Cat found with two pounds of matted fur

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A cat received an extreme makeover after being found in Pennsylvania with several layers of thick, matted fur.

Western PA Humane Society shared a photo of the calico cat with several long strands of matted fur covering its body.

"The cat came in with years and years of mats and grime all over its body," the humane society said. "The amazing ARL clinic staff stepped up and shaved the pounds of mats off of the cats body."

The cat, named Hidey, was one of two cats belonging to an elderly man with Alzheimer's who was moved to a nursing home, leaving the pets behind.

"When they put him in the nursing home, I thought, 'Hey, he has a cat,'" relative Paul Russel told The Dodo. "The house was still open, so I went down and left some food for the cat until we figured out what we're going to do. Then somebody mentioned that he had a second cat. So I started searching around, and suddenly this huge creature darts out from under the bed and runs down to the cellar, and I thought, 'What was that?"

Russel took Hidey to the Animal Rescue League and Wildlife Shelter in Pittsburgh where veterinarians shaved off nearly two pounds of fur that had accumulated on the cat's body over several years.

"Hidey was really overweight, so that makes it harder for [cats] to groom themselves, and that's when you see matting happen," Western PA Humane Society Senior Marketing Communications Manager Caitlin Lasky said.

Hidey was later taken in by Russel where she is slowly beginning to acclimate to her new surroundings.

"Hidey's new owners have told us she was originally hiding under the bed in her new home, but now is snuggled on a warm cat bed on an open floor," the humane society said. "She also begins purring while being held."