Himalayan Cats / Discuss

Tara Kelly Photography    says:

Here's a great step by step way in getting ride of your Himmi's matted fur in the event it ever happens. I brush my HImmi daily and he doesn't mind it but hates to have me groom his bum area so in brushing him one day I discovered he had a matt at the back of one of his hien legs and I followed these easy steps in getting ride of the terrible matt!


Steps
1 Attempt to remove the fur mat after the cat has eaten. Cats tend to be more relaxed after meals.

2 Adopt a calm and soothing demeanor as you approach the cat. Have your manicure scissors hidden in your pocket as you pet the cat.

3 ThreeOnce the cat is relaxed, try to work out the fur mat with your fingers. Pull out the scissors if that doesn't work.
4 Snip down the middle of the fur mat, far from the skin. It's quite easy to snip the skin accidentally on longhaired cats, so work carefully.

5 Slowly work apart the fur mat with your fingers. Snip away a little more if necessary. Reassure the cat in a soothing voice as you snip. If she becomes upset, stop and come back to the task later.
6 Once you've worked apart the fur mat and it's clearly away from the skin, cut it off.

7 Reward the cat's cooperation with a kitty treat.

8 If the cat has several fur mats, remove them at separate times. The cat will quickly lose her patience after you remove the first fur mat. Build trust with a gentle approach and kitty treats to make future encounters easier.

9 Bring the cat to a professional groomer if the cat is unapproachable, if the fur mat is in a delicate area or if the mats are extremely tangled.

10 Purchase a hair-ball treatment at a pet store to help your cat eliminate a troublesome hair ball. Or feed the cat butter or a can of oily sardines.
Originally posted at 3:11PM, 14 June 2007 PDT ( permalink )
Tara Kelly Photography edited this topic 15 months ago.