Cat de-matting

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

My cat has gotten so fat that he isn't able to groom himself properly on his back, and as a result, in the summertime his fur gets terribly matted despite my efforts to brush him regularly. (I keep hoping our other cat will decide to start grooming him, but so far no luck with that.) It's time to get the mats taken care of again. Last year I ended up taking him to the vet to have the mats shaved off, but unfortunately he tends to freak out when he goes to the vet, and they end up having to sedate him, which, in addition to being expensive, is stressful for him and fraught with potential health risks.

So I wonder if you know of someone who is experienced in cat grooming and makes house calls? I've found a lot of mobile dog groomers, and some of them say that they also do cats, but I wonder how good they really are with a cat who, while normally pretty placid, can get vicious when he's scared. Plus he weighs 17+ pounds so he isn't exactly easy to control.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Comments

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

If he's OK being transported but doesn't like the atmosphere of a vet office, perhaps bringing him to a specific groomer like PetSmart might be an alternative.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

stinky's kittens just off broadway does a good job inhouse, as far as i've seen. if your cat can't abide the transport either, i might still suggest calling them for an in-house rec.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

I was in there today and asked, and they said that there used to be people around who did that, but atm they didn't know of anybody. Sounds like it's currently an unoccupied business niche.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure which part of it he objected to -- the traveling, the vet office smell/atmosphere, the vet and her assistant...who knows. He seemed fine until the vet gently took hold of his ear to look inside it, and then he freaked out. (And there was nothing wrong with the ear, so it wasn't that she unintentionally hurt him.) Cats are so odd.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

If you haven't tried it and he has no counter-reasons to doing so, fish oil pills (standard gelcaps for humans, our cat will eat them whole now that she's realized they have a fishy center, but initially I cut them open and poured them on the food) helped our round kitty's fur mat a lot less.

We just cut her mats out with scissors so I don't have a groomer recommendation, sorry.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the fish-oil tip. I'll give that a try after I get the current matting situation figured out.

[elements.livejournal.com]

While this won't solve your immediate problem, you could consider trying a Furminator to help you groom him. They get the undercoat, which is very helpful in preventing matting.

[elements.livejournal.com]

Oh and if you want to try before you buy, I have one, and would be happy to let you borrow it for a few days.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer. I did just get a new comb, which definitely seems to get deeper into the undercoat than the brush I've been using, so we'll see if that helps.