Tonight, when I was out feeding in the enclosure, Dash allowed me to get close to her and pet her. I felt all the mats on her back, neck and shoulder and knew that I couldn’t put it off any longer. Not able to afford the proper type of clippers to clip off mats- the one I have now gets hot to fast and sputters. I decided to remove the mats from Dash the old-fashioned way; seam ripper, bandage scissors and comb and brush.

Mike isn’t able to hold the cats for me any longer, so I knew I needed help. I placed a call to Hailey and bless her heart, she came over about 7:00 p.m. I had already captured Dash and worked on her mats a bit, but it was difficult to scruff her and de-mat her without getting attacked in the process. Hailey was kind enough to help me, and we alternated between one of us holding Dash as secure as we could, while the other one worked on the huge mats she had.

It wasn’t easy and after an hour, Dash decided she had enough and she bolted all growl and hiss and snarl and leaped for freedom, only to find the chicken wire door in her way. There were a few tense moments where she was clinging to the wire, screaming, growling, snarling and hissing and Dobby who was on the other side decided it would be great fun to climb up and challenge her! They were nose-to-nose and fighting between the wire, when I managed to grab Dash with a towel and get her down after a few moments of struggle.

It took us three hours to remove the mats and I am so ashamed of myself for letting her get to this state. She was so stressed that she pooped on herself, so after all she had endured, she also had to endure a clean-up on her rear. I told Hailey that it would be at least 3 days before Dash would allow me close enough to her again, but that I would make it a point to touch her daily and brush her so that she wouldn’t mat up like this again.

Bless you Hailey for dropping everything and helping me with this feral kitty. Without your help, I would have been hard pressed to get the mats out of her and stay safe at the same time.

Poor Dash, I truly didn’t mean to scare you girl. I was only trying to help you and I know you feel better now than you did this morning.