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I have a Siberian kitten (13 weeks old) and he has several mats very low in his fur and close to skin folds. Even if I wanted to trim or cut out the mats, this really is not possible due to the location of the mats and the inability to separate them completely from the folds of skin around his ear and in his armpit.

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    The only solution I know is to trim away as much of the mat as I can, then tease what's left apart with brushes and combs. A professional groomer might start with a bath and something like hair conditioner, I suppose, but that's expertise I don't have; my beasts have all been short-haired.
    – keshlam
    May 20, 2015 at 14:51

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I had the same problem once with my cat.

Usually I can groom the fur with a special brush my vet gave me. Some bigger mats I pick apart with my fingers and then run the brush through. But if the mats get really thick and/or close to the skin, the only way I can think of (and the thing I did that one time) is to go to the vet and let him shear the fur.

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    Pet groomers might or might not be cheaper than vet, if they exist in your area.
    – keshlam
    May 31, 2015 at 3:47
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My persian cat had the same problem. It had become pretty serious, so we got his hair trimmed "like a very close shave". Today he is fine and fit. So, just go and get your cat a shave and bath with a shampoo designed to kill the mats. And from there on, everyday, you need to groom him/her until the hair has grown a little and clean ears atleast once in two weeks.

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  • Could you elaborate on the "Clean Ears"? Is that with a q-tip? Soap? Shampoo?
    – Thronk
    Jun 1, 2015 at 17:42
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    To clean the cats ear's, you will get a specific solution for that purpose in pet shops. You can use cotton bud wrapped on one end of the holder. Pour a two or 3 drops of that solution inside your cats ears, gently massage until the ears inside is moist enough, then moist slightly the cotton bud and start cleaning inside and on outside the cats ear. Take care while cleaning inside, make sure you don't enter too deep. In pet clinics they do this cleaning, so I would suggest you first take a look as how those people do it (Just to get visual idea about it) and then you start doing it yourself .
    – PsychedGuy
    Jun 2, 2015 at 3:29
  • I thought that one of the best things about having cats was that they cleaned themselves. Now that I have two (don't get me wrong, I love them), but the cleaning themselves part? Yeah, not so much... Then again - they are still kittens, so hopefully they will learn this behavior.
    – Thronk
    Jun 2, 2015 at 15:18
  • Cat breeds like Siberian, Persian etc need a little more care than the local cats. But however far less maintenance than dogs. The least you can do is, at least once in 2 or 3 months, you can take your cat for a full fledge grooming where they will clean ears, bath,trim, cut nails etc. Make sure you get your kitten vaccinated to make him/her immune to feline disease
    – PsychedGuy
    Jun 3, 2015 at 3:39
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You could try picking the mats apart, starting from the outside, until they can either be combed out or trimmed out.

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