How to get rid of stubborn matted fur on a cat
Stubborn knots and clumps of fur during a coat change can seem impossible to brush out, especially when standard brushing is ineffective. This makes routine grooming frustrating and leaves owners worried that the mats cannot be untangled.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1cutting the knots out with sharp scissors
- 2taking the cat to a professional groomer
- 3slowly picking away at the mats layer by layer with a brush
- 4using clippers
- 5Getting a haircut
- 6Brushing the dog's ears a few times per day, especially after playing outdoors
- 7Brushing the cat
- 8Cutting off the matted hair
- 9Plucking stuck shed hair to prevent mats
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“She has developed a patch of fluffed up hair on their back”source ↗
“This cat has never been at a vet and would lose its life if I tried to.”source ↗
“He keeps getting a mat on his ear, i’m usually able to brush it out but sometimes it gets bad.”source ↗
“Any tips / advice for how to prevent it from happening?”source ↗
“My girl (14 years old, still gorgeous) is having some knotting problems during her latest coat change. She's gotten knots (like clumps of fur) along her coat, which I'm afraid may not be untangleable... she's an indoor/outdoor cat (I live on a closed/dead-end street in a super quiet area). It seems like brushing her the knots will never come out, what do you recommend?”source ↗