male cat's back fur is sticking together

by Nadi
(Ontario, Canada)

My neutered 2yr old male, medium length fur, sticks together and mats all the way down to his skin. It feels hard and sticky. It starts near the tail and works its way up the back. It is now 1/2 way up his back. It hurts him and he doesnt want it touched. This happened once before and I had him shaved by the vet. They told me it was some kind of male hormonal thing, but we have since had him fixed. So now its happening again. Any other ideas as to what is going on? Is it possible he doesn't groom himself enough? He won't let us brush him...he's very skittish. Or is something wrong with him?

Answer by Kate
Hi
Well mats in the fur can be caused by just a general build up up oil from the skin and general dirt in the air and from the ground. It may well be that he likes to roll around on his back a lot and doesn't really groom himself well enough in that area to remove the build up thus resulting in the matted fur.

Unfortunately the only way to prevent this from happening is to groom him regularly yourself in this area. i know it can be difficult but it is very expensive to have to keep getting him shaved when the mats appear plus they can be very painful for him.

I have some pages about how to groom and bath a cat which you may find of further interest here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-grooming.html

best wishes Kate

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