cat people I need help

One of my cats, Sean, has long, VERY fine hair. His chest and belly are full of knots. Yes, I know brushing him would prevent the knots, but he ABSOLUTELY will NOT let me brush anywhere except his head and back. Brushing anywhere else earns me getting bitten/scratched.

Any case, I am trying to figure out what to do about the knots he's already got. I managed to cut two them out, but got bitten for my trouble. At this point I'm considering taking him to the vet to have they sedate him and shave his chest/belly. Anyone have any other ideas? I would just as soon avoid getting bloodied again.

Awww Sean sounds like he very much knows his boundaries. I think your idea is a good one. My guy only likes getting brushed on his face, but he doesn’t bite, he leaves. But he’s a. Shorthair so it’s no problem. I’ve no experience with longhair.

Sorry. No experience with long hair either. When my Amelia got into transmission fluid (not in our yard, she roams despite my best effort to keep her close to us but she adores being out doors whereas my Helen is inside only) I could not even get a groomer to give her a bath. I bathed her three times to try to get the transmission fluid off of her and it was still mostly on her but it eventually wore itself off. I am not recommending a bath, just lamenting with you how hard it is when our little ones need special help grooming. HUGS Kit

Kitty, heaven forbid it ever happens again use Dawn dish detergent to get the icky out. Works wonders on grease/oil.

Yeah, Dawn is great.

Yes, thanks friends. I did use Dawn. Still took three times of washing her and she still looked like a drowned rat. My Dad got so scratched up by Amelia because she was so over the whole bath thing.

Best to get her shaved down at the vet, just in case any yuck has got as far down as her skin and needs removing from her skin

I remember a longhair cat who came into rescue, she had to be shaved right down and she would lash out at humans - I think they had to place her as a feral in the end, although exactly how the new owners were ever able to groom her I don't know

I just remember she would lash out at the humans, but would then smell food and would grab at the food from the bowl, run off with it, eat the food she had grabbed, then come back, swipe at the human again, grab another mouthful of food, run off, and so on