We often think of cats as being able to look after themselves. Most cats spend hours outside alone all day and return home only to eat and clean themselves, making them pretty low maintenance.

But some cats have the type of fur that requires grooming and if you don’t stay on top of it, it can get out of control.

In the case of the cat Hidey, her owner was unable to care for her properly and she went without proper grooming for years.

When animal rescuers finally got hold of her, she had so many ;dreadlocks’, she looked like an octopus.

After the cat’s owner, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, was taken to a nursing home, they spotted Hidey and called Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center, in Pittsburgh.

Animal experts thought that Hidey had probably been neglected for up to two years. Some of the ‘dreadlocks’ were 6 to 8 inches long.

Jenn Levitzki, a vet that helped to free Hidey from her matted fur and recorded it in a video she posted on Facebook said, “(Hidey has) the worse matting I have ever seen, she has dreadlocks.”

Hidey was sedated for the procedure, to make her more comfortable.

“She suffered from severe matting (dreadlocks, really), the likes of which had been neglected for years,” said a post on the shelter’s Facebook page, according to People.

“Our Medical team shaved off the pounds of intertwined fur from her body &, needless to say, this cat is feeling so much better now!”

Hidey was re-homed with a distant relative of her former owner.

The condition Hidey had could have been prevented with proper care.

This story reminds us of the importance of keeping up with our elderly neighbors and their pets.

Please share as a reminder to keep a look out for our elderly neighbors and family.

If you have elderly neighbors, it is nice to pop in and say hello once and a while – not only to check on them but to see that their pets are okay too.

You never know if they’re struggling unless you ask.

Share away, people.