Thanks, KAK - I was hoping Jen would see this. I headed for Petco, intending to get a shedding blade and to look for matting tools too. As I really didn't know what I was looking for I asked one of the sales help and really lucked out. The young man also has a red Maine Coon who mats and showed me the perfect tool that he uses - a mat removing blade. He really knew his stuff and talked me out of buying the shedding blade. The mat blade was expensive, but he said it was worth it and that I already had the other tools - the brushes and combs. I was impressed that he didn't try to sell me a whole lot of stuff I didn't need and told me not to buy the scissors at Petco but to go to the beauty supply store next door for those! He explained that the shedding blade only removes the top layer of fur and didn't really control shedding; that regular brushing was my best bet to keep the fur kids mats under control and their fur looking tip-top. So I left happy, with my new tool.

Of course now that I have it, I probably won't need it for a while -- doesn't it always work that way? Oh well, we'll see. I do know Mitzi has mats that I can't wait to get my hands on - perhaps this new tool will make it easier on her. I'm not going to do her this weekend as she just got home today from her teeth cleaning and an extraction. Poor, fluffy baby!