# Rescued a Himalayan



## squid (Jul 23, 2011)

Greetings all... :yellbounce

So I found a Himalayan on the mean streets of LA the other day, started feeding it, and brought it home with me today. The fur has straight up dreadlocks in it and my scissors won't cut any deeper. Cat is super friendly and happy to be here. I'm keeping him in the bathroom for the next couple of hours.

How long should I wait before I let him out into the rest of the house? 

Should I limit how much I feed him at first? He was just ravenous and devoured a can of wet Iams and a good part of the bowl of dry food. 

Any hints on getting the mats out? Would rather not take him to a groomer just yet, I'm sure this is already stressful enough. 

Anything I should look out for / do / etc that I'm forgetting?

Thanks!

pic:


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Welcome!

It's so great that you rescued him, poor little guy. I would take him to a vet straight away to get him check out thoroughly, and then to a groomer. Your vet may have one of their own. Matts are very painful and need to be combed out or removed as soon as possible.

It's also possible someone is heartbroken and looking for him. You could post a "found" message on Craigslist and also look at the lost notices.


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## pinkrobot (Jul 14, 2011)

You're a great person for rescuing a kitty like that. 

Definitely get him to a vet, and you might also find out about scanning for a microchip. If you can't find an owner, then it sounds like this little guy just found a great home!


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Hard to tell how long he's been out in the "mean streets". If it was recently, then the owner was very negligent in letting this poor cat's coat mat into such a painful mess. Himalayans are high maintenance as their soft coats must be groomed daily and shampooed from time to time. A lot of Himmy owners have their cats shaved down in the summer months. If you cut into the mats to break them up to give him some relief from their pulling, do it _very slowly_ and _carefully a little at a time_....as the skin may get pulled up with a mat, and it is fragile and easily cut.

Kudos to you for taking in this sweet cat and looking after it. You're doing the right thing by not overfeeding it. Add more food very gradually, and you might want to clip away his fur around his anus so he doesn't get poop caught in his britches. (use snub-nose scissors and cut at lest an inch diameter around the anus). It's messy to clean his bum and britches if he gets a very soft movement. Keep him confined for a day or two in one room. Check him for flea "dirt" especially on back of neck, back and base of tail. If he's got fleas, you certainly don't want them all over the house. Flea dirt looks like little specks of dirt, but if you put it on white paper and add a drop of water, it will be brownish red (from blood sucked).

He looks like a Blue-Point Himalayan, certainly over 1 or 2 yrs. old judging by the color of his body coat.


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## squid (Jul 23, 2011)

We bathed him in a flea bath for kittens--the fleas are FAR worse than I thought. I think that big matte on the back is from blood and flea dirt mucking up the fur and making it stick. Tons of fleas came off and tons of dirt, but there was still a ton on him. Got a bunch off with a comb. Think I'll wait till tomorrow to do the Advantage. Did a little trimming as well. I think once the flea situation is remedied that matte will grow itself out to where I can chop it.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

It's great that you're taking such good care of him, but you really shouldn't wait any longer to remove the matts. They won't "grow out", they'll become more entangled and pull on his skin more, making it hurt even worse. Please take him to a vet/groomer next week, if at all possible.


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## Rebbie (Jul 11, 2011)

marie73 said:


> It's great that you're taking such good care of him, but you really shouldn't wait any longer to remove the matts. They won't "grow out", they'll become more entangled and pull on his skin more, making it hurt even worse. Please take him to a vet/groomer next week, if at all possible.


This. Mats don't just go away, you have to go to a groomer to get them properly cut (goodness knows it was hard enough to keep 'em off my golden retriever baby when we had her... things would mat behind her ear, and even if I was brushing to keep any more from appearing while waiting to go to the groomer they would still mat even worse!).

Besides, the cat probably needs to be looked at by a vet to make sure they don't have any other problems. Being out on the street for so long, or neglected for so long, may have left it with some health issues.


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## Cory (Jul 22, 2011)

Welcome to the forum!


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## lyttleravyn (May 5, 2010)

Groomer or vet, those mats need to come off ASAP. From the picture it isn't just matting, its a solid pelt. And no no no scissors. Skin can get caught up inside the mat so you can see it and can be cut very easily. Working at a vet I have seen some horrific wounds from owners using scissors on a cat. If too stressful, a vet may even suggest sedation to shave them down. The matting is extremely painful and could be causing problems to the skin. Also do not bathe the cat while it still has mats, water can penetrate the mats but they can't dry properly so the mats just tighten even further - imagine how a brillo pad looks/feels. 

And I agree with Marie, the mats will not grow out. Not even a little bit. Matting starts from oily, greasy dead coat getting stuck to the live coat. As more hair dies, more gets stuck together into a tight, dense mess. The fleas and dirt, etc. definitely didn't help. If left alone, the matting will just get worse.


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