Matted cat hair questions

Has she seen the Vet in a while? It could be a symptom of something else since it's just started. I had a senior cat that would get her fur matted, and she had kidney disease. She might need blood work.

My elderly maine coon used to be very meticulous in how she groomed herself. When she became elderly, we began to notice that her hair was matted. When we tried to groom her, it hurt her. We took her to the vet. She was very arthritic and could no longer reach the parts of her body that she did as a younger cat. Also, the twisting of her body hurt. We tried to keep her groomed and help her out until she died.

I bought a tool like this one at Petsmart for my Coon when she had knots. Just be careful that you don't get it too close to the skin, but it does get rid of the matts.

The other option is to take them to the V-E-T (shhh!) and have those knots shaved out.

It's a good idea to schedule an appointment with the vet for an examination to rule out any type of health problem going on with your kitty.

If your kitty checks out OK and the problem is basically due to aging/dry skin/coat, you may want to start adding a few drops of high oleic safflower oil in a 5.5 oz. can of canned cat food to help improve the condition of her coat.

For our elderly cat, our vet recommended high oleic safflower oil to improve digestion and elimination, help condition her coat and to prevent hairballs from forming.

We've been adding safflower oil to (all of) our cats canned for several years now. As a result, none of our cats have any issues with digestion and/or elimination and they rarely get hairballs. They all have beautiful, shiny coats.

Talk to your vet about adding some high oleic safflower oil to your cats canned food. Start with one or two drops mixed into a 5.5 oz can and see if your cats coat improves. You can add another drop or two (mixed in a 5.5 oz can) but don't add much more than that as too much oil can cause diarrhea.

Whole Foods grocery store carries high oleic safflower. It needs to be refrigerated.

Hope this helps.

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It sounds like your cat is no longer able to keep up with her grooming requirements. I'd start brushing her regularly. Some cats can get away with once a week but others require daily brushing. I would not recommend a furminator on a senior cat. My cats hate the furminator and it's not cheap to buy. Depending on the coat a pin brush or shedding blade will work for maintenance. My long hair prefers the pin brush but will also allow the shedding blade. I completely dematted the long haired chihuahua I rescued with the pin brush.

My Mouse has the worst, really long hair. It has a strange texture and is sort of "nappy." Have never had a cat or seen one with her type of fur.

She HATES to be brushed and will bite me, so I take her to the groomers and have her shaves about twice a year. Solves the problem. The funny thing is, she will let me cut her toe nails with out a whimper or fuss... Strange what they will and won't let you do.