This kitty, the latest to arrive is about 3 years old long-hair smushed nose so part Persian. Their fur mats when you look at them, and this girl has been living outside so long, she is one ball of mats! I’m calling her Mattie- they found her wandering out by the lake and brought her to me.

She is friendly enough and so I started working on her mats. I know better than to bath her right now, though she is filthy and she smells like scummy water. But if I do get her wet, those mats will seize up like concrete and even shaving her would be impossible.
Knotted up fur is both painful and distrurbs the cat because it restricts freedom of movement. It is also not healthy and can be dangerous. The mat starts on the end of the hair, and then the fur mats up underneath the knot. As the matted mess congeals behind the knot, it begins to pull the skin up and causes dandruff, dry skin or other irritations. If the mat isn’t worked with or dealt with, then the surrounding fur gets involved in the tangle and the kitty can be in a real mess health-wise.

When the seam ripper broke, Mattie looked at me as if to say “What now?” I thought for a few minutes and then remembered my crochet hooks upstairs. I ran up to get them- and by golly- they work really well to pull the mats away without pulling skin or hurting or cutting the cat. I try not to use scissors unless necessary because the last time I was un-matting Ms. Dash she twisted and I cut a slice out of her ear!

The vet laughed when I told him and he treated her in his waiting room and said it happens all the time! Not by me, not anymore. My shaver died months ago, so I worked on Mattie until about 2:00 a.m. then brushed her out and gave her a bath. What a stinky kitty she was for a bit there. I had two washbasins of fur left over at the end of her ordeal.

She has been fed and is sleeping upstairs near the sun spot. I will take her in on Monday and have her scanned for a chip. She looks pure and I suspect (or at least hope) someone is really missing her right now.

At any rate, need a good mat puller that won’t hurt the kitty- use a crochet hook and a seam ripper- but be sure and buy the larger seam ripper so it doesn’t break.