matted kitty fur

[Cataholic]

Oh Catland...you should be glad you are way across the country...cause I would have sued you for libelous conduct if you were in Ohio

[toughCookie]

Margaret

I was just wondering, what is going on with the kitty you pet-sit, the one with matted fur??

[margaret]

Well, actually, I didn't get to pet-sit the matted-fur kitty this past weekend. I don't always care for the same pets every weekend, and I think the kitty's owners were home this time. I'll wait and see what happens next weekend! I haven't brought this up with my boss again yet. One of her two dogs died late last week! She was so sad, and I didn't want to bother her about this kitty. I think I'll wait until next weekend and ask her about it. Hopefully I'll get to see the kitty, too.

I really liked Cataholic's idea, though, with rolling the kitty in honey! LOL! :P Boy, and I'm sure kitty would love that, too! LOL! ... I was thinking that if I were to try to help the cat myself, I might try to snip one or two mats at a time--a gradual thing--so the owners might not even notice until *voila!* A mat-free, smooth kitty once again!

I don't know, though. I've read up a bit on the Internet about snipping off mats and I think a professional should really do it. I know I could be really careful and gentle, but still, I'd be too afraid of pulling too hard and damaging the kitty's sensitive, thin skin. I think the best thing is to just talk to my boss and ask her to convince the owners to take matted kitty to a pro groomer. We'll see!!

[toughCookie]

well I think it is pet neglect if not abuse. are these people reasonable? couldn't you just talk to them about it? well they must not be too reasonable or they would care for the poor cat.

[Cataholic]

I was rethinking the honey idea...maybe it wouldn't fool them. But, how about this idea..."my friend is in vet tech training and needs to really work on her grooming skills...and since "missy" is so severly matted, do you think we could work on her?" That way, you are letting THEM help YOU, and who doesn't like to help? Maybe that would work. That could be the reason why you call them out of the blue...you know, "she really needs to practice, the test is soon, and I thought of you"??????

[toughCookie]

that might work, or just be straight forward, and say would you mind if I took your cat to the groomers? blunt, but they obviously need someone to be blunt with them!

[margaret]

Okay, for all of you who are curious about the matted-fur kitty, here is the response I got from my boss when I asked her about whether the cat's owners would be willing to take kitty to the groomer (I've omitted the names of the owner and the kitty)...

"Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I did talk with (the owner)... yesterday. She is very torn about what to do about (the kitty). I could tell she doesn't want to put him down and is somewhat hoping that he just won't wake up some morning so she won't have to make the decision. She sincerely appreciated your concern... she also said that (the kitty) is so thin that she's afraid to even cut the mats out and a groomer is out of the question because of his poor health. We talked for about 30 minutes and I could tell she's really agonizing over him. Although, she did say all he wants is to be loved and sits on her lap and purrs for hours :-) She did book visits for Thanksgiving, knowing he may not be around then. So.... that's where it's at."

So, everyone, I think this is just a case in which I can only pray for the poor kitty that he (I'm so confused as to whether it's a he or a she!) isn't in too much pain and he gets lots of love (sounds like he does). As you can tell from what my boss wrote, I might not be seeing the kitty again until Thanksgiving (if at all?). Hopefully he'll be all right.

Well, if anything, this teaches me that when my own cats get too old to groom themselves, I will be sure to keep their fur nice and mat-free (well, they're shorthairs, but they can still get mats, right?).

[jenluckenbach]

yes, for anyone who is interested short hairs can get mats too. I've seen some pretty badly matted short haired cat. Prevention is always your best bet. If they are combed when you feel even the smallest knot, you can prevent a mat from forming. I will be praying for that poor matted kitty and hope he is comfortable.