My dog's ear fur is thick and matted. How can I safely trim it?

It's best not to risk cutting her with scissors if it's close to the skin like this. It will likely grow out, but may continue to get knotted. The best way to completely remove these mats is to use electric clippers. You can get these at the pet store, or take her to a groomer or vet to have it clipped. I hope that helps and all is well with Snowball.

Take the mats between your fingers and carefully and gently pull them apart. Then take a comb and gently comb them out. If that does not work you can cut them off with scissors (make sure you do not cut into the skin, it suffices to cut about 1/8th inch above the skin). Regularly brush or comb your rabbit to keep new mats from forming. Make sure you have someone hold your rabbit comfortably when you try to cut the mats

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Don't cut it! It is very very easy to accidently cut the skin when trying to cut out a mat with scissors. It is best to use trimmers (electric shaver) to shave the area off vs. cutting with scissors. If you don't have trimmers at home, you can just leave it until you are able to go to a groomer or to a vet to have it shaved. You can try spraying detangling spray into the mat and then very slowly and gently work it out, however this often requires a large amount of time, and a very very patient dog. Most won't tolerate this and it needs to be shaved off. Best of luck with Ziggy.

Unfortunately I recommend shaving them off. The reason for it is because it can be a very painful process for Coco to have someone detangle her matts. I would also recommend a groomer. Understand that if you do have someone try to get the matts out it can sometimes be expensive due to the length of time it can take. The quickest and easiest for Coco is to shave her and then brush her daily so this doesn't happen again. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

He will be fine. You’ve already applied the medication so don’t clean it as you may break the scab and start it bleeding again. This is a common injury and it will heal in a few days to a week. I recommend using clippers rather than scissors to trim the fur as it’s safer. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Max.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your question. Trimming the hair from between the toes can help prevent Luna from slipping on a hard surface such as tile and also help prevent mud and snow from building up between the toes. There are no products that I would suggest using to dissolve the fur as any chemical applied to the skin has the potential for a reaction. I always recommend using hair clippers / trimmers to remove the hair from between the toes. This is what I used for my own dog and it worked just fine. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Barni. The hair could be causing most of the problem right now. 2 schools of thought on hair in ear canals- leave it alone unless it's causing a problem and the other school of thought is to keep them plucked not matter what. Lots of hair in the ear canal can cause excessive itching and can make ear infections worse. Hair is full of bacteria which can aggravate the problem. Normally wax and secretions are produced in the ear canal and those are normally pushed along to the outside of the ear canal. This is a normal process of the ear cleaning itself. Hair causes an obstruction to this process and can lead to problems. Possible reasons for scratching at the ears can be flea infestation on and around the head, too much hair in the canals, an ear infection (ear mites, yeast, bacteria), or some type of skin infection involving the ears. I would advise a recheck with your vet or another vet if you need a second opinion. Typically when I see ears like this and the history you provided, I advise plucking the ear canals and then evaluating the ear canals for signs of problems. Plucking the hair often times requires some sedation/anesthesia due to pain. If there is a discharge in the ears, that should be examined under a microscope to evaluate for ear mites, yeast, and bacteria. If the ears are just inflamed, this could indicate problems with allergies. Once a diagnosis is made or suspected, a sound treatment plan can be implemented. This may include ear plucking, ear cleaning, ear medication, medicine for pain/inflammation, etc. I hope this helps. Good luck with Barni.