I have two beautiful 6 year old, fixed, long-haired, white cats from the
same litter.  One is an indoor cat (he's snuck out a couple of times and
proven that he lacks outdoor survival skills!) but the other is a hunter
and spends a lot of time outside.  As a result, he's never been quite as
sparklingly white as his indoor brother, but he had always been good
about grooming and keeping himself as clean as can be expected.  During
the past 4-6 weeks, he developed clumps of matted dread-locked fur near
his hind legs.  I tried to brush them out, but eventually had to give in
and cut them off when it became apparent by the way he flinched when I
touched them that they were tugging on his skin and causing some pain.
I initially thought he must have sat in something sticky which
contributed to the matting, but he's now developed more kitty dread
locks on his belly, chest, and sides.  He's been lethargic lately, which
I attribute mostly to the oppressive heat and humidity we've been
experiencing all summer, but should I be more concerened about this?
He's otherwise acting and eating normally.  Is there a better way for me
to deal with this than cutting huge chunks of fur off?  Shampooing won't
work because, a.) if I tried to give him a bath, I don't think I'd live
to tell about it, and b.) like dread locks, these cannot be loosened
just with shampoo and water anyway.