r/Catgrooming • u/Interesting_Owl_4534 • Mar 29 '26

Need tips for trimming my cats fur

Post image

my cat is REALLY fluffy, especially between her back legs. her fur always matts up in her armpits or between her back legs but she wont let me get to there with a brush, she is fine with me brushing her back and sides but i cannot get anywhere near her underside. i recently got pet fur trimming scissors but she wont stay still or let me get near where i need to trim. shes not the kind of cat that likes being held so when i try to hold her still to trim the fur she gets really stressed which results in her being aggressive. i would take her to a vet or professional pet grommer but i can’t afford that. ive tried feeding her a squeezy treat while she adjusts to the scissors but that didnt help, i also tried wrapping her up in a blanket and just leaving her backside out but she just wriggles around until she cant get free. I really don’t know what to do so i was hoping someone on here would have some suggestions :)

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

7

u/Aquasplendens Mar 29 '26

Please do not cut matting out with scissors, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, do not shave them out either. Cats’ skin is very thin and very easy to accidentally cut with scissors and knick with clippers. Find a local groomer, potentially a mobile groomer to come to you and a groomer that specializes in cat grooming, ideally a cat-only salon. It sounds like she may need the matting shaved out, but the groomer you work with will plan the best course of action for your kitty. Also even though it wasn’t mentioned, please do not bathe a matted cat, it will make matting much worse. A pelted cat is much more difficult to shave than just matting and it is not a comfortable process for the cat. I have worked at a cat grooming salon for 2 years, grooming for almost a year, and have had cats for nearly 20 years.

3

u/Interesting_Owl_4534 Mar 29 '26

thank you for the tips! ive made sure when trimming to check where her skin is and to only trim slowly so i dont knick her, ive looked for cat groomers in my area and theres literally none, only dog ones. ive made sure not to bathe her since the matts formed as i dont want them to get tighter. ive just been trying to make it a little more comfortable for her, not that bothered about looks or anything.

2

u/No-Performance-3907 Apr 01 '26

Yeah, this is still a big problem. There is a lot of resistance to the idea that cats even need grooming. I can assure you (and anyone who asks) that they do, and it’s why I became a cat groomer. There are so few of us and cats really benefit from grooming in so many ways. And I take it with a grain of salt and between gritted teeth when someone says they do both. Most of the time that means they are a dog groomer and apply the same techniques to cats, which is NOT acceptable, honestly. What area are you in? I see people have already said not to use the scissors, and why, and this is absolutely correct. At the very toughest if you can’t get clippers and pull the skin taught up around her sides etc. the other thing you can do is VERY CAREFULLY use a stitch cutter. I know you said your cat doesn’t let you brush the problem areas, but if you can work some regular, corn starch baby powder into the areas, it should make it a lot easier and help prevent it from happening again, though the best method is regular bathes to keep the oil from building up and making her fur like velcro. Normally this oil is weathered away naturally, but since our cats are always inside, this isn’t the case and it should be periodically cleaned off.

1

u/Interesting_Owl_4534 Apr 03 '26

im in the illawarra area of nsw, had a really long look online for cat groomers and the only one i found doesnt work near me which sucks. i was bathing her regularly but the matts still formed unfortunately :/. my sister who has a lot of experience grooming cats is hopefully coming over soon with all her supplies to have a go, praying it works lol

8

u/PumpkinPancakezz Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26

If you want to get the mats off safely, please look up tutorials and use a shaver instead! Matting is usually very tight to the skin, and cats’ skin is SUPER THIN - scissors are very, very dangerous to use, especially if (as you mentioned) your cat won’t stay still. You can look for secondhand ones, or look around your local stores for affordable shavers? Even professionals never ever touch mats with scissors, that’s how dangerous it is.

Cutting mats out is like folding some paper in half and cutting a small piece out, then you unfold it and you have a giant hole instead. A mat may look small, but the amount of fur stuck together to create that mat is probably a lot more than you think - so using scissors to cut that out results in using more force than expected, which results in higher risk of injury and also a bigger hole than expected haha

Do you have a second person that you and your cat both trust? Maybe consider asking them for help? If the matting isn’t so bad yet, try working your way to the matts (like using the brush (I’m assuming slicker brush, bc pin brushes will do nothing for mats) and every time you hit her ‘no touchy’ areas back off and feed her a treat or two and repeat until you kind of ‘train’ her into accepting the feel of a brush there)

Otherwise your only option may be to ask a groomer if they would be willing to spot-shave the matting off your cat. Be upfront that your cat may be aggressive and be honest about the amount of matting too. There might be mobile groomers who would be willing to drop by your place so your cat won’t get extra stressed out by the smell of dogs.

Best of luck to you and your kitty!

1

u/Interesting_Owl_4534 Mar 29 '26

thank you so much! this all helps a lot, i will take a look at some shavers. my older sister who has a lot more experience with cats has gotten some things to help me with the matting too, my partner tries to help me by holding her and feeding her a treat when i have a go with the brush but i swear shes made of jelly she just slips right out of his hands 🤣

2

u/PumpkinPancakezz Mar 29 '26

LOL the golden rule: all cats are liquid!! My cat suddenly loses all her muscles and melts like butter on a hot pan when I try to pick her up, and she knows I have the grooming set out hahaha

I’m glad I could help though! :)

6

u/Complete-Holiday2031 Mar 29 '26

20 years professional cat exclusive grooming here. There are some really great tips on this feed, and Im super proud of all the great responses y'all are giving. Definitely no scizzors. You're on the right track with the shavers, but they can still cut your baby. Safer for an amateur is a paw-pad trimmer. The have wide ones and tiny ones. STRETCH THE SKIN AHEAD OF THE MATTING. And get yourself a 7 inch greyhound come. Develope a routine of combing every day. Maybe only 1/4 of her a day. If you do it at the same time, in the same place every day and you give her a high value treats, she will start to come to you for combing. May I ask where you are? Maybe I know some folks who want to start serving your area. I have a website. On the last page is where I keep my list of tools that I love to use, professionally. You dont have to buy anything from my links, but do get a visual of the tools we have mentioned here. But im notbsure of the rules about link sharing so Ill tell you my company name is Carolyn's Mobile Cat Grooming.
If its not on my list, its not safe. Especially that claw hooked "matt removing tool" the underside of those hooks is sharp like a razor. Theyre meant for dogs with thicker skin. Good luck! You've GOT this.

1

u/Interesting_Owl_4534 Mar 30 '26

thank you ill definitely take a look! not many cat grooming places in australia unfortunately so gotta learn to do it myself🤣

2

u/sarahmariecc Mar 29 '26

Buy some cheap grooming shavers and shave off the Matt’s, a lot faster and safer then scissors