If you have a severely matted dog and he or she is fearful of the clippers, is sedation an option?

If the dog is severely freaked, I personally would start at the vet, for light sedation and to have the worst of the mats removed. I had to do this with my Westie when I first adopted him. He had been malnourished, neglected and abused, and was freaked out by all sorts of stuff, and had a skin problem to boot. The first grooming was done with light sedation at the vet.

Yes, if the dog is healthy and the matting was so bad that there was no other way of dealing with it. I recently worked with a badly matted dog who was of a nervous disposition but I managed to sort most of the problem out with scissors. I think, where possible, other options should be explored before sedating the dog.

Yes. It is the best and most humane option if severely matted.
I went through this many years ago with one of my cats.

Vets often (always?) sedate dogs for routine teeth cleaning. Other than the usual disclaimers around the use of general anesthesia, it’s pretty safe.

If you are talking about Rudy he might be too old for sedation. Try scissors first. You’re vet probably won’t sedate him

@tinyfaery Not Rudy. He’s all nice and fluffy.

Yes, sedation is a viable option in some cases.
I’d choose an in house groomer at a vets. I am on my third extremely fluffy Himalayan/Ragdoll cat that I shave every summer. My old guy that is now gone was extremely mellow and did not need any sedation, the 2nd was not and I always had him groomed at the vet in case of any issues with the medical treatment on standby.

My newer guy is also very mellow and I don’t anticipate an issue but we will see come June.
I strongly suggest finding a vet with grooming services.

Then, yes. A vet could sedate the dog.

Often a good groomer will be able to get into the dog’s head and accomplish the task with minimal trauma. Using scissors on a nervous dog is tricky, I wouldn’t suggest trying it yourself or allowing a groomer to try unless they are very experienced.

You do not go to the doctor to get a haircut so I would not take my dog to the vet for a haircut. They are not groomers, there is a huge difference. However light sedation might be helpful.

I have been grooming for a lot of years, I rarely run into a dog that I can’t handle. It is what good groomers do for a living! But I stress the “good” part and throw in experienced as well.

I would never have a dog knocked completely out for grooming, that is overkill for sure in my mind.

I agree with those who say try a scissor cut. Do it yourself if you have enough time. It probably won’t be a great haircut, but that’s not the object the first time. If the dog is still freaking out, quit and put a call in to a groomer or vet. I think scissors will be less scary than clippers. The dog may start to feel better as he realizes the old matted hair is going away and that you are the one helping him with the problem.

So what happened? What did you do and how did the pup react??? I just watched this video and it made me think of this question. I do this with dogs all the time, you just have to be able to get into their heads. I must say though when I am finished, they look a lot better than poor Edie did!

She was clipped with scissors and is all better.

Good ending, glad to hear it.