hair matting, cause of?

Okay, the cat is back to normal now, but I'd like to know a cause of what happened. I have a 10 year old short haired cat, declawed, spade, and overweight. All of the sudden, about 8 months ago, she started to form large, thick mats of fur, that eventually went from her neck to her tail. None on her head, legs or tail. These mats were impossible to cut, they went all the way to her skin with absolutely no separation to clip underneath it. Very, very thick mats with absolutely no way to unmat the hair. I was at a loss as to what to do! One day she was fine, and it seemed like the next, it just started. It seriously started at her neck and preceeded to work it's way down her back and sides until she looked like one large, very thick mat of hair with a head and tail! I could have set from now until doomsday and would never, ever have been able to even unmat one of them. I was very hesitant to take her to be groomed, since she comes close to a heart attack whenever she has to leave the house(always been inside, pretty afraid of going out!), and I KNEW it would take sedation to be able to cut all of her hair off. Fearful of losing my cat, I was slow in doing anything, when all of the sudden, it seemed to work in reverse. I started finding the mats, whole, in the floor. What she was doing, was losing the mats, intact, from her head to her tail, exactly like she started them. It's like all of her hair clumped with the new hair growing in and when the new hair got a certain length, it released the mat! Over the next couple of months, all mats fell out in the order they started, neck to tail. She's now back to a wonderfully soft cat with short hair. In ten years, she's never done this before, and I can't explain why she did it now! No health issues, she acts the same, eats the same, everything normal! I realize I should have taken her to the vet, but with no other physical symptoms of anything wrong, I hated to, it's sooo traumatic for her to leave. Any ideas? I mean, really, the hair matted all the way to the skin in a fashion that I couldn't even get small, sharp scissors between the mat and skin. So weird!

 

Zoom Groom - a great brush. You can get them at PetSmart or order online.
My cats love to be Zoomed.
Perhaps she's just too overweight to be able to properly groom herself.
But I highly recommend a Zoom Groom and give her a daily brushing with it.

 

But grooming really doesn't seem to be the issue. She still constantly is licking and grooming, not to mention when she's brushed. It just seemed to come on very suddenly, and the mats were so dense and close, that neither her nor I could comb or groom them. Upon finding the first, I immediately grabbed it(like a hairy stone!)and tried to find enough separation between it and the skin to either comb thru or clip. The density stayed thick and hard directly down to her skin. Then another, and another, until she was covered. By the time I was at wits end(SHE acted normal and unfazed thru it all)and I thought there was no recourse but to attempt sedation and somehow shaving or surgically clipping the mats, the original ones at the neck felt looser. It was then evident that the entire mat was going to loosen and come off whole, so it just seemed like a waiting game. Daily I found large clumps on my floor, with beautiful, normal, soft, unmatted fur appearing on my cat daily also! It's just like she stopped shedding for awhile, and the unshed fur someone fused to the incoming hair. After awhile, it released it's hold, and my beautiful cat emerged again! Very, very strange! I've had indoor and/or outdoor cats my entire life, and have NEVER run across one that did this!

Oh, and I WILL be checking out the zoom groom, it'll make brushing her a whooole lot easier! Thanks for the tip!

 

been doing some online research (I like to google) and mats can develop quickly. The odd part is them just falling out. Does your cat normally shed easily?

 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 406AAiMok9

 

There has never been a problem before with her shedding. And in her 10 years of life, she's never had one mat before, not at all. The part that really boggles my mind is not only did they fall out intact, but they came out in the order they started, from neck to tail. Everyday, you could see a little bit more of a normal cat! I don't know, and I probably never will! It just seems like all of her hair, all of a sudden, decided to NOT shed and fuse with the hair underneath. Then, just like it formed, the hair "released" it's hold on the undercoat, and poof, a new cat! LOL!

 

Wow I have been watching this thread and I have never heard of something like that.... I have had cats my whole life and I have been lucky to have never really had to deal with mats. I have also worked in many many pet stores and still never came upon something like that. I'm glad that it resolved itself as it occurred.

And yes Poof!! new kitty.... I guess your kitty needed a new fur coat. :mrgreen:
would love to see pictures of your kitty.....with her new fur coat...

 

Just a thought here...you say she is 10yr old so my first thought was perhaps arthritis. She may have just gotten to the point where she can't crane her neck around and bend to hit her back areas.

Another consideration could be injury. Cats are very good at hiding when they are not well, it's instinct.

It's been my experience that anytime some behavior or symptom just 'suddenly' arises, it's best to check it out because it is unusual. I would definitely take her to the vet just to rule out or treat potential problems.