Hi! My long haired cat’s hair all over her back has started to mat and I can’t figure out why. It never matted before, and this started about a month or two ago. I have gotten all sorts of brushes and combs and I brush them out and they come right back!

I have a doctor appointment later this week to rule out any thyroid or hormone issues. Some other facts:

• I adopted her when she was 3 right after she was spayed. I re-spayed her 18 months later when I realized she had ovarian remnant syndrome (2 vets did not diagnose this!)
• Her coat color changed slowly over time since I’ve had her and become lighter. I always attributed this to something with her hormones when she had remnants, vet had no idea
• Since her re spay (Nov 2025) she has gained weight, gone from about a 10.5/11 to 12/12.5. She is on a diet now trying to get her back down
• I noticed that my house also has a ton of static electricity, specifically on the bed she spends the most time on. Could this be causing her to mat?

Anyways, my theories are weight gain, hormone, or maybe the static electricity but curious if anyone has had something similar happen. She never used to mat.