How to Remove a Fur Mat

Fur knots are painful to your cat. They pull the skin underneath and can cause irritations and abrasions. Removing them is often difficult as the area is sensitive.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Scissors
• Comb
• Coat detangler

1. Choose a time when your cat is calm or sleeping.

2. Locate the mat with your fingers.

3. Gentle slip one blade of the scissors between the skin and the fur mat.

4. Cut the mat, being careful to cut perpendicular to the skin.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as needed to reduce the mat into smaller sections.

6. Once the mat is in small sections, use your fingers or a comb sprayed with coat detangler to gently tease the mats out.

Tips & Warnings

• A second pair of hands to keep the cat calm can work wonders.
• Simply cutting the mat into smaller sections helps relieve the stress on the skin under the mat. This removes much of the pain the cat feels.
• If the mats are bad, take several days to slowly cut and remove mats.
• Always stop when your cat gets stressed.
• Never cut the fur mat parallel to the skin as it is all too easy to cut the skin.

[steenaface]

on 3/3/2009 Um don't you mean cut PARALLEL to the skin?