Need a DIY recipe for cat fur detangler--can you help?

Honestly giving the cat a bath is just going to make the mats in his fur even worse. I suggest just having the cat completely shaved and starting from scratch, he wont want to sit their while you pull and tug on his trying to remove them.

The only safe detangler for a badly matted cat is to be shaved. While you may enjoy your herbs and essential oils, all essential oils are considered toxic to cats, and so are a great many herbs. Cats ingest them, and they damage the liver and kidneys, so never use any of your nice herbal/essential oil products on your cat! He needs to have the matts removed as they eventually rip the fur out and cause sores. Bath him either in dishwashing liquid or human baby shampoo, or one from the pet store specifically safe for cats. Ideally you get the mats out prior to the bath, as the bath can make them worse. They make special combs to break up mats. They are like a tiny metal rake with blades, and rip through the matt. It's difficult to cut them out, as it's easy to clip skin along with the hair, resulting in a trip to the emergency vet. A matted cat however does not enjoy being groomed, and may scratch or bite. See if you can get him in to a vet to have the mats shaved out, it's really the best and safest way.


ETA - too big to type in comments. Had a famous holistic vet give a lecture on holistic treatment options, pros and cons, and part of her talk was why NO essential oil should be used in cats. Not enough studies have been done, and in her learned opinion it wasn't worth the risk. What you read on the web isn't necessarily true. Lots of web sites recommend tea tree oil for lots of things - and it is toxic. Reading something on the web does not make it true, and I'll take the advice of a holistic vet over what I read on the web.

And what advice do you have for the poster on how to get the vegetable oil out of a cat's fur??

There are NO detanglers that will work on the double coat of a matted cat. The cat needs the coat CLIPPED free of mats.

Actually, you CAN use only certain essential oils daily on cats, but ONLY therapeutic grade oils, nothing synthetic, and only a few therapeutic grade scents including Lavender, Frankincense, Cedarwood, Geranium, and helichrysum. That's it. No phenols or ketones. NO PERFUME GRADE OILS, ONLY THERAPEUTIC GRADE!! And only diluted with vegetable oil, which will help the mats. No other carrier oils can be used. 50 drops of vegetable oil to 1 drop of therapeutic grade oil.

What I've listed is extremely safe for cats and is not toxic at all if diluted with vegetable oil. This is verifiable on many websites, and should help with your mats. Good luck!