What *Not* to Let Happen to Your Cat

These pictures may seem a bit gross, but I am always horrified when a cat is brought to T, a groomer, who is so completely matted that the fur must be slowly shaved off - as if you are carefully skinning the cat. It's a good thing she's so good with the animals, because it is *so* easy to nick a cat when shaving them.

This is what she had to shave off the poor cat, who was only about a year old. This is almost the entire body of the cat!!! Because the cat was so incredibly matted, she had to get extremely close to the skin to free the cat.

You can see how thick the fur was. You couldn't even pull it apart - it was seriously like another skin to the cat.

What I've been wondering, though, is do mats hurt? If the fur is so tangled that it becomes a second skin, there's no brushing it out - is it painful for the cat? Also, when long-haired cats are stray/feral and have no one to brush their coats for them - does it get matted like this? Can it be as a protective mechanism, if it does?

The dogs kept trying to grab the fur while I was taking pictures. I almost wanted to give it to them as a toy, but felt that might be a bit disturbing... We'll stick with fake fur toys for now. = )

P.S. Rio went to her new home in New Hampshire. They have lots of land for her to run on, two kids, and two cats. She'll be well taken care of. It made me sad to have to say goodbye, though, because I know I'll probably never see her again. But a good ending, so that's all that matters. = )