BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cats mats in back fur

I have a long hair cat who was declawed before I got him. well his back is one pile of mats and since he was abused in his other home he is not too fond of being brushed etc. my husband and I cut out as many mats as we could, except for trying to brush him, is there anything else that I can do to get rid and/or prevent these mats? Is it caused form him being declawed? He is a very beautiful cat and it is too bad that he was abused because he finds it hard to trust us after 9 months. thanks for any help anyone can give me

Does he like to lie on his back? My cat does, and she gets mats on her back in a certain spot sometimes--presumably because she rolls around on the carpet and tangles the hair all up into a mat.

Being a long-haired cat, he's more likely to get mats, of course.

Is the problem with brushing that he doesn't like being handled, or is it brushing itself that he doesn't like?

Declawing causes a lot of problems for cats, both physical and emotional, but I can see no reason why it would cause mats in the fur.

Knitpick,
Have you tried giving him a little kitty treat or a little organic catnip to relax him a bit? So sorry that he was abused. You must earn his trust now. It may take a while. I have taken in a stray and it took a long, long time for him to realize that no one is going to hurt him. Long time meaning 2yrs. but he as mostly an outdoor cat so I did not have the opporunity to deal with him daily as you are. Try taking him into a quiet room and taking to him softly as you begin to brush him. If he pulls away just let him go. You must take "baby "steps with him. I know it will be very frustrating but hang in there.

Two things you can try: he may have been abused w/ a brush, so that may be why he doesn't like it. Try getting a glove/brush - it's like a glove w/ little nubs on the palm, it won't do as good a job as a brush will, but it will help, and he'll think he's being petted!

Also, PetsMart carries a product called CalmDown, its a mild sedative, you can try giving him that, although the holding him down to put it in his mouth may upset him.

I'd try the glove/brush first and see if that helps any.

Two of my cats suddenly had big wads of matted fur at the base of their tail on their back. Both have long fur. Dave does NOT like the scissors but she has learned it does not hurt. I cut as much of the mat as possible, from the top of the wad of fur. Then, I rub the fur that is between her skin and the bottom of the wad, I rub it between two fingers. This seems to loosen the fur wad from the fur between the two fingers. At the same time, with my other hand I am stroking and scratching and loving my kitty (this distracts her). Periodically I stop working on the fur wad and scratch her around the matted fur. Because the fur is matted up, they cannot scratch their backs there on anything, and my cats love to be scratched where the fur wad is. Anyhow, spend a few minutes doing this and some of the matted fur should come free. Once it is gone, I keep brushing her there so hopefully this mess will not reappear. One cat has gotten this twice, the other only once. If I have not explained this clearly, let me know and I will give it another try. And it seems to be painless to my cats.