Oh, Kim, I do feel for you! Mishi gets matted something terrible and absolutely HATES being brushed, but I'm persistent and try to brush him a little bit every day. Their long silky fur and that butt-fluff matts super easy. When I can, I use a matt-breaker, but getting Mishi to sit still to let me use it on him is another thing. He hasn't bitten me, but he does make some very menacing noises when I'm trying to de-mat him.

When it gets as bad as it sounds Panda has gotten, shaving may be the only option. When I adopted Mishi, well, we still joke about his kitty mohawk that he had - they only shaved him in the areas where he had had mats. Their fur does grow back very quickly so you won't have bald Maine Coons for long, but I do feel for you. Poor Panda! Poor Kim!