I'm looking for some good cat-grooming methods to cope with my girl's shed of her winter coat?

Question

My gorgeous 2yr old kitty Sati is shedding like crazy because it's Spring here in Aust and she's losing her winter coat. I love her to pieces and am brushing her three times a day, but I still can't keep up with all the fur she is losing. It's getting everywhere!

I miss hugging her, because if I do I get covered in grey fur.

Any tips for dealing with her while she sheds her coat, such as practical ways of grooming her that will actually work, and methods for keeping hairballs at bay? (She's only had a few so far but she does them under the bed....yuck). She is on a hairball dry food. However I'm more interested in grooming methods.

Thanks :D

yes, my girl's the same - she's a S/H but her coat is incredibly thick.

We do have a proper cat brush that our vet recommended to us, and it gets quite a bit of hair out, however I can get three brush-fulls of hair off her a day (and she's only a small cat, less than 4kg) and she'll STILL shed all over me and the bed and the couch. It's crazy and impossible, and I can't wait for it to stop! LOL

Answer 1

What kind of brush are you using? They are all not equal. I only have 2 short hairs, but one has such thick fur you could make a coat out of him. We use a comb on him, and it pulls out and catches a lot of hair. We get handfuls out of him during the spring. I know that long hairs use different brushes, but you want to make sure you have one that is pulling out the loose hairs and not just smoothing. Maybe a trip to the vet or groomers for a good brushing that will get out the undercoat.

Make sure she has plenty of water. I feed my cats canned food, and never had problems with hairballs since they are properly hydrated, but when they were on dry food, even a hairball formula, the hairy one would have hairballs often and the other not so hairy cat would have them.

EDIT: It sounds like you are doing everything you can. I am not as good at brushing the cats out as my fiance is. I guess the only advice is to make sure you are getting the comb in the fur, using fast motions to build up the static electricity, emptying the brush and having another go. Keep a lint brush handy for your clothes and couch, and vacuum the couch/floor/petbeds as needed. Good luck. Shedding season is awful. I am glad it is winter hear, but not happy about the winter coats I am seeing the two cats build up lol.

Good luck! :)

Answer 2

Take her to a professional grooming for a nice bath and brush out. That may take care of the majority of it right there.

Try a "flea comb." This is just a comb with very closely spaced teeth. It does a great job of getting down to the nitty gritty. Although I've found it seems to work better on long haired cats, it may be worth a try and they're only a few dollars.

Furminator. You can buy these for something like $40, or you may find a groomer who does furminations. Personally, I think it's an overpriced device and I don't own one. I had a professional groomer do a furmination and I didn't see any difference between that and a regular bath/brushout, but I mention it because it is indeed an option and some people swear by it.

There is one thing you can do that might help with the hairballs - fish oil. My vet recommended it to me because it improves skin/coat condition, but she mentioned that it can also help with hairballs. I think it helps them digest it, but I don't recall. My girls don't have any problems in that area so I didn't pay close attention. I'm sure there are tons of brands out there, but my vet sold me one from Nordic Naturals.

Answer 3

I've got 2 long haired cats & I find a comb works best. I do wonder with all the hair that shed why they're not bald.

Answer 4

It could be diet etc and all helping skin quality but I also think a large part of it comes from the shape of their features. Small rounded noses etc. In the West where we have longer pointier features, we associate small button noses with children and young people who don't have the developed bone structure that goes along with secondary sexual characteristics. Combine that with small stature and there is a certain childlike youthfulness that they have compared to our features and our recognition of what those features imply as far as age judgement etc.

Answer 5

The best and easiest way to get rid of the loose hair without damaging the coat is by using simple rubber kitchen gloves.
While wearing them you simply stroke her gently digging your fingers into her coat. This will draw out the loose hair and by rubbing your hands together you ball up the hair and you can then toss it in the bin.
It gets the loose hair out very efficiently.
We always suggest that to the adopters of out cats at the shelter.

Answer 6

i found the glove sort the best for grooming it only cost about 3 pound and has tiny little plastic things on as gets lots of hair out more than a brush i found