Cats tend to be thought of as independent animals.

Most cats spend all day outside by themselves and only come inside to eat and clean up. This makes them pretty low-maintenance.

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 rescuers 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 6 to 8 inches long.

The vet Jenn Levitzki helped free Hidey from her matted fur and shared a video of the process on Facebook. In the video, she said, “Hidey has the worse 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.

Once in a while, it’s nice to stop by and say hello to your old neighbors. This way, you can make sure they’re okay and that their pets are also okay.

You can’t tell if they’re having a hard time unless you ask.