thea2003

My little cute, Chinny, one of the kittens from the litter Moggy had in March is still here. She is BEAUTIFUL, but no one seems to want her. Penelope JUST got adopted Dec23.
Chinny has a lovely, long coat with a beautiful mane coming in. BUT...here is the problem. She matts like CRAZZY!!
I brush her often, but, she matts within HOURS. Im not even exaggerating. I brushed her at night and the next morning she had a huge matt in her mane. It is always in her mane. They are BIG matts. We are brushing her twice per day now, and still she manages to get matts. Her fur is very cottony in texture. Her mom never matts, her sister had a shorter coat than her and the two that are in their own homes since they were kittens havent mentioned anything about their kittens matting easily.
Do any groomers have any suggestions, or any cat people who have had cats who matt so easily? She will never have a nice mane if i keep having to pull out giant matts.

Here is the Gorgeous Girl!

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VZ-Doberman

I would shave my Persians. No matter how much I groomed the matting would be bad. When you have one that has that cotton type coat it is a pita.

Pretty kitty.

Jazi

Silly to ask but what kind of food are you feeding, and does she have access to the outdoors? There are lots of fun things to roll in outside that will encourage hair to tangle and mat, and quality of food does affect coat. I only have a shorthair myself (though her tail is medium-hair) and I noticed a drastic improvement in her coat when we switched to a better food.

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falnfenix

she looks like she's a maine coon mix. they felt easily.

i have a coon mix and a balinese, both of which are medium hair cats that mat up easily. really, you're dealing with daily brushing unless you want to shave her down regularly. i wonder if part of the problem is her undercoat? have you tried a furminator to get some of that undercoat out of there?

thea2003

Thanks. I really hate to shave long haired animals. I would do it as a very last resort, but it is just her mane that matts, I wonder if she is getting water in it, or just isnt able to groom herself well enough.

I never even thought of food. About 2 wks ago we switched her to a gastro prescription diet because she had loose stool and fecal came back negative, we are deworming anyways, but that might be the issue... hmmm.

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Jazi

I have found that, just like dogs, cats tend to do better completely off grains and corn. Saffron was on Science Diet at the shelter and while I think she may have been starving herself (6lbs at adoption, 8lbs currently and still can feel her bones very easily), her coat was a complete mess. No mats with her coat length that short but it didn't lay right and stuck out oddly in place. She's on EVO now and has been so for a year and her coat is sleek and shiny and soft, no more strange cowlicks or undercoat sticking out everywhere. She doesn't let me brush her either so the EVO was a godsend. It helps with some of her other issues as well so I don't think I'll be switching off of it any time soon.

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VZ-Doberman

The neck, pants and underbelly are the worst. From the pic she looks like she carries a LOT of coat in the neck area. Sometimes when they scratch at their neck that adds to the matting issue.

PorschaLei

My eldest cat matts easily so we have her on a long hair formula it works well, the food does make a dif


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RedFawnRising

What type of brush are you using on her? I'd use a good slicker that does not just slide past the dead cottony undercoat, but rather pulls it on out of there.

I'd then go back thru it with a fine tooth comb, to make sure you got it all.

She is gorgeous.

What's her personality like?

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Burns

In my vast experience of daily combing cats of every coat texture and length, and in varying degrees of matted-ness (is that a word?) I'd recommend a large and small straight metal comb - which I think works better on long hair than any other type of comb or brush.

I'm not a fan of slicker brushes, especially the ones without nubbins on the wire bristles - they are harsh and irritating to the skin. Plus I just don't think they work as well as other tools, and if you're going to spend time brushing her, you might as well use something that works well.

I like Furminators on certain fur types, but for very thick fur, I'd just stick with a metal straight comb.

Here are the ones I order for my work:
Master Grooming Tools Grooming Combs | PetEdge.com

I get the larger (medium/coarse) teeth, and the small (face/finishing) teeth. Honestly they don't look like they would do anything, but they work better than just about anything for cats with thick undercoats, both long and shorthaired. For very thick coats, I use the large comb first to get out the bulk or mats, then use the small comb to finish off anything that the large comb loosened up.

Concentrate on the rump, back of the hind legs, armpit areas, lion ruff around the front of the neck, and just behind the ears - which are all very easily mattable areas due to movement.

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DOB 2/17/07, red/rust, male neutered Doberman

dragonflyz

What a beautiful cat. Are people not interested in her beacause of her matting issue?I hope she finds a home soon.

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dobebug

Cotton coats in both long haired cats and dogs are the pits. My Afghan Hound had a proper coat which never matted except the period of time when he was losing his puppy coat and growing in the first adult coat. During that period of time I used a leave-in coat conditioner which I thinned out and sprayed onto the areas that tended to matt easily and combed in every two or three days (on the Afghan it was chest, elbows and all of the heavy coat on his hind quarters.

I'll second Burns on the recommendations on grooming tools for use on a coated cats--although one of our clinic cats is long haired and tends to be a little cotton-y. I use a medium tooth long haired dog comb on him (poodle people use them fairly often to get matts out of full show coats that can't be removed with pin brushes.

But part of the problem with your young kitty may be that she doesn't have a fully adult coat yet and may not end up with a cotton coat and the matting problem when she has an adult coat.

Good luck.

Hank

Do you use any kind of conditioning spray? Dry, staticy hair will mat much faster than healthy conditioned, hair.
And I would deff switch to a much higher quality food, that will play a huge roll in coat health

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thea2003

Thanks, I use a comb like the one burns posted, we have a slicker brush, but when I was grooming(for like 6 months just assisting), it was my least favorite tool. My very favourite tool is this Coastal Pet Products Li'l Pals Lil Pals Shedding Comb - Reviews & Prices @ Yahoo! Shopping

She has a nice personality, but is shy very shy at first. She was originally adopted out in the fall by a single woman who had a cat and dog, and was going to add a second cat. She lived with her daughter and SIL, they had made an apt for her. She was told it was ok to bring two cats and dog with her, and then she brought Chinny home, filled out all of the paperwork gave me the money and called me that evening to say she had to bring the cat back, the SIL doesn't want another animal. She was crying and obviously upset. In that 24hr period though, Chinny was purring and sleeping under the covers and playing with the grandkids.
We had another person come to look at her Christmas eve, but she has allergies to some cats. She said all she had to do was pet her and wait about 20 minutes. About an hour later she called back, she had a reaction to Chinny, so that was a no go as well. She is a nice little kitten, she doesn't put on a good first impression though.

I have a wide toothed comb, which is what I have been brushing her with, I feel all over her body and the ONLY place she is matting is her big huge mane. Even brushing twice per day doesn't entirely keep the matts away.

Thanks! I think she is gorgeous, too.
Honestly, I didn't even know she had a matting issue until about 10 days ago! So that isn't even something I was telling people, except the person who came to look at her X-mas eve.
I had one person tell me that something must be wrong with her and that I must be hiding it and that perhaps I should just keep her and to never contact her again, because my reason for "getting rid of her" was that it was never our intention to keep her and she is the last of the litter.
Apparently, if you are getting rid of an animal there must be something wrong with it- she really annoyed me lol. I responded back that I found it odd that she kept asking me if something was "wrong" with the cat, even when I said she could come and meet her if she wanted.

Thanks, I was sort of wondering if it was that she still has her kitten coat, although they have already gone through the "lost my kitten fluffy-ness, went bald and ugly and got my pretty new coat in finally" phase lol. Hopefully, her coat will continue to change- for the better.

I don't use anything, but I had thought of it and was part of the reason I started this thread, thinking maybe someone thought a conditioning spray of some sort would help, but I didn't want to gunk up a coat, if other people didn't think it was a good idea. We are currently experimenting with food and have switched to a grain free that no one likes, so we are on to a different food. I will make some suggestions.

Thanks everyone!

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BenVera

Ahhh, RFR, you know you're thinking about adopting this little girl (persuasive tone implied).

thea2003, she's a gorgeous kitty. I hope you find a loving home for her soon. Is she a dilute tortie? They're one of my favorites.

I have three Maine Coon mixes, and the only one who mats is my 5 y/o female. They are all on Orijen dry and because they're so finicky about raw, they get a grain-free wet food (Merrick 96% salmon or tuna) and diced low-sodium canned tuna mixed in sparingly.

But their diet doesn't seem to make the matting any less of a problem. Or who knows, perhaps if they were ever on a poor-quality diet, they could be loaded with mats.

I also use a Furminator for long-haired cats on her, but she doesn't tolerate it for long. The only part of her body that really mats is her hind end - pants mostly. Occasionally, I have to go through and cut out the mats. I think I'll have her rear shaved when it gets warmer.

Considering they're all MC mixes, their fur is all very different in texture and length. Priscilla has an insanely thick coat while Presley has a shorter, smooth, silky, semi-thick coat. I swear that cat never mats nor sheds. He's an anomaly.

I think I will try the long, straight, metal brush Burns recommended. I'd guess my girl has a very similar coat to yours.

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MeadowCat

She's gorgeous.

I noticed a distinct improvement in coat quality, and less matting (thought we didn't have a huge problem with it) when I switched my cats to an all wet food diet. They eat Evo.

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Lori Z

comb, only use a comb. Also I'd try a detangler. I know she is a cat so you have to watch but I'd use some Mane and Tail detangler. I'm using it behind Seb's ears because even though I comb every day behind his ears after wrestling with Eli (a several times a day) they mat, down to the skin really fast. So, I have been using the detangler and it is working out well. He has to have his mane all fluffy for showing so I can't cut out the mats, actually I did cut two out but had to figure out a way not to cut. I your kitty was mine I would cut her mane, maybe not shave but cut it back, have a groomer do it so it looks nice and even if you don't think you can. Those are my suggestions. Good luck, she really is a pretty kitty. Harv is mostly Main coon and he didn't mat like that, i know that type of sticky hair you are tallking about though.

RedFawnRising

Thea, that comb you linked to has waaay too widely spaced teeth to remove all the shedding undercoat.

That is why I tend to recommend the slicker--'cause most folks don't get all that coat out otherwise. Always go back over it with a fine tooth comb.

The ones I use are handmade and super spendy, but once you use them you don't want anything else--but that's doing pro work--for just a pet/foster situation, you can probably find something suitable and less pricey.

BenV, I already have a shelter kitty here who is shredding me regularly, over giving him his meds for an abscess (he was picked up as an outdoor stray and is all beat up), so no, wasn't considering adopting cute Chinny, just asking as I couldn't figure out why she keeps getting overlooked--she's so pretty.

Edit to add: This one should work for what you need-- http://www.showdogstore.com/chris-ch...ne-coarse.aspx

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Burns

Then you'll need a fine tooth straight comb on the mane. That fur tends to be downier/more cotton-like, so you'll probably need the small one for that area.

The other option is trimming it - clients with cats with really busy manes ask for this a lot because it gets in the cats mouth when it tries to eat. So I take normal clippers with a #40 blade and ever-so-slightly trim the tips of the hair off little by little, so they still have a mane, but its not so long and bushy.

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Gorrmae's Fantasy Red XIII CD RE CGC TDI
DOB 2/17/07, red/rust, male neutered Doberman

Lexi

No advice for you as both of my cats are short haired. The one thing I have to say is OMG she is beautiful!! I won't even show the pic to my daughter because I know she'll say, let's get her.

Her birthday is next Friday and she decided with her friend's party she will donate all the money to a cat shelter this year. I am a little disappointed she is not going with DRU but, as long as it goes to a shelter, that's what counts.

I hope she finds a home soon. She is too cute.

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Lexi and Jackson

Patches Mom

Go over with a wide toothed comb then go back over with a finer toothed comb after having Bouvier's for 20 years you can get some cowboy magic work a little into a mat tease it out with the comb you do not have to pull the hair so much. Or get the cat use to laying on its side back comb then re-comb in the direction of growth like some one said may just be getting rid of the kitten coat. In summer might use a stripping knife it will take out allot of under coat which will grow back before winter.