Hi Michael,

   Well, I've just brought home my new adult Persian, and what I am about
to tell you is from what I learned from the breeder (mine is a purebred) and
various Persian care books and just a day's grooming. However, the breeder
had me sit and watch the cats get groomed, bathed and blown dry before I
took my girl home.

   You need to groom every inch of fur every day with a Greyhound Comb
(available from MANY online suppliers) - not a brush they tear out the hair.
First with the coarse side, then the fine side. There is no shampoo that
detangles mats. You must bathe longhairs monthly.

   My cat is a retired show cat, so she is used to daily grooming and
weekly baths as well as being dried with a blow drier. In  your case, you
may have to use a professional groomer as the mats get worse, not better. In
the worst case scenario, the groomer will give your cat a shave. Then as the
hair grows in, you can get her used to daily combing and monthly baths.

   Try persiancats.com and Google for other Persian/Himalayan sites with
grooming info.

call your local groomer...if matts are left untreated it can be terribly
uncomfortable because as the hair matts get tighter and tighter, it pulls on
the surrounding skin. If they're  left for even a short period of time, the
skin can actually split and get infected. A matted cat that gets wet in the
rain or snow can develop mould on the skin or can even develop a fungus,
sort of like an athlete's foot. These hurt both the cat and you because
these conditions require immediate and extended veterinary care (big bucks
$$). Because flies like to lay their eggs on animals, a matted cat can
actually get maggots on their skin that can literally eat the cat's flesh
from under the matts..another costly problem for you to have treated, not to
mention terribly painful to the cat or even life threatening. I hope you get
the problem solved. There are treatments out there to help loosen the matt
and enable you to remove them...you can call your local pet store for
advise...or as previously suggested...get a groomer to shave them for you.
Good luck!