Is it safe for a vet to untangle matted dog fur instead of shaving?

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Tulip! The mats are painful, cause itching and could cause skin issues. If she will allow you to shave them (do not use scissors) then great. Other options are traveling groomers that come to your house or scheduling a sedated shave down with your vet. Maybe they can provide an oral sedative before hand so you can catch her and make the car ride less awful. I hope this helps and happy holidays.

Removing those clumps will be stressful for your kitty. The best would be to make an appointment with your vet for a shave under sedation. There could be sores underneath the mats which should be taken care of as well. Once the mats are gone I suggest you regularly brush and later comb Star to help with his grooming and clumps and mats will not reoccur.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Little Bit. I recommend having her shaved down by a veterinarian or groomer. A veterinarian is a good choice in case in sedation is needed. I hope this information helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! i would see if your Vet can do it first. They will be more gentle, it may not look the best, but they will be conscious over her age and fragility. If she can not tolerate it then they can discuss maybe using light sedation. I hope this helps!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Lily. Poor girl! Yes I would get those matts shaved out, they will be painful to her. I'd also recommend having her seen by a vet. She's stopped grooming herself for a reason, and it could be it's painful for her to groom. Arthritis is common in senior cats. A chronic illness, such as diabetes and kidney disease, could sap a cat's energy and lead them to not grooming. Both of those are common in senior cats. I recommend having her seen by a vet this week, and getting her a geriatric blood panel and urinalysis. I hope this helps!

Matts can be very painful to a cat, and if Buttons gets upset when you try to pull the hair apart or comb it, I would not do that anymore. Likely these matts will need to be shaved out. You can take her into the groomer to get that done, or if you have pet clippers, you can do it yourself at home. I do recommend having a groomer do it, however, as cats sometimes don't like being shaved and a groomer would have more experience on how to do it without stressing her out. Good luck, I hope this helps!