Fat Cat Hair Clumps

Any of you with a fat cat know what I'm talking about.

Crystal is fat, no two ways about it.

Cats naturally secrete oils from their skin. Much of the grooming they do is to spread the oils out over the coat. An obese cat can't reach every body section, so the oil clumps up, mats with the fur. Crystal has a number of clumps AGAIN.

I've tried myself, used scissors and of course got bit (she does NOT like me grooming her under any circumstances).

I've had her to the vet, where they used both scissors and electric clipper; they had to muzzle her.

Now this time, I am going to try her at a groomer salon. Appt. is for Sunday.

She is the only one of my 9 cats who is even slightly over weight, and she is well beyond that. I have to keep food out all the time for Sparkle, who has CRF and grazes all day long. Crystal looks like she swallowed a basketball, poor girl, I just have no way to cut her down. AND of course I never do see her eating.

If anyone has dealt with this and has ideas for the clumps, I'd love to hear from you!

Ming is overweight, but somehow he manages to groom himself very well (I will keep my eyes out for clumps, thanks for in the info). However, I have an older cat, Mac, who is underweight and needs to free feed. Yes, it is a dilemma, isn't it? I wish I had an answer for you, but those of us with multi-cat households know that special diets present problems.:rolleyes: Good luck with Crystal!:)

My RB tuxie, Mortimer, aka Mr Fat Cat, used to get them right down the middle of his back. The only way I could deal with the clumps was to stay one step ahead of them. I just used a slicker brush down his back once a week or so, but if it did get to the clump stage, then I had to cut them out. Fortunately he tolerated me doing that without too many bloody bites. Wish I had that magic solution for you, but I don't. :(

I can see from your siggy pic that Crystal is quite the butterball! :D

When I lived in New Haven, the wingnut dentist next door had two cats (mama and daughter) who were supposedly feral. Mama was VERY matted. I confronted this idiot and even offered to take her to be groomed. He turned me down. Said it wasn't necessary. I told him they were very painful for her. He didn't care. He told me to stop feeding them. I told him to go to hell. That's when I decided to trim her myself. "The girls" as I referred to them as, weren't feral, just scared. They had shelter in a nearby garage. It took a while, but I think Mama was actually happy to have to cut them off. Her poor skin was raw from the mats pulling at it.

I think you're doing the right thing by having a groomer do it. Especially since she gets stressed out. The last thing you need to do is get bitten again (how many would that be????).

I'd go nuts if I had to try and get one of my cats on a diet. When you have as many as I do, it's a free-for-all!!!

Thanks for the replies. My problem is I try to keep up with it starting when she has just been cleaned up - no reason at that point so I slack off. Months go by, I forget about it until the clumps are enormous.

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Originally Posted by moosmom

I think you're doing the right thing by having a groomer do it. Especially since she gets stressed out. The last thing you need to do is get bitten again (how many would that be????).

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LOL stopped counting after the 3rd trip to the hospital.

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I'd go nuts if I had to try and get one of my cats on a diet. When you have as many as I do, it's a free-for-all!!!

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Ditto!

I fostered my friends XXL kitty for 5 months a couple years ago. I took him to the groomers at least once, maybe twice. Once I took him to the vet to get his nails clipped and the tech was nice enough to cut the mats from his rear for me. I was so grateful! That is the only place he matted was on his bottom. I didn't know him well enough to tackle it myself. I think my friend takes care of his fur on her own. But he loves her. LOL
I would brush him when I went in to visit him in his room. (he terrorized Paizly so he was shut in a bedroom unless under closer supervision)

Sorry I do not have any good suggestions for you. But I hope you can find a solution. I am horrible and brushing the dogs regularly. So I'm glad to have short hair thin kitties (at least for now!).

Please don't use scissors :( I've lost track of the number of kitties we've had to stitch up after unfortunate grooming events. One cat actually had to have the end of it's tail amputated because it wouldn't heal :(

Maybe I missed it, but when you bring her to the vet, would it be out of line to suggest a light sedation for her to make the trip easier and less stressful on her and everyone else involved? I'd feel safer about sedating at the vet. We actually do this quite a bit for our shave-down kitties: it is absolutely not a first resort by any means, but some cats are so badly matted that it's painful. Add that on top of the stress of the trip, and they are NOT happy with us, much less compliant about us messing with them!

Some clients come in on a regular basis for shave downs, even great cats that just lay there and let us do anything to them (which I find odd - we aren't groomers by any means but we get the job done), because they are either overweight and don't groom themselves properly or are just long haired and they can't properly keep up with maintenance.

We will also regularly shave down their rears on annual visits at no charge just because it's easier on the cat and the owners, and who doesn't like a fresh, mat-free and clean bottom? hehe

I have a spray-on detangler solution that is for cat grooming. I use it on Cole when I can. It's great if I can get it on his fur but if not I at least spray it on the comb. Or I mix a strong solution of it with some water in a small but tall glass so I can dip a comb in it.

Here's links to some examples:

http://www.petcetera.ca/Products/Cat...nditioner.aspx

Now THIS is different...I wonder if you have to have a Bissell vacuum to use it: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11324352 Considering my cats are far away when I have the thing running, I hope the hose is long enough to attach this to! LOL - a phrase on the package says "groom your pet, then make a sweater" :D

Here's a whole bunch of stuff: http://www.petsmart.com/family/index...goryId=2768978

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Originally Posted by Freedom

If anyone has dealt with this and has ideas for the clumps, I'd love to hear from you!

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Sweet Crystal, I need a haircut too... wish I could go with you to the groomer :) and we could make it a "big girls" paw-ty! Seriously though, I hope your appointment goes very well and the groomer is able to help you with your coat.

Thanks for all the info, I will check those links!

Crystal is a short haired cat. This is totally due to her being so FAT.

I know that Cyrstal will not like it, but sometimes a professional groomer is the answer.
Its not good having a lot of clumps.:love::love:

Winnie, who has long hair, was getting one on her back right above her tail. I was able to brush it out using a sticker brush. With her, I can tell when she is starting one because the hair starts to get thicker there. I can brush them out at that stage.

My leonardo used to get hair mats something awful. Had to cut his because they got so thick so fast I couldn't keep up with them.

I'm sorry to hear this.:( I never knew that short haired cats could even get matted. This is one reason why my two new boys are short haired. My only slightly overweight cat is Ziggy and she hates to be brushed or combed. When I do it, I have to muzzle her because she will growl, hiss, and try to bite me. Luckily she so far she hasn't matted at all. Now both of my senior boys have decided to stop grooming themselves so are now getting kennel cuts which is shorter than a lion cut from the groomers. Sky has to take a sedative pill before he goes because he's become a real terror. I've asked the groomers what I can do to avoid the matting and they just said to use several different types of combs to help break up the mat. Now Alani is also matted a little bit on his back sides because he's lazy not overweight. I have to muzzle him and comb them out. I do have a very small scissors that I use if I have to but I always put a comb in between so I won't cut the skin. My only option if I can't take care of the matting is to take my cats to the groomers because my vet hospital doesn't do any kind of grooming. They have shaved Ziggy's butt in the past though. Good luck.:)

I trimmed her nails this afternoon, so she is ready to go tomorrow.

Crystal is now a "ventilated'' kitty, ha haaa, the groomer removed the clumps on her back. So in those 2 spots she is down to skin.

She has an appt to return in onel month, at which time she will have a bath and brush out. Due to her extreme size, she has some skin folds underneath, and one in particular is . . . in such a place that it catches all her urine and is one huge mat. She would not allow that area to be touched today. Best way to tackle this is bathe it out, then clip, then moisturize. I didn't even know this clump was there!

She is brighter and happy to be back home withOUT all those ouchies pulling at her skin. The groomer held one clump and showed it- silly cat, she tried to lick it! She is a good groomer for places she CAN reach, and now that this clump was where she could reach it, she was all set to work it out ha haaa.

Sounds good! Silly kitty!

I'm glad to hear that everything went well and that she feels much better too.:) I know that both Storm & Sky also felt so much better after having their mats removed. They were able to walk and run normally again. I hope that her next grooming appt. will go just as smoothly. Good luck.:)

Thanks! LOL we were talking about the 'honeymoon period,' Crystal doesn't know this place, these people, doesn't know why she is there, so she was good. This groomer said she LOVES this period, she can get so much done on the cat, ha haaa. About visit 5 or so, that wears off and she starts to see what the cat REALLY thinks of grooming visits. Once we get this cleared up, and I start the regimen she has prescribed, she expects to see Crystal every 6 to 8 months, just to get the oils out of her coat BEFORE the mats form. I can live with that; I'd have been more wary if she had suggested seeing Crys every 2 weeks!