We've discussed it and a trip to the vet put her under will be the last resort, if Jared the pet groomer can't manage it.

I did see on YOUtube one guy used coconut pil to soften the matted fur. He said coconut oil wouldn't be toxic for the cat. I would be concerned that hair condition might not be good for cats as they lick their fur for self grooming. Also,in that same video, the guy also did give his cat some kind of natural drug to mellow the cat out beforehand, and he had this special combing tool which had a razor built into it which he used to work through the matted fur and it also cut through excess fur. Iris has more serious mats than the cat in the video

I just went back and looked up the video again ....

@snytiger6 I was in the hospital for a major stroke (chiropractor severed my left vertebral artery, now permanently gone) and a big vet bill after losing my business due to having to learn to read, write, speak and walk again, for Years was not so great to have, however, the alternative was to put the cat down.
And it was Very mellow and would let us cut the mats out, but also taking the big chunks of her skin wrapped up in there was Such a Bad Thing!
The internet is Full of bad advice, the amount of conditioner you would use, and then of course rinse out, would be Max a teaspoon for the entire body. Put a teeny drop on each matte, massage it in, let it sit, then tease out the mattes.
A big plus is, it is designed to rinse easily, unlike other oils.

I ended up brushing so much fur out of her, it could have made another dozen cats. Her fur is ''wooly'' & very thick. These pics are her new look.

@Lilac-JadeCanada She's got beautiful coloring! And how patient you are to work with her like that.

@Lauren Thank you. She was 2 years old when I got her, & very unlikely to have ever been brushed. She was also built like a beachball, but I got her slimmed down with a better diet. Now she's very playful, & acts like the kitten I don't think she got to be when she was a kitten. She is also quite the comedienne.

@Lilac-JadeCanada Looks like she still has plenty of fur on her...

@TomMcGiverin Yes, very thick, heavy fur.