His "weird haircut" has mostly grown out - and I've finally found a comb that will lift out the tangles before they tighten into mats. It's called an Undercoat Comb, and has alternating long and short teeth. It also dislodges some of his omnipresent dandruff, which I think the tangles were forming around. So as long as I comb him regularly with this one, I should be able to prevent mats from happening in the first place. His fur is just so dense and fuzzy that the slicker brush, shedding blade, and even the human comb wouldn't reach far enough into his coat to find the tangles.

Love, Columbine