Cats are often thought of as independent. Most cats spend all day outside by themselves and only come inside to eat and clean up. This makes them pretty low upkeep.

It’s important to keep up with cleaning some cats’ fur, though, because it can get out of hand if you don’t.

When it came to Hidey the cat, her owner wasn’t able to take good care of her, so she didn’t get groomed for years.

Her hair was so thick that she looked like an octopus when animal rescues finally caught her.

The owner of the cat, who has Alzheimer’s, was taken to a care home. There, they saw Hidey and called the Pittsburgh Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center.

Animal experts thought it was likely that Hidey had not been cared for in up to two years. Some of the hair was between 6 and 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 worst matting I have ever seen; she has dreadlocks.”

To make Hidey more comfortable, she was put to sleep before the operation.

“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 found a new home with a distant relative of her old owner.

With the right care, Hidey could have avoided getting sick.

This story makes us remember how important it is to check on our elderly friends and their pets.

Feel free to share this to remind us to watch out for our elderly family and neighbors.

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