Conference misery::feline_v1

It might be another cat; however, it might also be something he managed
to do to himself.

Check with a good cat vet.

Unfortyunately, cat hair is very fine, and once clumped doesn't unclump
easily.

Whether he gets more depends upon how he got the ones he has.

Also, if he's an outdoor cat, try slowly converting him to indoors.
Saves a LOT of these problems.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

                In my experience, there is only one way to get rid of 
        the clumps once they are formed. Cut them out! The hair does 
        grow back properly. Then to KEEP them out, your cat needs to be 
        brushed regularly. How often, depends on the cat, conditions, 
        etc. 
                
                        /s/     Bob

re .2:

Rather than brushing, a fine-toothed metal comb might be a better answer,.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

If your cat is anything like mine, he'll love the brushing/combing, too.
(Once he gets used to it)

-Mike

Matted fur is a fact of life for long-haired cats.  If the fur is really
matted, it will be impossible to comb out.  You can try cutting out the
mats (but watch the scissors -- with longhairs, it's hard to tell where
fur ends and skin begins).  If the mats are really big, you might want
to go to a professional groomer, who will probably shave off the matted
areas.  My Persian had to have his stomach shaved last year because I
didn't comb him thoroughly enough after giving him a bath, and the fur
on his stomach got REALLY matted.  Fortunately, the fur on his sides
hung down enough so that you couldn't tell he'd been shaved unless he
was lying on his back or something.

RE most cats love to be brushed -- HA!  Try telling that to Jasper (the
aforementioned Persian).  He doesn't mind having the area around his
head combed, but if I try to comb his sides, stomach, legs, or, heaven
forbid, his tail, he has conniptions.  He absolutely hates it.  Sigh.

My other cat, though, LOVES to be combed.  Maybe it's because she has
short hair.  Anyway, she rolls over and over, reveling in the combing,
which makes it rather difficult to do...!

Incidentally, Jasper is an indoor cat, and he still gets mats, even though
I try to comb him at least every other day (should probably do it every
day, but he hates it so much...).

							-- Nina

We have had four short-haired cats since we've been married, and they all
loved to be brushed/combed.  The one long-haired cat we had absolutely
hated it!  It may have something to do with the fact that it pulls at the
long hair, whereas the comb or brush just slides along on short-haired
cats.

Jane

Liking to be brushed is probably a short-hair phenomenom. Mine's a short
hair and I can't get a broom out without my cat getting underfoot/attacking
the broom hoping to get brushed.

-Mike

Ditto the short-hair/long-hair brushing preferences.  Our short-hair will
brush herself on our hair brushes if we leave them out (which we discovered
one morning after I was accused of using Jim's brush, and showed him that
the hair in it couldn't have come from me....)

Jim has found that if he holds Chorniy's fur down above where he's brushing
a tangle out, Chorniy doesn't get quite so upset.  It keeps Jim from pulling
on Chorniy's skin (cats' skin is so loose that you really pull it around
when you brush them).  The procedure is hard for me to explain, but it's
analagous to a woman grabbing hold of a chunk of hair and brushing the
tangles out of the bottom half while holding onto the top so it doesn't
pull on her head.

Of course, it takes two people to brush out Chorniy's stomach fur - one to
restrain the fangs and claws and one to brush!
                                                                  
--Louise

RE. .0 TO 8

Thanks for all the information. I do use a comb, but the clumps are so thick
that the only way I've had any real progress is to get the comb between
his skin (root end) and the clumb, and literally 'pull apart' the hairs,
but this is 'very' time consuming. He does like combing, along with
any other form of petting, particularl under his chin and along his mouth,
and of course around the neck .

					Bob

Combing can help prevent this problem, but once you get REALLY bad matting,
the only recourse is to cut the mats out of the fur.  I've noticed that of
the long-hair breeds, Persians seem to be particulary prone to matted fur,
while Maine Coons don't have anywhere near as bad a problem.

--PSW

re: .7

Goonies loves brooms, too!

Attack the broom is his favorite game.  He wraps himself around the straw parts
and really gives it to the poor thing with his rear claws.  If you are very 
patient, you can sweep the rest of floor with Goonies, otherwise he must be
removed bodily from the broom and the room. :-)

BTW, he's a short hair and loves to be combed.

Susan

      I just recently saw an article on this.  Since, my cats are
    shorthair,I didn't really pay attention to it, but I did see one
    thing.  They recommended using a seam ripper to get the snarls out.
    I'll try to remember to look up the article and see what advice
    they might have for you.
    
    tlh
    

        I've often been successful at just pulling the clump apart, a
        little bit at a time.  You do have to be gentle, but the idea is
        to pull the hair loose from the clump.  I've had to do this with
        Richard a few times lately, as he has had a bit of a problem with
        the hair around his face clumping. 
        
        Tom

  My parents'  cat  (a long-hair, BTW) is 16+ years old and recently
  developed matted hair along the top of his back. The problem is he
  just can't bend the way he used to.

  Besides brushing  as  a  preventative measure, the vet recommended
  some  kind  of spray solution (I don't remember what it was called
  --  sorry)  to be applied to the matted hair. This solution helped
  work  the  matted  hair  apart.  The  worst tangles still required
  liberal  application  of scissors, but the solution saved a lot of
  cutting.

				Martin

  ps. He LOVES to be brushed and combed, long hair and all.

    You can get this "thing" in s pet store that looks like a small
    sicle that is really a pointer piece of metal with a razor blade
    inside, connected to a handle. Essentally, you poke thru the map
    with the pointand gently cut the mat open with the blade. Usually
    after 2 or 3 cuts of the mat, you can comb right thru the mat with
    a matting comb or even the regular steel comb. (I find that it goes
    easier if you use a little gromming spray on the tools.)
    
    Deb

    My two persians love to be combed.  I usually get out their comb,
    sit on the living room floor, and they fall over each other trying
    to get to me first.  Usually they don't wait for me to sit down,
    if they see me getting the comb out, they head for the living room.
    
    If I am combing Ashley, Skyler starts screaming at me to comb him
    first (typical little brother syndrome...).
    
    They get their fair share of mats too, but they purr like crazy
    when I comb them...
    
    A little positive reinforcement doesn't help.  After combing they
    get a hit of hairball remedy (which they love), then they get to
    chase the Pounce's *  I toss at them.  
    
    Paula

    The seam ripper does work very well.  The idea is to work it through
    the mat in the direction that the fur grows.  This way you don't
    have to butcher your cats coat.  Work on one small area at a time.
    Another big contributor to matting is static electricity.  There
    is a product on the market called Grooming Spray (available at cat
    shows and pet stores) that prevents static in cat fur.  A light
    misting before combing will work wonders.
    
    Jo Ann