I need Grooming tips and help for a long haired cat.?

Posted by on Saturday, July 9, 2011 · 5 Comments 

Now, to begin with I’m going to say, I’m no stranger to grooming cats. I have had well over 40 cats in my lifetime, bath time, nail clipping, and brushing are all well known to me. But most of the cats in my past have been Maine Coon’s or mixed rescues, and one Norwegian Forest Cat. And while all are long haired the grooming needs are minimal, most of them didn’t need brushing at all. However, a four year old flame point Himalayan named Bingo entered my life 6 months ago. Hes a quiet gentle giant, at 14 pounds I thought he was fat (he is not), But now I’m beginning to suspect it’s all fur.
After receiving him from my mothers ailing neighbor, I immediately looked up his diet needs, grooming habits, and a whole bunch of information. I formulated a grooming plan, eyes, ears, nose, and fur, and it worked…. for a while. It seems the past two months Bingo (renamed Mango), has been getting intense mattes on his neck. I didn’t know how where or why these cats came into being, I brush him every night. I tried loosening it with a regular brush and comb, but ended up having to use a matte comb. And now they have been appearing every morning, I’ve been getting them out, but i cannot continue to use a matte comb or even put this much stress on his fur, his neck, and him. I refuse to shave him, there is no point in a long haired cat if you just shave it. But I’m at a loss on what to do. I have never had a Himalayan or even a Persian before. And this is getting ridiculous. Do you know what I can do? The internet hasn’t been terribly helpful on how to prevent his problem and…. I’m… I’m at a loss really. Any help or tip will be greatly appreciated.
He gets fish all the time, and is on a wonderful diet, his coat is incredibly soft and well… being white I would say it glows rather than shines. I was wondering if there was a preventative measure i could take.. perhaps.. so that it mattes less in the area.

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Comments

5 Responses to “I need Grooming tips and help for a long haired cat.?”
  1. ladystang says:
    July 9, 2011 at 10:41 am

    work corn starch into mats, use slicker comb to break up, then a wide tooth comb
    also could use the mat scissors to thin out

  2. Poolia says:
    July 9, 2011 at 11:30 am

    I have the same problem. I’ve had mostly short haired cats but recently got a long hair, that keeps getting mattes. We got a fish oil supplement from our vet. (They eat it, you don’t rub it on them, apparently.) But its hard to get our cat that its for (actually for a different cat of ours with dry skin) to eat it. If you can get your cat to eat the stuff though, fish oil supposedly helps to make their coats shiny and sleek. Other then that and brushing them a whole lot like you’re doing. …I’m not sure if there’s much else you CAN do about it.
    We’re taking ours to get his matts professionally taken out by the vet. Maybe see your vet too? He might have some tricks that are better then fish oil. :D

  3. wickedaxeguitars says:
    July 9, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    Great tips from everybody so far! Yes, a fish oil supplement, or feeding oily fish (tuna, halibut, mackerel, salmon, etc) really helps the coat from the inside out. I feed my cat Soulistic brand food (from Petco) in the packets, it has big chunks of fish meat in it and you can see the oil in it–my cat has the glossiest coat and hardly sheds at all! (Sorry to sound like an advertisement there, but I love the stuff!)

    When you bathe him, do you use a creme rinse? That should help. A shedding comb is great for getting out dead fur (it has staggered teeth on it). I have heard great things about the Furminator pet comb product, but have never tried it myself.

  4. J C says:
    July 9, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    What ever you do never use scissors to try to cut them out, I know you wouldn’t do that but just in case someone might think about it. A friend of mine was cutting hers out and actually cut the skin of the cat and had to rush him to the vet.

    Long hair cats are high maintenance. I am planning on shaving my cat this coming summer like a lion. My vet showed my a photo of his cat during the summer and she looked sooo cute. Below are some cut and bad cuts but cute.

    I use furminator to comb through his fur and it gets out a lot of the lose fur and keeps the fur pretty tidy. I bought mine on ebay (older model), it was cheaper.

    P.S. My other friends cat doesn’t like to be brushed anymore because of the knots would hurt him, so be gentle.

  5. sunshine10 says:
    July 9, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    I would think to just shave him down one time will give you more to work with..you can keep on top of it after that..pulling on the knots isn’t easy for you on him and if it were me i would just shave him and then use all the other advice you received on not letting it get that bad again.