncooperative one of course) gets nasty mats all around her bum and hind legs. Usually she'll let me clip them out with scissors, although it's an hour long process that involves me sneaking up on her, getting a couple of good snips in, then her walking off... repeat... but recently she's been so stressed that she won't sit still for more than five seconds. She's horribly matted... tomorrow we're taking her in to the groomer's to get her shaved, poor baby.

Yes, I'll be posting pics.

07-20-2005, 01:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
ladybug7 Kitten Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bismarck ND Posts: 23	Tangled Mess needing tender loving care I am new to the long hair breed. I adopted my gorgous Oliver from the humane society and found him pretty easy to keep up with so far. For some reason he enjoys splashing in the water dish which causes snarls in his beautiful long coat. I have always been able to gently comb out the snags but this time I am not sure what to do. There is a spot on this left hind quarter that has gotten so snarled he won't let me touch it. He is a sweet heart of a little guy but will turn and gently bite me while he is purring to tell me it hurts. I even tried to gently snip out the chunk at the end with hopes of combing out piece by piece. I am looking for suggestions for this problem. I am afraid if I don't get it taken care of in the next couple of days it is only going to become painful for him. I thought about shaving him but am deathly scared of hurting him. I thought about buying a detantling spray...anyone ever try that? Thank you in advance for your advice!! Deep in Tangles, Olivers Mom __________________

07-20-2005, 01:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
icklemiss21 Cat Addict Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Burlington, Canada Posts: 2,976	I haven't found detangling sprays to be of much use. Bathing helps a little with mine. If you can I would just cut the whole piece out quickly rather than cutting small pieces and hoping to brush the rest out. I am having the same problem with Magnum lately, and am just going to take him to a groomer to be shaved this weekend. The matted fur is hurting him and me trying to comb / cut it out hurts too... I guess its just easier to cut it off. I just hope he doesn't get too upset going from being long haired to short! __________________

07-20-2005, 04:51 PM	#5 (permalink)
icklemiss21 Cat Addict Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Burlington, Canada Posts: 2,976	I find the opposite, I put clippers near mine and they go crazy from the noise and freak out making them more likely to get hurt. With the scissors I can just be petting magnum and snip the matt out while he is snoozing. __________________

07-21-2005, 12:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
ladybug7 Kitten Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bismarck ND Posts: 23	Smooth coat!! Thank you all for your opinions and advice. I gently tried to comb at it again tonight as I have so many times before. For some reason, Oliver found pleasure playing with a cotton swab he found in his grooming kit and that bought me about 20 minutes of intense combing and clipping with the scissors. I actually was able to get most of it out before he started giving me little warning bites that it was enough, so I quit for the night. I will continue the next couple of days until I am done. If nothing else, this taught me to pull the comb or brush out every night as a preventative for his beautiful long coat. Once again...thanks for helping me make the right decision and calming my nerves about this ordeal! Oliver's Mom __________________

07-20-2005, 01:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
Brynn Senior Cat Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: North Texas Posts: 687	I agree...I think just trying to carefully and quickly cut the entire clump off as short as needed to get rid of the whole thing is your best bet. It is true that these masses are painful, so the poor guy will definitely need your intervention to help him out. I was raised with a Maine Coon (a long haired kitty) and if we didn't get a brush or comb to a tangle right away, the clump had to be cut...period. If you are concerned about doing it yourself, see about taking him to a groomer. They may be able to do just that one spot for you and charge you less than a full groom price...but I am not sure about this. Clippers (electric) should be safe enough to use, if you are uncomfortable using scissors, and I do know that some people will partially shave long-haired kitties in the summer. This is controversial and I have no experience with it, but I remember reading a post about it a couple of weeks ago. Good luck.

07-20-2005, 03:25 PM	#4 (permalink)
emma_pen Cat Addict Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UK Posts: 2,655	Be very careful with scissors, as accidents can happen very easily. In fact, I wouldn't recommend cutting matts with scissors at all. Electric clippers are fine, as long as they are in good condition. I shave one of my boys bum to prevent the mess he gets into.

07-21-2005, 12:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
jamdan Jr. Cat Join Date: May 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 64	I've got a pair of saftey tip sissor to cut my cat's long hair with. In the summer she gets a short hair cut. We go outside on the leash to be distracted while I cut. She hates the buzz of the clipper. The vet said it shouldn't hurt if her whiskers got clipped, hope he's right. This is the 3rd or 4th summer hair cut and there never have been any problems. I usually keep the hair under her chin and around her face trimmed all year round. She also likes to bat me with her tail when we go to bed, so I trimmed the hair at the end so she has a shorter reach and maybe I can get to sleep sooner.

07-21-2005, 01:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
Brynn Senior Cat Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: North Texas Posts: 687	Hmm... I'm not sure about it, but I always thought that it is not a good idea to clip a cat's whiskers. But, on the same note, I don't know that it is necessarily harmful. If your vet said that it is okay, I assume it is. My cats would probably be very displeased with the sound of clippers...I don't think I would dare. All of the cats I have now are short or medium in hair length. My adult daughter adopted a long-haired (Maine coon mix) kitten recently and she bathes her kitten at least once a week...luckily she hasn't had any hair matting to deal with yet and has brushed her daily since she adopted her...so she is used to this. Long-haired kitties are a lot more work, but they are soooo beautiful!

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