Owners of almost all cat breeds are familiar with the problem of hair loss in their pets, when carpets, upholstered furniture, and even the floor are dusted with hairs. The problem is especially acute during the molting period, although owners of long-haired cats are forced to resort to frequent brushing all year round, otherwise both the animal and the apartment will look untidy.
The procedure for removing undercoat and hair is not pleasant for humans, since it is rare that a cat will sit quietly in place for a long time. Brushing also causes a lot of inconvenience for your tailed friend: accidental damage to the skin, pulling out tangled hairs, and a nervous environment.
Sometimes cats are taken to salons (or a groomer is called to your home), but there are many pitfalls here: it’s expensive (at least 500 rubles), the animal may be scared of a specialist, and for wayward purrs, the procedure is often done after anesthesia has been administered. In order not to torment themselves and their pet, many owners purchase a furminator
– a kind of comb-trimmer with a comb-shaped blade and an ergonomic rubberized handle. How to choose a furminator for a cat will be discussed further.
How does a furminator work?
Combing cats using a furminator is carried out due to the adjusted distance between the teeth of a comb sharpened in a special way. The operating principle of the furminator is to gently lift and remove unwanted hair without cutting or pulling out.
The tool does not damage the cat's outer coat (the outer coat slips through the teeth of the device, remaining intact), but it removes dead, lifeless hairs and undercoat.
It is believed that the miracle comb removes about 90% of a cat’s unwanted hair, and also reduces the duration of seasonal shedding by half (by the way, in some individuals, without careful combing, the hair can shed not even for weeks, but for months).
In addition, the use of a cat accessory promotes the uniform distribution of fatty lubricant, which protects the pet from cold and overheating, dust and parasites.
Advantages of the Furminator
Home treatment with a furminator has a number of advantages over combing with a regular comb and even over salon procedures:
- Animals do not swallow large amounts of fur when licking;
- Brushing with a furminator does not cause pain to the cat;
- The device allows you to remove hair from sensitive areas of the cat’s body (in the genital area, on the stomach, etc.);
- The tool not only combs the pet, but also massages its body, improving blood circulation;
- Most cats love the procedure of combing with a furminator (which cannot be said about ordinary slickers and combs);
- A good furminator pays for itself very quickly and lasts a long time;
- The cat device removes fur from clothes and furniture.
Contraindications
Some breeds do not require the use of a furminator. These include:
- Sphinx;
- Devon Rex;
- Laperma;
- Singaporean breed;
- Burmanskaya;
- Oriental cat;
- Turkish Angora.
Most representatives of the breeds described above do not have an undercoat, which makes the use of professional tools impractical. In this case, it is better to comb out with an ordinary brush.
The use of the device in animals with any skin disease or open wound is contraindicated.
How to choose a furminator for a cat
Firstly, before purchasing a device for removing undercoat from cats, you need to weigh your pet and evaluate its dimensions. When purchasing a grooming tool, you should pay attention to the width of its blade and the size of the cat:
- Small
– a furminator with a blade width of 4.5 cm for cats weighing less than 5 kg, as well as small dogs; - Medium
– a device with a blade width of 6.7 cm. It can be used to comb animals with a body weight of no more than 8-10 kg; - Large
– a brush for removing undercoat and dead hair with a wide blade 10 cm long. Suitable for large, heavy cats (for example, Maine Coons).
There are other sizes of furminators: X-small (3.3 cm) - for a very young cat no older than 4-6 months; X-large (12.5 cm) – for dogs weighing over 40 kg and horses.
Secondly, you should consider the length of the cat's fur. For long-haired friends, they produce tools with long teeth, denoting o (long hair) on the packaging. Owners of short-haired cats should look for furminators with short comb teeth with the inscription “Short hair” on the package.
Thirdly, you need to decide on a convenient way to remove combed wool. Furminators with an ejector (FURejector button) allow you to remove cat hairs with one click. Classic-type tools do not have such a button, so the wool will have to be removed manually.
Fourthly, it is important to pay attention to the convenience of the furminator handle. It would seem that this element is not so important, but if the handle is too short (thin, wide, etc.), the process of removing hair and undercoat will turn into an unattractive task for the cat owner.
Fifthly, those owners who simultaneously keep individuals of different breeds (for example, short-haired British cats and long-haired Persian cats) can purchase a tool with removable blades. By the way, such a furminator can also be useful for those who plan to remove hair not only from cats, but also from other pets (dogs, guinea pigs, ferrets).
Instrument care
The Furminator needs to be looked after, otherwise the pet’s fur will smell unpleasant after combing. The fact is that dirt accumulates between the teeth of the comb over time. These are compressed particles of fat, lard, dead skin, etc.
If these deposits are not removed, then over time the combing process becomes ineffective. When in contact with dirt, the hairs will begin to emit an unpleasant odor, lose their shine and become greasy.
The spaces between the teeth of the furminator comb are small. They are easy to clean by hand with a regular sewing needle. Use a sharp tip to carefully remove any accumulated dirt. After the comb is cleaned, it can be additionally wiped with alcohol or vodka for better disinfection.
How to use a furminator comb
So, we found out that the furminator for cats works as a kind of trimmer, removing excess undercoat and dead fur. Now let's look at how to use this tool correctly:
- According to the rules, before using the furminator, you should wash your pet with a special shampoo and then dry it thoroughly;
- If the cat's coat is relatively clean, you can do without washing. Then you will need to remove all accidentally attached twigs or other objects that may get tangled in the long hair;
- If you are going to treat a long-haired cat, you should carefully examine its coat for tangles. If there are any, they will be removed using a hair cutter (otherwise the furminator will capture hairballs, causing discomfort to the animal);
- If there is damage to the cat’s skin (abrasions, unhealed stitches, etc.), combing will have to be postponed;
- The owner must be calm during treatment: screams and chaotic movements can cause anxiety in the cat;
- Before using a furminator for cats, you should think about the animal’s posture during the procedure. The best option is to lay your pet on its side. Although you can comb it while standing or sitting. The main thing is not to irritate your mustachioed comrade;
- The process is always carried out in the direction of cat hair growth. If you act differently, you could hurt your pet. The muzzle, belly and tail are areas of special attention where you should not be too zealous.
There is no single answer regarding how often you can use a furminator for cats. During shedding, long-haired individuals can be subjected to the procedure daily. Short-haired - twice a week. In addition, it is advisable to use a furminator in late spring or early summer to save your pet from the heat. The rest of the time, the tool is used for those with long hair no more than 1-2 times a month, and for their counterparts with short “hair” even less often.
By the way, the Furminator is not a lifesaver for all cats. So, for obvious reasons, it is not worth buying an accessory for hairless cats (Don Sphynx, Peterbald, etc.). Owners of cats without undercoat (Balinese, Angora, Chantilly Tiffany) and with short, thin and rarely shedding hair (Singapore, Oriental cats) should also give preference to a regular comb. Also, the furminator is not useful for animals with a small amount of guard hair and unusual vegetation on the body (La Perm, Cornish Rex).
What is the essence of the tool?
Perhaps the most important advantage of the furminator is its durability. The blades are made of durable steel that does not become dull over time. Conventional combs will have to be changed at least once a year.
Therefore, it is better to spend a little money initially, but buy a reliable tool.
The Furminator helps make the combing process easier and faster:
- The device removes about 90% of dead hair in one session.
It’s amazing how much dead undercoat the Furminator removes in one session
For my ordinary non-pedigreed cat, I used to use a simple slicker brush. The undercoat was combed out, but there was no less hair flying around the house.
It got to the point that she combed the poor animal almost twice a day. Then a friend told me about the furminator, praising its effect. I hesitated to buy for a long time, but still bought it.
She sighed calmly, in just a few times the fur practically disappeared. Nothing flew or accumulated in the corners, the carpet and clothes were clean. Combing now occurs 1-2 times a week.
Where to buy a furminator
Owners, exhausted by the need for regular brushing with a regular comb, will probably wonder where to buy a furminator for cats? Let's consider several options:
- At a pet store or veterinary pharmacy.
Here you can purchase a high-quality furminator with a guarantee (usually 30 days), having received a sales and cash receipt in your hands. True, the price of goods in a pet store (or pharmacy) is almost always slightly overpriced (at least 800-900 rubles); - In the online store.
There are many offers on the Internet for the sale of grooming accessories at prices ranging from 400 to 2500 rubles. In addition, virtual stores often offer discounts; the seller offers to deliver goods directly to your home. In addition to Russian online stores focused only on the sale of pet supplies, you can also search for the furminator on large foreign Internet sites, for example, you can buy it really inexpensively on Aliexpress or Amazon. But delivery from afar can be quite long, and there is no certainty that the goods will arrive undeformed; - In hypermarkets (like Auchan or Lenta).
The only drawback of buying in such a place is the modest range of furminators.
Feedback from cat owners about the furminator comb
Based on numerous responses from people who bought a tool for their pets, we can safely classify the Furminator as a useful cat fur care item. The following are some reviews from grateful owners:
Review #1:
“My friend and I have been running a Scottish cattery for 5 years. Therefore, I can safely say that no slicker will remove the undercoat as well as a furminator. We comb our pets with American FURminator combs; there are no balls of wool anywhere, although the seals’ coats are very thick and they shed a lot...”
Review No. 2:
“Previously, when Barsik was molting, fur was everywhere. Particularly annoying were the red hairs that had settled on dark clothes. And it was unpleasant to see the cat’s hair on the kitchen table. The furminator helped me a lot, although I didn’t have high hopes for it. I was even surprised when I combed out a whole mountain of wool for the first time using this device...”
Review #3:
“I was forced to buy a furminator by misfortune: the cat swallowed hair to such an extent that intestinal obstruction developed. My cat, named Molly, by the way, loves it when I brush her: she purrs and caresses her. The hairs separate quickly; it takes me no more than 15 minutes to do everything…”
