Are you able to tease it away from the skin with a comb?

When we had cats with that kind of mat, we’d split it with scissors. You cut the top half of the mat off, but the remainder you take the scissor perpendicular to the skin and snip through the mat in a couple places so that it becomes essentially a couple close together mats… you don’t have to get all the way down to the skin, but it allows them the opportunity to try to work it out themselves a bit and generally relieves some stress on the skin of it’s tight and pulling. That’s the best advise I’ve got for the situation… Once it’s had a chance to grow out a bit it won’t be as tight and you can repeat the process. There’s a good possibility if just left completely alone when already in this state it will get worse by incorporating the surrounding furs. :\
I wish you good luck!

Sorry JR, I’m not well but I am reading….. I ditto CT and I have experienced what you just described in your last post with my Toy Poodle Molly.
Cut off as much as you can (the hard/stiff part) with the scissors, and try to tease the rest out with a comb. If you can’t – keep at it, as it grows you will.
Sorry if that didn’t make sense – maybe I shouldn’t have posted today….. Sorry!

If you can’t tease it out as is, then I agree that cutting into the mat would probably help loosen things.

If it isn’t pulling, then it isn’t going to really hurt anything. If it is pulling, then you will want to deal with is as soon as you can. I mean, Wooly will get mats here and there. I don’t fuss about them too much because they tend to be loose and away from the skin. If I can’t tease them out with the comb, then I just cut them. No biggie. If you’re concerned, I’m sure the vet could get in there with more precision. Or at the very least, she might be scared enough at the vet’s office to stay still enough for them to cut it off safely.

Ditto LBJ! Just change Wooly for Molly.

I love/d Molly, but I’ll never get another Poodle again – high maintenance. Either he needed to be groomed every day (not for me – too lazy!) or trimmed monthly (expensive) at the groomer, or option 3…. ”I” cut and combed the matts in between going to the groomer’s.

Imagine a knot in your hair near your scalp (I don’t know how I sleep to get them, but I do), that’s how Marlee would feel. If it’s on the skin pulling, it would hurt/cause discomfort. If it’s way from the skin – she may not notice it and it may not bother her (like me until I go to comb my hair – DOH!).

I’m not sure if the vet would totally get it out either with clippers if it’s that tight to the skin. I agree with the others about waiting a bit and trying the break apart if she’ll let you. Rabbit fur will usually come off like LBJ discussed with a comb in time

Another note… once it’s no longer so tight to the skin, you should be able to get the rest of the mat in one session. The easiest way at that point is to slide a comb between the mat and the skin and use it as a guard for your scissors, that way you can get closer to the skin without risk of cutting the bun. I hope that she cooperates and doesn’t hold too much of a grudge… Maybe she can get a special reward during or after having her “pants tailored?”

Lucky bunny!! What a good mom!

That’s great JR! Wish my vet did house calls for stuff like that. Wooly hasn’t had his nails trimmed for awhile because he refuses to let me touch his feet and my husband is zero help when it comes to holding him.

Is Utah too far for a house call from her? LOL