matted hair

Question
Our 7 year old cat has long hair on his feet.  It has become matted and hard on one foot.  He won't let us touch it, can I use a shampoo to soften the matted area and check for infection or ingrown nail?  Please help, Thanx Jim

Answer
Hello Jim,
Unfortunately there is no shampoo or conditioner that will loosed the matted coat enough to check what you need to check.  Quite to the contrary, the addition of water to matted coat serves only to tighten the matting even further.  The only thing you can do is to have that area clipped down, or shaved off.  You might call around to the groomers in your area and see if they will do this for you as a walk in service for a nominal fee.  If you lived in Austin, Texas, I would tell you to stop by my shop and I would assist you at no charge!
Good luck with this and thank you for your interest in this site.
Thank you,
Tomay