Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
It’s coming on spring and our kitties are starting to shed their fur agressively (as you can see from the photo above). Your kitties might be going through the same thing (especially if they are outdoor-indoor kitties!) However, if your cat is a fully indoor cat, you’ve probably been going through this all year long!
I always recommend starting off with a basic Slicker Brush. For some reason a lot of Pet Parents are worried that these types of brushes are going to hurt their little ones, but there’s absolutely no reason to be scared. Honestly, if your little one is getting hurt they’re gonna tell you. My cats absolutely love being brushed and purr the whole time I use a slicker. They’re good for both both cats and dogs and work for all length of hair. I will admit, sometimes with longer hair they get stuck in matting, but that’s usually when I recommend using either a matbreaker or a brush that is specific to untangling.
You can tell a deshedder apart from from an detangler by how far the bristles are from one another. Detanglers can take out quite a bit of hair (especially from long hair fur babies), but I still strongly recommend going in with a wire slicker after. Wire slickers grip on the under layer better in my experience. I would brush your little one every day if not every other day for about 20 minutes at a time. Honestly, if you’re complaining about the hair 10-minutes isn’t a long time and will definitely help you in the end.
When you’ve got haired pet it can be useful to have as many different brushes as possible. Which is why I recommended grabbing a 2-in-1 brush. Just like humans, the more hair you’ve got the more tangled it gets and… the more space you want between the bristles. The 2-in-1 I linked to gives you the advantage of spread apart metal bristles with a standard comb on the back. These can also come in very handy when washing your little one (especially if they’re a pup!) I usually stay away from rubber brushes as I don’t see them as effective. Maybe I just don’t have the right pets for them (as they wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a use for them… right?)
But if you want the best product in my opinion. It’s the Furminator. All the hair you see in the above photo was from 10 gentle strokes on Beau. Insane, eh? I didn’t know the little one shed that much until I invested in the Furminator. Furminators are made for dogs, cats & small mammals. They also come in various sizes for long haired and short haired fur babies. The Furminator works at removing the undercoat without damaging the top coat. Because the Furminator is a higher quality brush, you will only have to brush your little ones about 1 or 2 times a week for only ten minutes. This is quite a difference than brushing your cat once a day. But hey, why trust me… when you can try it yourself!
Always remember to reward your little tyke, especially if they’re not too fond of being groomed. This is important so they understand that grooming is a positive thing that will help them. Brushing them should usually stimulate them (as it gets more blood flowing into groomed areas) and usually isn’t a negative experience. But might as well give them that extra reward! Especially if the treat is tied to dental care
What brushes do you use? What your experiences been like? Sound off below!
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