Furminator?

[Ms. Freya]

Just wondering if anyone has one or uses one and what do you think?

With the warm weather here, shedfest 2010 has started and I've heard that the Furminator decreases shedding (hopefully helping my allergies). My parents have one for their dogs and love it - they bought it to minimize the dog hair while selling their house, so I'm just looking for anyone's experience with the cat version.

 

[otto]

I use the cheap walmart knock off, it's called a furbuster. I love it. I did a comparison test when I first started using it.

Stroke for stroke, the fur buster removes twice as much hair as the combs I was using before.

My cats did need time to get used to it though, they didn't like it at first.

I also notice that the more it is used, the more effective it is. I use it every other day on Tolly and Jennie, Mazy does not allow any sort of grooming except me raking my fingers down her back to remove excess fur (which is not very effective, but is better than nothing!

.

 

[sadie's mom]

The furminator is the best brush I have ever used! It is very well worth the price. It's the only thing that saves me from my allergies. I will never use another type of brush again on my babies.

 

[GoldyCat]

I love it. Two of my six cats do about 95% of the shedding around here. The furminator has cut it back to where those two barely shed more than the others. You do have to be careful not to overdo it. When I first got it I thinned out Miss Patchwillow's fur so much she almost had a bald area on her back. If I limit it to about 5 minutes every two or three days it works really well. Goldy only gets a minute or two each time because that's how long she'll hold still for me. The others would lay there all day loving to be groomed, but they don't need it. I get a little fuzz from them and it's done.

 

[pami]

I use to love the Furminator, but one metal tooth, somehow bent. (I dont know how) I bought another one. This one seems a lot cheaper, lighter and the teeth dont get the hair as much. : (
I might go look into the furbuster and see if that is better.

 

[GoldyCat]

Originally Posted by Pami

I use to love the Furminator, but one metal tooth, somehow bent. (I dont know how) I bought another one. This one seems a lot cheaper, lighter and the teeth dont get the hair as much. : (
I might go look into the furbuster and see if that is better.

They do come in different sizes. I don't know how much difference there is in the teeth. I got the smallest one, but I have all shorthair cats. You may need the next size up for your longhaired kitties.

 

[white cat lover]

I LOVE my Furminator.....having white cats that shed like the dickens!

 

[pami]

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

They do come in different sizes. I don't know how much difference there is in the teeth. I got the smallest one, but I have all shorthair cats. You may need the next size up for your longhaired kitties.

I use the medium size ... so will look for something comparable to that. I hope its like the 'old' furminator. That was just the best thing.

 

[zarra]

I never heard of the Furmnator until I read this thread so I had to check it out. It's got good reviews on the Petco and Amazon website but the screen shots on the Amazon site scares me. A person could make another cat with the hair that was removed from one combing session.

Soon I will need something better than a regular cat comb for my long hair kitten. Maybe I will give the Furmnator a try but only use it a couple times a month.

 

[white cat lover]

I wanted to add in - I have both the small & the medium, and IMO they work exactly the same & the teeth are the same space apart. I don't know that for a fact, but to me they do not seem to work differently & look different. My small I purchased 2 years ago & the medium I've had for a few weeks (purchased from 2 different places).

 

[alicatjoy]

I love the Furminator! I have a small and medium one for my cats and another small and medium one for my dogs. And, I agree with Nat that I don't seem to notice a tremendous difference between how well the two sizes work. And, I have ones that I originally purchased when the Furminator first became available on the market as well as one I just purchased a couple of months ago. And, both work wonderfully. I can't imagine life without them!

I use the medium and small ones interchangeably. I just use the smaller-sized ones where the medium one would be difficult to maneuver. Both do an excellent job of removing loose fur and I have noticed a definite decrease in my allergies the more often I use the combs. There was a learning curve and it did take some getting used to for both the kitties and the dogs. My DLH kitties love getting combed, but my DSH's aren't as impressed. My one cat, Emory, is very sensitive, but, with time, she's accepted being groomed with the Furminator. The long-haired cats look wonderful after all that hair is removed (I use the Furminator 3x week and a regular comb and/or brush the rest of the days) and it does cut down on how much they shed. The short-haired cats, well, I'm always amazed by how much loose fur is removed!

And, just as an aside, I use it on my toy fox terrier who hates being brushed, and she loves the Furminator! All other grooming combs and brushes don't remove much hair from her short coat, but the Furminator gets massive amounts of loose hair from her -- especially around her neck and tail area.

I've never used to cheaper versions, but my roommate has and says they work just as well. I don't mind spending the extra money for something I know works well and so I stick with the name-brand, but I'd recommend trying it to anyone interested. It really is an excellent product!

 

[pami]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I wanted to add in - I have both the small & the medium, and IMO they work exactly the same & the teeth are the same space apart. I don't know that for a fact, but to me they do not seem to work differently & look different. My small I purchased 2 years ago & the medium I've had for a few weeks (purchased from 2 different places).

I threw my first one away since it had a bent tooth and I didnt want to hurt the kitties, so I really cannot compare the 2 side by side. Im not sure why the 2nd one doesnt work as well as the first one, it just doesnt get the hair like the first one did from the first time I used it. It feels a lot lighter.

I think the teeth are all the same on them (or suppose to be), its just a matter of how wide you want the comb part.

 

[carolina]

I have and LOVE mine... IMO there is really nothing that works like it to remove shedding... Bugsy is shedding his big and fluffy ragdoll coat like crazy and if it was not for the furminator we would be in a huge fur-mess! I use it once a week to keep shedding to a minimum. TOTALLY worth it!

 

[taryn]

I love mine. I get enough off of Attitude to make a few new cats every time I do her. I use a medium one since I have medium sized cats, I knew I'd spend forever a month and a day if I used the tiny cat one so I got a medium dog one and it works great.

It was worth every penny I paid for it and then some.

I also like their shampoo, if you bathe your cat it is wonderful stuff and gets rid of hair great. I got enough fur off of Nuts bathing him with the shampoo to make an extra cat or 2. It smells good too.

Taryn