[Kitkat]

Hi everyone. Haven't been on in a while...but hope you all had a great summer!
Quick question - Going to get snowy to a vet soon for his 6 mo. appointment but in the meantime, anyone know what this may be or if it sounds like normal malt skin?
I don't really know how to describe but this past week I noticed little points of what feels like to me "sagging skin" on both his back legs and then on the side of his shoulder/neck area. I don't think skin tags really describes this since it's bigger than a skin tag would be and sort of droopy feeling with folds. At first I thought they were fur mats but now I'm not so sure. I can't see anything at all b/c of the fur.
What do you think? Anyone out there ever experienced this?
Thanks!

 

[Kitkat]

I feel really stupid -

I don't think what I describe above is at all accurate, TG!
I took a closer look over the weekend and it looks like he's developed some mats despite all the regular brushing - ughh!! They are so tough to get out and as much as I was trying not to hurt him, I think I did a couple of times and so I stopped.

In my defense though - It is so hard to see what's going on with all that fur and I've never had such a furry baby before. I guess his hair is so fine that the clumps actually felt like skin - also they are really very close to his skin. I feel bad. Must work on them some more b/c I don't want to cut them.

Now I know what everyone on here's talking about when they're dealing with matting of the fur...
I know this has probably been discussed over and over but any quick suggestions are much appreciated.

 

[Starsmom]

Since he's in the 6 months age range, what you might be experiencing is the beginnings of "coat change". He's losing his puppy coat, and the adult coat is starting to come in. The best way to combat this is to brush a couple times a day, and keep the coat clean with weekly baths. You may find it time consuming, but a mat free coat will be more comfortable for him. :thumbsup:

 

[Katkoota]

awwh Catherine, I am glad that you found out what these are! Yes, mats are no fun!
I agree with, Marsha
Wish you and precious Snowy many happy mat-free years to come
hugs
Kat

 

[The A Team]

Hi. It the matts are really close to the skin and you can't get them out without hurting him, you may want to have a professional groomer get them out. She may have to shave them out. If you can get a small pair of sicssors between the skin and the knot you can cut through the matt and try to separate it with your fingers pulling a tiny bit of hair away from it at a time.

What ever you do, good luck.

 

[Aarianne]

Since he's still pretty young and learning to "enjoy" grooming, you still might want to consider working the mats out with scissors so he doesn't start associating grooming sessions with pain.

You don't need to cut the whole mat clump right out. If you cut only in the direction of the hair growth (straight through the mat, from behind it so you don't risk cutting his skin) and only as much as necessary to be able to gently work the remaining mat pieces apart with your fingers, you should still have some longer hair left in the area.

Edit: Oops, Pat already beat me to it... I keep getting interrupted at work.

 

[Snowbody]

Make sure when you're brushing that you use some kind of grooming aid -- some sort of detangler, either a pre-made commercial one, or some people dilute their conditioner and put it it a spray bottle. It will help a lot. Also when I brush i do it in layers...for instance on his side I will pull all the hair up in an area with one hand and start brushing each layer down so you're starting from closest to skin. Kind of hard to describe but if you do it you'll understand. That way you get at the mats at the source instead of your brushing being superficial. I'm able to brush Tyler once a day with a thorough brushing like that.

 

[Kitkat]

OK - I'll need to try out some of the suggestions. Thanks!!