Need Advice About Brainball

The Ballicus Mom here. As readers of the Ballicus Blog know, Brainball is a big, floofy cat. He's prone to getting mats on his back, near the base of his tail. It's the only place he gets them. In the past, we've cut his mats out -- we can easily do that with our clippers, and he hasn't minded.

Well, last night, we cut a mat off Brainball which turned out to be a lot bigger than what we'd thought. He now has a big shaved spot on his back, near the base of his tail.



He's had shaved spots there in the past, but this one is bigger, and it's bothering him. He's doing a lot of hissing (very unlike Brainball -- he's not a hissy kitty) -- not at the other Ballicai but at us (hubby and me). Can't say I blame the big ol' boy.

We thought that perhaps the hair over the top of his bald spot was tickling him, aggravating him; that patch of skin is probably sore and tender because of the mat that was there. To try to bring him relief from the tickling, we trimmed back some of the floof over his bald spot, and then we thought perhaps bag balm might soothe his skin.

I applied some, and it seems to have made poor Brainball even more agitated. Too late I realized he hates the goopy consistency of the bag balm. He's hissy, upset, frustrated, and stressed out, and I'm at a loss as to what I can do to help him. I don't want to make things even worse.

I'd appreciate any suggestions or ideas as to what I can do to help my big Alpha Boy.