Pete the Vet: Hairy can be scary if you don't groom your pets properly

Matted fur can happen in three main ways

Pete the Vet: Long haired dogs like Shih tzus need regular grooming.

As a vet, I hesitate before writing about coat care in pets. I recognise that professional pet groomers are the experts in this area: they have a combination of training, experience and expertise. My aim is just to highlight veterinary aspects of coat care.

The most dramatic situations that I come across involve matted fur, and this happens in three main ways.

First, long haired dogs and cats where owners struggle to keep up with routine maintenance. In theory, pets like Old English Sheepdogs and Persian cats should be groomed daily, using the right grooming tools and techniques. In practice, many people find it difficult to put in the time and effort to achieve this. Some people respond to the issue by regularly attending a professional groomer, before the situation deteriorates too far, and for them, this is the best answer. 

However, in other cases, the situation is left too long, resulting in an animal that’s miserable because of dense matted fur. This can act like an external object glued to the outside of the animal’s body, causing discomfort, and restricting normal movement. At this stage, it’s impossible to help the animal with normal grooming implements like combs and brushes. In theory, scissors can be used to free up the mats, trimming small sections of fur at one time, gradually working to release the mat. It’s easy to cut the skin while doing this (I have had to suture many lacerations after owners have tried to de-mat their pets at home). For such advanced cases, the only answer is to use electric clippers. Professional groomers are highly skilled at doing this, but sometimes the process can cause too much discomfort for a fully awake pet. This is where vets can help: we are able to give injectable sedation to pets, inducing a reversible, sleepy, semi-conscious state while the matted fur is clipped off.

The second common veterinary issue involving matted fur can happen to any dog or cat, but it’s more common in young or elderly animals: it’s when clumps of fur gather in delicate areas, causing secondary issues. The most common example is when a pet has a mild gastrointestinal upset, causing transient diarrhoea. If there’s long, fine hair under the tail, the loose faeces often sticks to this, and as it dries out, a solid clump of dirty, matted fur accumulates. This can act as a blockage, preventing the animal from passing faeces. 

Pets often don’t like their owners lifting the tail to have a look, so these animals are often brought to the vet with the owner reporting that they are constipated. In fact, on close examination, the problem is simply that the solid mix of dried faeces and fur is getting in the way of normal defaecation: the animal is straining to pass faeces, but it can’t get past the blockage. This has a technical name: “pseudocoprostasis”. It’s easy to fix, but again, sedation may be needed. Electric clippers are used to trim under the tail and the whole messy clump of fur and dried faeces is removed. To say this can sometimes be like taking the cork out of a champagne bottle is an understatement. This immediately resolves the problem and business as normal resumes for the pet.

Matted fur can also gather under the eyes and around the ears and the mouth, with the underlying skin becoming ulcerated and sore. Again, sedation may be needed to allow this to be clipped away.

The third type of matted fur is most commonly seen in elderly cats, along their backs. Healthy young cats are usually adept at self-grooming, licking and nibbling at their own fur, keeping the coat tangle-free and smooth. However many elderly cats stop being able to do this effectively, allowing matted fur to gather. This fur usually needs to be clipped off, but at the same time, it’s worth investigating why the matted fur developed in the first place. There’s often a medical reason, with several common explanations, and if they are not addressed, the problem will recur.

Dental disease is the most common example: when a cat has a painful mouth, they stop grooming themselves because of the discomfort. Multiple tooth extractions are often needed to remove the source of pain: fillings and crowns don’t work in pets, and they manage very well with missing teeth. Many elderly cats will start grooming themselves again once the painful teeth have been removed.

Arthritis is another reason why older cats stop grooming themselves: it becomes painful for them to twist around far enough to do the job properly. Medication gives great relief to such animals – either a daily dose of pain killer, or a once-monthly injection of a new monoclonal antibody which neutralises the pain-carrying neurotransmitters.

There are other common illnesses which can stop cats from grooming properly, including kidney disease, high blood pressure and an over-active thyroid gland. There are often no visible signs of these problems: a check from your vet is needed to make the diagnosis, and effective treatment can then be given.

The ideal answer when caring for pets’ coats is to engage a professional groomer, although this tends to be pricier in Ireland than in other countries. The VAT rate for pet grooming is 23%, far higher than the human hairdresser rate of 9%, and this encourages groomers to operate small scale operations with income lower than the VAT threshold of €37,500, so that they do not need to charge VAT. This explains why Ireland does not have the same type of chains of pet grooming salons as in other countries. If you’d prefer cheaper pet grooming at a wider number of outlets, then sign this petition for change, www.change.org/grooming_reform