File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Sorry, shitty cam.

One of my cats has these hueg clumps of fur on her back. I'd cut them off, but she's feral (swiped out of a woodshed) and won't sit still or let anyone touch her.

Will she live out the rest of her life with a matted back? Am I horrible at raising cats? A combination of both?
>> Anonymous
When my mom's old cat, who was pushing 17ish I believe, got real old his hair matted in the same way. We could never find a 'cure' other than having to take him to a groomers once or twice a year and shaving him down to basically some paw poofs, the fur on his head, and a sort of palm tree thing going on on his tail. His fur would come back dematted, but the process would have to repeat when his fur got bad again.

Since you say this one is feral you might just have to wait until she either trusts you enough to cut em off, or live with it. But, I guess if you figure its something you want taken care of and she really freaks out whenever anyone comes close to her... kitty sedatives and a real quick groomer?
>> Anonymous
it'll be uncomfortable for the cat, but its not an issue of life or death. Its not abuse either if you simply can't get to her. She looks longhaired so if there's no brushing of the fur about once a week she's doomed to mat. Your only choices really are to leave it or wrestle her to a groomer and get her shaved.. which will cost a pretty penny and she'd probably have to be sedated if she's feral
>> Anonymous
According to Animal Planet's Animal Cops, mats can get to pressing against the skin to the point that they'll cause skin problems.
>> Anonymous
My grandma has a stray cat, we tamed it to accept human contact.

Buy a soft brush, one not even meant to comb out fur.

Get some small pieces of food, anything which you can feed it bit by bit.

throw the food on the floor, leave your hand with the brush close to it.

let him/her see you coming with the brush (a glove might be a good idea)

stroke the cat slowly in a position they might like, such as small of the back or head/neck.

eventually, you can move the brush into other areas, maybe use a hand

itll take a while, but the cat will eventually associate brushing or petting with pleasure using classical conditioning. basically:
>> tigerfeather
>>64567
Er, that's partly true.

The worst part about mats is the fact that since they are just knots of fur lying against the skin, there is no airflow to the skin. Thusly, raw spots and fungi and all sorts of really nasty icky skin conditions are much much much more likely to appear. Skin "pinching" isn't seen as often, but cats DO have much thinner skin than most animals, and they can get rips and tears in their skin from the mats. That, coupled with the fungus and raw spots problems, and you've gotten yourself a nasty nasty vet bill and a very sick cat.

Take it to a vet that has a groomer. They can sedate the cat to be shaved. And yes, she will have to be shaved.

>>64286
Not terrible at raising cats by the way. It's pretty common in feral cats because they don't groom out the undercoat that we bred into them.....so no, mostly not your fault.
>> Anonymous
>>64641
If you get the cat shaved, make sure to post pix. This cat won't let anyone come near it at all?

When I try to brush mine, it's a battle to keep the cat from grooming and biting the brush.