My cat is shedding, I brush her and then pet her, more hair?
Saturday, September 4th, 2010 at
2:12 am
I don’t know what to do , I try to keep her off of the furniture she just sheds like crazy. My other cat does not shed bad at all. Any suggetions will be greatly appreciated.
Filed under: Cat Supplies
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I have seen ads on TV for a Shed-Ender brush. Seems like it might work. I have a Maine Coon cat, and no matter what, he sheds all over the place! I brush him daily, vacuum every other day, and I found a wonderful thing at Lowe’s. It’s a sponge that’s meant to be used dry, and it collects the cat hair off the furniture! It rolls it up in a ball and I just throw it away! I have seen them at pet stores, too. I have also heard rubber dishwashing gloves work the same way. I still vacuum my sofa about every week or so, the sponge isn’t 100% effective on that fabric.
The best thing is to think about who and what you share your furniture with when you are buying it! I have friends who got really beautiful Italian leather furniture so it could just be wiped clean, because they had two long-haired dogs. My daughter has micro-fiber because she has a child and a cat. My soon-to-be daughter-in-law has micro-suede, I think it’s called (micro-fiber that feels like suede) because she has kids, a cat, and a Collie mix. She swears it wipes clean. I have a nubby tweed (it was given to me), it grabs the hair and doesn’t want to let go! That’s probably why my sponge doesn’t work 100%! I’m getting micro-suede when I buy new. My fiance also has a cat, so we battle hair all the time. Daily brushing, vacuuming, and the sponge are your best weapons.
The other thing you might look at is your pets diet. It seems cats shed more if their diet isn’t optimal. Adding vitamins or amino acids (check with your vet first) might help, or transition your pets to an optimal food. I personally recommend Iams or Eukanuba, but Hill’s Science Diet is probably another really good one. With most cats, you can leave out a bowl of dry food all the time for them, they will only eat what they need. I give my cats a small portion of wet food for dinner (about one third of a can each), and fill their dry food daily. Wash or at least rinse your cats water bowl daily, and refill with fresh water. I don’t drink tap water, and I don’t expect my cats to, either. They get the same bottled water I drink.
If you are already doing all that, then your cat may have dry skin. How is the humidity in your house? If it’s too dry, invest in a home humidifier, and you can try giving your cat an occasional bath with gentle moisturizing shampoo. Only use a shampoo for cats, a formula for dogs or people isn’t safe because cats groom themselves. I wouldn’t bathe your cat more than once a month at the most. I bathe my cats semi-annually, after the spring and fall shedding seasons.
That’s about all I can suggest. I haven’t found the sure-fire cure, I just manage to keep it to a minimum, lol! Good luck!
You can buy the FURminator — it’s very effective at getting hair off, and not too expensive for a small cat-sized one.
http://www.furminator.com/
Most cats shed very badly. No matter how long you brush them, they keep shedding. Cats have hundreds of thousands of hairs on their bodies, and they keep growing new ones, and shedding old ones. If you really want your cat to be almost shed-free, give her a bath every morning (I do not recommend this).
the cat that doesnt shed is probably short hair cat. i have five cats and my brother shaved one of the cat and she didnt shed. but dont shave it to a point where she has no fur, but at least half inch left afterwards y was sooooo soft
Cats just shed – no way around it. I don’t know if there is a way to keep the hair off of the furniture, i.e, some kind of spray or something. But, I can tell you, the brush you use on your cat is very important. Make sure the brush/come is very fine and gets your cat’s undercoat. Alot of the loose hair is beneath the surface. What you seem to be doing is loosening that hair when you brush you cat, but you’re not collecting it on the brush. I recently purchased an undercoat comb from Petsmart. The brand is Bamboo. It is wonderful. It cost a little more, but it is great and picks up an incredible amount of hair. My cats still shed and, like your kitty, more hair comes out even after I brush them when I pet them, but the shedding situation is much better. I also brush each cat for about 15 minutes. Also make sure to get the spots where hair accumulates. These are spots they can’t reach all that well when grooming themselves. On my cats, it’s behind their legs, their lower back close to their tails and their chests. You’ll never get rid of all the hair though.