Help with my persians matts in his coat
By taramoon
@taramoon (740)
Spain
March 5, 2008 4:59pm CST
I Have a persian cat called Basil and am recently having nightmares with his hair he gets brushed daily without fail, however last month i was admitted to hospital for a few days and he seem to have got some mats i have manage to cut some out and continueing brushing him to try and get more out but to no advail, i have managed to buy one of them dematting combs but am still tugging to get these matts outs, to top it all he is starting to molt we have had spring like weather does any other cat owner have any good tips to help me. Thank in advance. Luv Tara xx
5 people like this
9 responses
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
5 Mar 08
I used to have a persian cat, and he was a blue one, called Blue he was lovely. He was very long haired and an extreme nightmare for knots, there are groomers who deal with things like that but they can be expensive. I used to have to bath my blue, and then while he was in the bath I would condition his fur and comb at the knot, if it didnt come out that way I would trim at it with the scissors until I could comb it out. You have to be so careful with persians though dont you because their skin is so thin, they are a nightmare! Yours is a beauty though.
2 people like this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
6 Mar 08
Hi gemini - Rose, aww a blue persian thats what i was after and there was one there when i got my basil but as you know you know which one you want, i have'nt yet tried the bath sarga yet but it looks like i'm heading that way, why someone has'nt come up with a detangling spray for long haired breeds beats me i have looked in every pet shop i could find, have managed to buy a kids detangling leave in conditioner spray with no harsk chemicals. Thanks you for saying he's beautiful he is such a soppy boy he loves to sleep in my hair at night and if you ignore him he starts talking and he can be very snooty i swear he see's the camara coming he just poses...I have more photos of my cats than i do of my kids
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
7 Mar 08
Yes the blue ones are a gorgeous colour, but they do get dirty fast and then he used to go a dirty gingery colour! Detangling spray for kids is a good idea, like I say i just used to condition him, but his fur used to sparkle after. They take a lot of looking after but well worth it and they are mard, want to be loved and close to you all the time!
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
8 Mar 08
Hi Gabs thank you you would of been in hysterics last night i had Basil pinned down to the floor my daughter molly holding one end of the poor cat and me the others armed with scissors, dematting tool, wide tooth metal cat comb, a special persian cat brush and my daughters detanglings leave in conditioners, we did manage to do quite well, but will need to do this bit by bit every day til we've got him back into a big fluffy fur ball....remind me not to get taking ill again and sent to hosptal, dread leaving my mum and persian alone together...pmsl...have a great weekend. Luv Tara xx
1 person likes this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
6 Mar 08
If Basil is an indoor cat and you are not using indoor cat food, you should switch. The indoor cat food has things in it to help with shedding.
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
6 Mar 08
Hi Sedel now this i did'nt know yes he's an indoor fur ball, i have all my cats on science diet dry biscuits as i have lost two cats to kidney faliure in the past and now i'm so paranoid about their diets although in both cases the vet said it was nothing to do with what i fed my cats on it was a hereditary illlness, will definately look into which food would be the best for my indoor babies..
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
6 Mar 08
We use Nutro Naturals Complete Care wet & dry foods. You should also try out wet food, especially fished based ones. A high quality wet food makes a huge difference in how their coats look, how the cats feel and it helps them get enough liquid in their diet to help ward off kidney problems. I had looked into Science Diet when they went from kitten to adult food and decided not to go with it because it contains meat by products as well as unhealthy fillers like ash.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I looked it up on the internet and this is what I found.
Before you bathe your Persian, make sure you get all the mats out. To do this, take a wide toothed comb, and gently comb out the cat. Do NOT pull the mats out. If you come across a mat, gently pull (break) it apart using your fingers. If you pull the mat out with your comb, you will pull all the hair out right down to the skin and have a bald patch on your Persian. Worse case scenario, if the mats will not break up, you can use a dematting tool or cut it out with a pair of scissors. Again, what ever you do, please do not pull the mat out as it will not only ruin the coat, but cause a lot of pain to your Persian cat.
http://www.pelaqitapersians.com/persian_cat_grooming.html
Hope this helps! And your cat is gorgeous!!
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
6 Mar 08
Hello huni i just love your reply so very helpful thank you for going through the trouble, matts are not coming out just by using my fingers and the little sod sat on the terrace whilst i was out yesterday and we were having gail force winds well you can imagine how he looks today i'm sure he does it on purpose !!! I managed to get one of them dematting combs for cats last week and it has helped a bit but really i need to get my mum to help me with this cause it is definately a two person job and doing a bit at a time as i don't want to pull his hair to much and make him sore, it is just unbelievable the mess he managed to get in on those few days i was'nt present to groom him, i am just checking out that fantastic link you gave me, once i have managed to solve this problem i will post you a handsome picture of him, but i can tell this is going to take me quite a while to battle with but i will not give up.
1 person likes this
@zydecokitten (451)
• United States
6 Mar 08
taramoon, your Basil is a beauty! If the problem is very bad I would have him shaved or at least shave him where the mats seem to be if they are concentrated in one area. They are so hard to get out of long haired cats who have an undercoat. If you do not want to do that I would cut out the mats at the base of the fur this will prevent Basil from being too touchy as we all know they hate to have anyone work on them.
I wish you luck on this and hope you have had a complete recovery.
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
8 Mar 08
Thank you hun i agree with you about the bathing would make matters worse we are very slowly getting them out with scissors and leave in kids conditioning space and the dematting comb on bad spots just will post up a photo once we have got him looking his best. Have a great weekend
@zydecokitten (451)
• United States
6 Mar 08
PS. I don't like the idea of washing him until you get the matts out. Also I am not wild about the idea of spraying him with a detangler, you do not know how toxic those chemicals can be to a cat.
1 person likes this
@Ceciliah (56)
• Canada
9 Mar 08
Hi,
We used to bred Persians and that fluffy undercoat can get quite bad especially if it gets wet. If you take the top of the mat when it is dry and carefully pull it apart bit by bit you end up with a much smaller mat to deal with and it is much easier to get rid of then a large one. A bit of cornstarch brushed through the whole coat can help prevent mats from forming too. It also cleans the fur and keeps it dry. I hope that helps a bit.
Sincerely,
Ceciliah
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
10 Mar 08
Hi Ceciliah thank you very much will definately buy some cornstarch, i managed to battle threw quiet a fur matts yesterday but some are so bad they can't be pulled apart he's one of those very fine haired persians so my battle is on going but getting there slowly i did go and speak to my local vet today who could groom him but as he's not to fond of other people he's have to be tranquilized and don't really like the sound of that either so keeping that as my last result. Luv Tara xx
@theproperator (2429)
• United States
6 Mar 08
I almost hesitate to suggest this, since your cat is so pretty; but I had a friend whose cat had the same problems, especially in the summer, and she would just shave him like a poodle. He really hated getting his fur combed when it was knotted, so it was better for him (after teh inital day of embarrassement, anyway). Plus he was nice and cool for the summer, too.
When the hair starts to grow back, it will be easier to keep up with the knots from the beginning, too.
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
6 Mar 08
Hi there thank you yep this suggestion had come to mind cause it can't be very nice for him with the matts as they must be pulling the skin, i think he'd do more than die from embarrasement cause he is well pampered and poshed up, and i have to scraggly no breed at all kittens i can just see them now rolled over laughing at him if he was to be shaved..Keeping this opcion to my last result.
1 person likes this
@Makena1968 (682)
• United States
5 Mar 08
I used to raise persian cats, and keeping them dematted was a constant worry for me. It seemed some of the kitties had fur that would mat up more than other kitties fur. Kind of like peoples' hair. Do your cats go outside at all? If I kept mine inside and if they weren't too active, their fur didn't mat so bad. A few times I took certain cats that got so bad to a pet groomer, and if it was during the summer months, I'd get them shaved. They looked funny for awhile, but they loved it. Sometimes I'd bathe my cats, too, with special shampoo, that would help detangle their fur. Other times I'd cut off the mats as best I could. I don't know if there's any real easy way to prevent matting fur in Persians, but if you don't brush them every day, it'll just get worse. Good luck!
1 person likes this
@taramoon (740)
• Spain
6 Mar 08
Thank you Makena yes my cats are all indoor babies, but i have a little terrace where they sunbathe and sit and they walk along my room, yesterday we had high winds which has made my battle worst, 3 hours last night trying to detangle the mess....lol....and this morning little sod went sliding across my wet floor all to get even more mattts. I will continue battle later...think it is a two person job one to hold one to brush and cut.
