Dog Fur Matting Causes

After shaving a pet may develop an itchy skin response.

Dog fur matting causes.

This occurs because tears contain a pigment called porphyrin that turns reddish brown with prolonged exposure to air. Mats can also form on the shoulders and hindquarters from the pressure of lying down. Mats are more prevalent in long haired dogs and cats especially during shedding season. Owners should watch to ensure that constant scratching does not cause the skin to become irritated.

The condition is caused by tangled knots or mats which cause discomfort and even lead to health risks. Fur can become matted for a variety of reasons. What causes matted cat fur. Clippers can easily cut loose skin if not done properly and safely.

Mats are caused by the tangling of fur and it happens for several reasons. Matting is dense or tangled clumps of hair in a pet s coat. The long haired dog sheds its hair into the coat causing small mats to form. In extreme cases the dog s coat will become what groomers call pelted when matting is very tight to the skin preventing proper air flow.

Small matted dog hair can occur daily because your long haired dog is continually shedding dead hairs. This shedding process is not like those breeds that leave hair all over your house. Causes of matted hair in dogs mats often occur in areas of friction such as under the collar behind the ears in the armpits or on the lower legs where the legs rub together or where the dog comes into contact with grass. The extra fur needs to be adequately extracted via a brush or else matting will occur.

You can t leave mats on dogs because mats cause the skin underneath to become red inflamed moist and yeasty. Matting and pelting prevents proper temperature regulation causes skin irritation hides parasites like fleas or other nasties and causes extreme discomfort and pain for the dog. Light colored dogs often develop a reddish brown discoloration to the fur near the inner corner of their eyes. It tends to occur on parts of your cat s body where there is a lot of rubbing or movement like between the legs under the chest under the tail and around the collar.

Mats can also result from dogs scratching themselves and getting their fur wet in rain or snow. If your itchy dog scratches herself often or bites at hot spots the fur becomes wet dirty and tangled. As new hairs grown in mats can occur very close to the skin. Homeless for the first ten years of his life amaze bobb had such badly matted hair that his rescuers needed to amputate two of his legs.

Severe mats pull and pinch and they affect hair growth. A dog s skin is thin like tissue paper and dense mats can cause it to become loose due to the weight of the matting. In the absence of other problems tear staining in this area is normal and is just a cosmetic concern.