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Mats and grooming
Dear Dr. Berg,
I have a Chow who has a couple of bad mats behind his ears,
and I’m scared to try to cut them out.
Any tips on how to do this?
R. R., Newark
Dear R. R.,
A professional groomer would probably be best able to help
you with this tricky problem. Groomers are people for whom I have the
utmost respect; grooming is very hard work that requires proficiency, patience
and persistence to get the job done right.
Imagine if someone asked you to trim the toenails of a dog that is
totally strange to you, and to do it all by yourself! I am far from an expert on grooming dogs, but
I’ll tell you what I know about mat removal.
If the fur is not too badly matted, you may want to try applying a cream rinse
and gently brushing to untangle the mat.
This method will salvage the most fur on your dog when you are
finished
With tougher mats, you may want to use a dematting
comb. This tool looks like 8-10 parallel
knives on an handle where the tip of each knife is safely blunted to protect
the dog’s skin.. Working the dematting
comb through the mat effectively cuts the mat into small strips, after which a
comb or brush is run through the mat.
This will often effectively untangle the mat while still leaving some
hair behind.
On the worst of mats, it may be best to simply cut the mat
loose from the dog’s skin. Sometimes,
however, it can be very difficult to determine just exactly where the mat ends
and the dog begins. Trimming too far
away from the skin with scissors will still leave a large mat, yet trimming too
close to the dog may result in nicks or cuts to the dog’s skin as well as a
subsequent visit to the vet to repair it (how much fun can we have in one
day?).
If you are fortunate enough to own a professional set of
hair clippers, gently work the clippers around the edges of the mat and the mat
can be gradually teased from the skin, leaving a bald patch behind.
If you are armed only with scissors, try working a comb (a
flea comb can work well) between the mat and the dog’s skin. Once the comb is positioned, cut only the portions of the mat that rest on
top of your comb , and you usually will safely avoid cutting the dog’s skin.
Rest assured that, in most cases, the hair that you have
removed during this dematting process will eventually grow back. To help avoid matting in the future, bathe
your dog regularly and brush his coat frequently, not only after a bath but in
between. You may even want to consider
taking your dog to a professional groomer on a regular basis to keep your pet’s
coat in tiptop condition. These days,
there are even groomers that will drive right to your front door an do the job
in your own driveway avoiding both the trauma of the car trip to the grooming
parlor as well as the stress of leaving your dog for the day while being
groomed.
Most dogs and cats enjoy being clean, and a well-groomed dog
or cat gets lots more kisses and hugs!
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