Did you know short haired cats can get mats too?
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (64169)
United States
July 13, 2011 8:14am CST
I didn't until Sassy got some when we first got her.
there are 4 factors that make short haired cats mat...
1 - illness (not Sassy's problem nor Gizmo's - coming soon)
2 - being overweight
3 - not being interested in grooming themselves
AND
4 - not being pet enough by people to assist in hair removal
When we first got Sassy, she was afraid of the other cats and hid in the living room. We put food and a litter box in there, but she just wasn't responding.
Then I discovered she had gotten mats on her sides so I went in there with a brush and started grooming her.
Our gal friend "J" would also come over and help brush her until we finally worked the mats out. By then, Sassy decided she had enough of being afraid and wanted more human contact and it never happened again, because she was always looking for pets.
Well... now to Gizmo's story...
Gizmo is one of our feral cats. Or actually more semi-feral, because when he wants human contact he comes for it.
Mostly he'd rather you just left him alone, and I'm pretty much of the opinion that if a cat wants attention they'll come to us for it.
However, he was pretty much not around most of winter and until we got back from our little trip in May. I guess he missed me or something, because he started coming for pets again at night.
And I discovered he had some mats on his back and sides.
Well, while messing in the green shed, I found the cat brush I had gotten for Sassy, and I brought it in.
Ping LOVES being brushed, Scamp and Sparky do too, but Giz is afraid of that brush...
So, after several tries, I finally just GRABBED him and brushed him as long as I could hold on to him.
The next time he came for pets, he was down to just one remaining mat. So, the next time I could grab him, I worked on that side before he got away again.
This morning... well... okay 3 a.m. ... he came for pets and I had gotten the last mat! That makes me feel good, because as hot as it is, I'm sure not having a clump of hair on his flank has got to feel better!
And yes, he does have 2,3 & 4 as reasons that he would mat. So, I hope he continues to come for pets to keep reason 4 from happening again.
Did you know a short haired cat could mat?
Have you ever had to get mats out of a cat's fur, long or short?
I recently had to cut a few small mats off Oliver's chest, but he's NO short-haired cat!
5 people like this
13 responses
@GardenGerty (169463)
• United States
14 Jan 16
Princess continues her glossiness. She gets pet when she wants and she chews your arms off as well. No mats here.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
17 Dec 15
I iknew long haired cats can get matted b ut did not know about the short hair ones.The cat I had was all black b ut a bit of white under one eye.She loved to be brushed and to wake me up in the morning b y patting my lips with a soft paw. she never scratched me then she sat don my chest and Looked into my eyes telling me hey wake up human Im hungry. lolm
We called her Midnight. we moved into an apt and theyt would not let us have our cat so we gave her to my mom who had a house and year. that way we got to see her tool
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
17 Dec 15
I've noticed that the short haired cats who mat aren't really good at grooming themselves for whatever reason. Timus, my white kitty, is an obsessive groomer, so are Rygel and Prissy. But Timus will groom other cats, and, in fact, has sort of given Pong a kind of hair cut on his head since Pong LOVES to have his head groomed. Rygel and Prissy have done the same thing to their flanks because they over groom.
@danishcanadian (28954)
• Canada
17 Jul 11
I imagine that if the hair is longer than a soldier's buzz cut, it can get matted, regardless of the animal on which it grows. As for being pet, if petting is one of the things it takes, then my cat will never EVER get mats. My husband and I can't keep our hands off of him. LOL We're always petting him, and he's a very affectionate cat.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
22 Jul 11
Amazingly, we've only had to have Rio groomed once, since I've attacked her with scissors when she's gotten other mats, and we cut those few out of Oliver - but his fur is different than hers... but Gizmo... he was badly matted - for a short haired cat
1 person likes this
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
14 Jul 11
I don't have alot of experience with cats. I do with dogs though. I have a Yorkie and we trimmed his hair this morning. I am still not done with it but went ahead and gave him a bath. I will trim him some more afterwhile. He has a ton of mats that will not come out. He gets petted all of the time and brushed but he still mats.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
16 Jul 11
I wouldn't have thought short haired cats could get mats too. I have had some long haired cats when I was younger that had to be brushed. They would get little mats if they weren't. They usually liked it alot too. I used to pet mine so much it's a wonder they had a hair left
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169463)
• United States
13 Jul 11
Princess has short hair, but is glossy and sleek. She seldom comes for pets but she is very active and does not have mats. Tiger is not glossy, and he drools. He mats up when he grooms because of the saliva. He likes being combed, though, or anything else that lets him be close to me. Creamery gets matted badly, he has fine, soft, fluffy hair that will mat easily. He misses some areas at the back of his legs and sometimes under his chin. He does not enjoy combing and brushing as much as Tiger, and he drools as well. I have had all kinds of cats, and many of them get mats.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
13 Jul 11
Solo was a mess from drooling before he had his teeth done, he still drools some, but NOTHING like when his mouth hurt
Oliver had fine hair too, but he's been letting me brush his back and sides, but the mats I trimmed off him were on his chest (the only lower portion of his body he lets us touch without trying to shred us!)
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
14 Jul 11
No, I didn't know that short haired cats could get mats in their fur. Don't think that our cat is likely to get them, although he is on the verge of being overweight. He doesn't care much for a brush but loves being combed. Like I've said before, we should have named that cat "Lover Boy". I've never known such an affectionate cat.
1 person likes this
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
13 Jul 11
I had a short hair cat that got mats in her hair. She was really old, and not much into grooming herself. She also didn't like to be brushed. I don't know if she was afraid of the brush, but she didn't like it. I also had to cut some mats out of some of my cats, but they were long haired and didn't miss it. Most of them thought that brushing was play time and they would attack the brush, and after awhile I would get tired of trying.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
13 Jul 11
Taillight thinks the brush should be chewed on, but the rest either like it or run... I was HONESTLY surprised to discover that Sparky likes it, I've never had a kitten like brushing before.
I've had to cut mats out of Rio's fur... we have a routine, the roommate distracts the front end while I cut the back end!
@kaylachan (84780)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
14 Jul 11
I've never heard of or had that problem with my short haired cats, and I've had several overweight cats over my lifetime who couldn't properally groom themselves mostly due to being so overweight they couldn't reach everywhere. In fact, I've had this one cat who couldn't groom himself properally. But, then again I probably avoided the mats because every so often I'd have to put him in the bathtub and wash the places he couldn't reach very well. Getting petted was never an issue either. He'd love attention from humans. I used to say if the wind blew right he would purr. Which wasn't far from the truth.
Saddly he passed away shortly after I moved out of my parents' house and moved to where I am now. (Not my current apartment, but my first apartment after moving) That was a few years ago. I miss him though and keep thinking if i... but I know it's not healthy to think along those lines.
1 person likes this
@hardworkinggurl (37062)
• United States
13 Jul 11
I did not really give that thought as I have not owned a cat, but it all definitely makes sense. If hair is not brushed and or groomed I suppose it will with time get all matted for sure. So this is very helpful for anyone with a pet/cat.
I am glad you are such a great cat owner, very informative and take really good care of your cats. I did know about trimming the mats off long haired ones, so great to know that continual brushing can help loosen the mats off the short haired fellows.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
13 Jul 11
I hear tell that if you groom the long haired ones you can prevent mats as well, like Rio, Solo and Oliver will let us get close to the areas that tend to get mats!
When Solo had his teeth done last winter, the vet shaved the end of his tail, because he had drooled and gotten it solidly matted! YIKES!
I honestly didn't want to even PET him he looked so bad!
But now he looks beautiful, not as beautiful as before his teeth went bad, but so much better than he has been looking!
