Mats are the scourge of long-haired dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. They make the animal look bad, can be uncomfortable to the animal, and can make the area under the mat become dirty and infected.
If you groom your long-haired pet every day, you will probably not have a problem with mats. But if you rescued a stray dog or cat, got your rabbit or guinea pig from a pet store where it was not given proper grooming, or have not been properly and thoroughly grooming your pet, mats are a common problem.
With all matted pets there are two important things to remember! The first is, never give an the pet a bath before all the mats are gone and the pet is thoroughly groomed. The mats will become far harder to get out! Also, do not use scissors if the mat is close to the skin. It is very easy to cut your pet this way!
With dogs and cats that only have one or two smaller mats, you can use a mat rake (a sharp tool for breaking up mats like this one, though advertised for dogs, it can be used for cats). These tools are sharp, so be careful!
If the dog or cat is very badly matted, you will have to shave off the entire coat. The animal will look strange and it can take quite a while to grow back, but in this case it is the only thing to do. If you do not own a pet clipper, you will have to take your pet to a groomer and have a professional groomer do it. It will be expencive but your have to do it.
With a rabbit or guinea pig, brushing the mat out is too painful (I tried this on a friend's matted pig once and it was squealing horribly so I stopped.) If the mat is small you can very slowly and carefully cut it out, but usually, you should shave it. If the groomer doesn't do small animals, see if a vet will do it.
When the mats are taken care of, but the animal was not shaved,groom it well and then give it a bath (a dry bath for rabbits and cats!)
If the pet was totally shaved, wipe it's skin with a wet cloth and check for infection (this is common with badly matted fur).
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