CAT MATS

We have a cat with very long, fine hair.  This cat was starved when we got him.  He shed all over the place.  As his health returned, the shedding ended.

But then we got a lively puppy that the cat hates.  At the same time, the cat got an abscess, as cats do from fighting.  We didn't realize this for a while, but he quit eating and now I know he could not groom himself; the stretching backward pulled at his wound.

Once he recovered from this he was again too thin and now all matted.  I was waiting for warm weather before getting him - *gasp* - shaved.  (Poor kitty ego.)  (I also dreaded giving him kitty tranquilizers.  I don't like pharmaceuticals.) Meanwhile, the fur matted as it grew and the poor guy continually had masses of fur re-felting right at the surface of the skin. This was the problem; they weren't the kind you can just cut out.  They gripped, and they were huge - like continents.

(Yes, I have discovered here that cat fur indeed felts, more tenaciously than wool.  I've pulled things out of the dryer that have one little spot wadded into a tight, tight - wad.  Once I wrestle open the wad, I find a little bit of cat fur clamping the whole thing together.)

But it also just seemed like he wasn't fully thriving; he wasn't too active and his style was of course cramped by the obnoxious dog.*  And the mats.  I had also seen in Pitcairn's book (long may it live) that ~"if you want a cat with kidney problems, feed him only dry food and leave it out all the time."~**  I figured it was time for an upgrade.

Skip to the end:  I bought the cat some high-quality, organic CANNED food ("Wellness" brand) for all of these reasons.  I have been supplementing his diet with a spoonful of canned food every day.  (No doubt more would be better.)  The first thing I notice is that the mats are loosening; he is licking parts of them out.  We are now cutting them off.****  He's also a lot more active, jumping all around and playing jungle warrior.  Since this is the only change that has occurred in his life, I conclude that the higher quality food - as canned food is compared to dry, for a cat - improved the quality of his coat to the point that it wasn't so fine.  For that reason and probably others involving the characteristics of cat fur, the fur is no longer matting as it grows.

As a note, the dry cat food we give him is also a high-quality, 'natural' brand.

In conclusion, if you want to get rid of your cat's mats, give him canned food.  If you already do that, give him really high-quality canned food (I always get these at feed stores as I haven't found them in grocery stores).

OUTCOME: THIS ACTUALLY WORKED!


* Just from the cat's POV, of course.
**  Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn D.V.M. and Susan Hubble Pitcairn
**** Be extremely careful cutting a cat's fur; their skin is paper thin and also may pull out very far; it can get in the way of the scissors without your realizing it.