HOw often do you groom them?

 

I quit grooming because I couldn't find a brush that works? Any recommendations? I got tired of wasting money on stuff that wouldn't work.

 

Dead serious...... I am a finicky home owner with three, large, long haired indoor only male cats, and one outdoor only long haired tortie female . Two of the males are white with huge coats, the other male is a black and white tuxedo. I know hair.

A Zoom Groom and a grey hound comb. Go over them with the Zoom Groom until the large wads of hair slows down, and then finish with the fine toothed side of a greyhound comb.

I came to this after A LOT of experimentation and research about cat grooming. It works very well for me.

Others will mention a furminator, which I highly disapprove of, but many like it. That is another option.

Grooming is truly the only way to get it under control. I wish there were a pill, or a magic elixir, but there isn't any other healthy alternative that works. If there were, I would use that and the Zoom Groom.

p.s. Get a Dyson. It's worth it.

 

A Zoom Groom and a grey hound comb. Go over them with the Zoom Groom until the large wads of hair slows down, and then finish with the fine toothed side of a greyhound comb.

I came to this after A LOT of experimentation and research about cat grooming. It works very well for me.

Others will mention a furminator, which I highly disapprove of, but many like it. That is another option.

Grooming is truly the only way to get it under control. I wish there were a pill, or a magic elixir, but there isn't any other healthy alternative that works. If there were, I would use that and the Zoom Groom.

p.s. Get a Dyson. It's worth it.

This. I agree 100%. And I also highly disapprove of the furminator.
And the Dyson, I wish I could get one in my country!

 

Is the Zoom Groom the KONG Zoom Groom Brush?

My 3 has short-medium length hair.

 

I was using a slicker brush on Io since we got her but something happened last week. She now hates it, and will seek it out to knock it down and hiss at it and attack it. I wonder if she accidentally bit it or stepped on it and that's why she hates it now? :/

Guess I'm in the market for a zoom groom now. My partner has begun to put his foot down on the "cat things" budget. Not that I blame him, it's my own fault, but now there's hair everywhere. I can't even colour coordinate to minimize it because each of her hairs is stripy.

 

What is a furminator?

 

Furminators look like this:

Zoom Grooms (yes, the kong brand) look like this:

The zoom groom looks like a gimmicky waste of money. I totally would have thought they were a joke until I was educated else where about how well they gently remove hair. Especially from cats with delicate, silky coats. But, this thing works wonders on my Siberian Husky, too, who puts out double the hair of ALL MY CATS COMBINED.

DISCLAIMER: I don't work for Kong, I don't sell Zoom Grooms, I don't own a pet store. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kids, and this is what I use on all of them, who all have long plush coats.

 

I love my dyson. I can't say enough good things about it. Otherwise I have nothing to add...

Arianwen, the furminator is a brush/comb thing. I think it is supposed to be an undercoat rake for double coated dogs. I got one for my sheltie but I feel like it breaks the coat. I just use a normal undercoat rake on him.

 

If you wanted to raw feed, I think you'd find that your cats would shed much less.
My kittens are completely raw fed. I groom them every once in a while, and get barely any hair off of them. My older cat sheds much more, and is on a mixture of raw, canned, and kibble. Other people I've talked to have had the same results!

 

I have done the raw diet with one of my cats due to food allergies. I finally found a feed that doesn't cause her to break out, the dry food is the best for us, right now. I had to always separate her and when I did I had to feed the other cats...it was just too much of a pain to feed her raw and the other two regular feed....my other to are extremely picky cats. They will not eat ANYTHING but their cat food....they won't eat canned, raw, cooked, nothing. I have never seen a cat turn down canned food....or even a bite of tuna or a bite of people food....those two would starve before they would try anything other then their dry food and I even tried to mix it slowly. If their dry food had any wet food with it, even if it was the smallest amount possible they would walk away. I really thought they would give in after a couple missed meals but they didn't.

Weird cats. LOL

Thanks for all the replies. Local pet store didn't have the zoom groom so I'm going to have to order it.

 

Ok on GhostTown's word I went and got the zoom groom. What's another comb, it's only $9...

Just used it on Kisa and she is in heaven - loves it. I combed her yesterday with the furminator and got lots out, this thing pulled out at least another half a cat worth of fur. I am impressed. She even chirped at me to not stop and let me do her stomach - that's NEVER happened before.

 

It is destructive on coats with finely textured, medium to long hair. The V grooves between the teeth are sharp enough to actually cut hair that needs to be left behind. I've done it to my own cats with the purple one pictured above. Now, dweamgoil owns that one, as I sent it to her.

Most people disagree with me though, so take my word based on that. It's a fact that it cuts hair though, not just my opinion.

 

I don't have long haired cats, but I can see why it would be a problem for their coats with the furminator. I have a Balinese and her hair is so fine, I don't use it on her. A fine tooth metal comb works best on her. Her coat is so delicate, even the slicker brush is way too harsh for her.

On the other 3 cats, which are all either short or medium haired, the furminator works great. The medium haired cat has a very thick coat. The furminator has greatly reduced the amount of tumbleweeds all over the house.

 

Bottom line is you have to vaccum every day. Plus brush your kitties. Its the vaccuming that will rid your room of cat hair. No way around it.

Im a beleiver in Meile vaccumes.

 

I have to agree with the vacuuming. Summer time = shedding at my house. I use sheets over the sofas and across the bed to catch the hair where they sleep most often. Pillowcases on other spaces they tend to snooze. I change them religiously and vacuum twice a week. That plus brushing every few days keeps it under control.

Clean brush clean brush clean brush. Only way around it, imo.

 

I don't have longhaired cats now, but did for many years, and found that during shedding season---spring thro summer---I had to groom every day. With my cats I found a steel comb worked fine. ime, white cats often have "loose coats" and can drop hair year round. I also had a shorthair cream cat that was the same, never could pet her without getting a lot of hair. Sometimes may be diet related, but often it's just genetics. Sheets are good to keep hair off furniture and save a lot of vaccuming and cleaning of furniture, and easy to whip off if you're expecting guests. Even my Devons shed a little this time of year, but nothing compared to my LH cats I had.

 

How does the Zoom Groom compare to the Love Glove? I understand the rubber bristles are bigger on the Zoom Groom, but does it work similarly? Josie's not a big fan of grooming so I'd like to find something that she enjoys. I thought the Love Glove would do the trick but she doesn't like it any more than the comb.

 

I think the principle is the same. The glove thing you're talking about has rubber bristles, right?

 

Yes, that's correct.

Love Glove Grooming Mitt

 

My wife was talking about one of those last night.


btw... no man should ever use the term "Love Glove"

 

btw... no man should ever use the term "Love Glove"

Earl Grey...all over my computer monitor at work......

 

Thanks to those who explained to me what a furminator is. To the best of my knowledge I have never seen one. The zoom groom is very like something I use on my incredibly hairy horse when she is shedding every spring.

 

I just learned to deal with the cat hair... lol! But I'm glad I came across this! Just purchased the Zoom Groom from Amazon. Can't wait to try it out!

 

Quorra i love your signature.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping it's not too big...

 

My cats hated the Furminator so I sent it to my Mom, her cat likes it. This is the greatest comb ever:

 

I live with three cats and two dogs... I know hair!!!

For years I used the Zoom Groom on the cats ... until Sammy the pup chewed the bristles off. When I went to replace it the pet store highly recommended the Ferminator so I bought it. It does remove amazing amounts of fur! Was quite happy with it until I attended a seminar on Canine Health and Wellness and the dog groomer who was giving a lecture advised that it was distructive to the coat. And after reading a few other reviews and the posts here, am now back on the market for a new Zoom Groom and a comb.

In this household we have grooming sessions just prior to vacuuming. Everybody enjoys the process and when it is over, the the cats high-tail it to the basement as I am picking up the worst of the fur. They know the vacuum is next!

But yes it is challenging to keep the pet hair down to a minimum. I wipe surfaces frequently, own a 'Magic Brush' that I can do quick spot cleaning on sofas, sticky rollers to remove hair from clothing (or car seats) have old blankets on some of their favourite snooze spots that can be folded and refolded to hide the fur and eventually washed, and the vacuum is passed minimum once a week and vacuum not only carpets but sofas, drapes, dinning room chairs, keyboards and even across the bedspread.

But the cleaning regime is only part of the battle. I had one cat for 17 years that shed like CRAZY! He was eventually diagnosed with an anxiety problem and when he started urinating outside the litterbox, we tried a few anti-anxiety meds and found that Clomicalm (clomipramine hydrochloride) worked wonders. It not only made life much more pleasant for him but it also reduced the shedding significantly. Feliway plug in which releases synthetic feline pheromones can work on less severe cases of anxiety. But good diet does wonders to help reduce shedding. Most of the commercial foods available would be considered unpalletable by most people if they truly understood what was in them. I use either Fromm or Orijen dry cat food and Wellness canned cat food. Morning feeding is strictly canned and in the evening they get a scoop of dry food with their canned food. Studies show that using dry food only causes low but chronic dehydration in cats which in the long run is often the cause of kidney problems. But the lack of moisture and fats can also cause other issues in cats.

I've babbled enough on this one but if you have cats, cat hair will always be a bit of a challenge....

 

After looking at a furminator up close, I don't know what I expected, but I can see where it could damage a coat. I mean, how does it know which hairs to cut out and which to leave? I think for my medium short haired orange cat it would be fine, he has a ton of hair and could spare a lot. He also sheds the most. Miley's coat is longer, finer, more delicate. I would not use a furminator on her. I use a zoom groom and it gets a lot of hair off. Then I vacuum. Ollie loves it, Miley is moody about it, some days she lets me brush her, some days she won't.

 

I ordered the Zoom Groom. Can't wait to try it.

I called Petco and asked if they had it, they said no. I was over there getting cat food and guess what I saw! They had the zoom groom all along. Arg. Oh well, it's cheaper ordering it then it would have been to buy it at petco so its ok. I just have to wait for it to arrive.

Thanks for the replies!