Furminator?

[marmoset]

I bought a well-rated furminator type brush (but not the actual furminator brand) for my cats and so far I'm under-whelmed. I'm not sure if maybe I'm doing it wrong? I'm used to using little slicker brushes and those remove a lot of hair and the cats enjoy it. The furminator type thing does not remove nearly as much hair and the cats don't respond as though it's enjoyable.

What angle should I be holding this thing at? Should the blade be perpendicular or flat to the coat? I've tried it both ways but both feel awkward because I don't know if I'm doing it right and there's not a lot of hair even with long-haired cats.

 

[lalagimp]

I honestly never considered what angle I'm holding it at, so long that it traces over my cat well enough that they aren't complaining the entire time. If you do it too perpendicular it's going to feel like it's raking them, and they get upset.

There are 3 grooming tools I have used:
FURminator
Love Glove
Furbliss

We really have to apply the FURminator to Yue because she's a DMH with a poof coat that has to be stripped seasonally. The Furbliss does not go heavy duty on her, but worked so well on my tux DSH and that guy has silky hair.

My DSH tortie doesn't care what you use. She relishes in it. She'll run across the room to sit in your lap with a tool.

The Love Glove was a long time ago on a DLH/Turkish Angora (adoption no papers) and it was a way to fool her into getting groomed.

 

[marmoset]

Wow that's a good pile of hair from the furbliss! I've never heard of that specific item but I have a glove made out of a silicon type substane. The hair sticks to it pretty well.

I'm trying to reduce hairballs in our oldest female who is DLH with irritable bowel and reduce the amount of loose hair in the house. I'm getting afraid of dryer fires because we've known a few people that had them and they resulted in serious loss. So, I'm trying to remove hair before things go in the wash (as well as cleaning my filter) but with six cats who are not short-haired it's a challenge.

 

[lalagimp]

It did some on Yue, but not the full coat like we needed

As far as dryer fires - This is going to sound ridiculous. Google "Lint Lizard".
I sucked so much fuzz out of our machine with an As Seen on TV drugstore item.

 

[marmoset]

You know I did google it and it looks pretty good. Consumer Reports has a video on it. But now I'm thinking I should hire someone to come in and inspect it. It'd be hard for me to get to pulling the unit out to clean out the ductwork.

This is just one thing keeping me up at night

 

[bitkit]

My past cats hated the furminater but I got some humongous fur balls.

 

[di and bob]

There are two types too, one is specifically for long haired cats. I just glide it along their bodies, two love it, one does not. Don't press too hard. It does get a tremendous amount of hair off of them, but is not too good on mats, it just tears them out and most likely hurts.

 

[lalagimp]

There are more than two types of FURminators. I've been following them since 2008/2009. You may be able to find the right one for you through different channels or even eBay. However, I did some alternatives this past year from Vetnique. There is a silicone brush (different styles for different coats) called a Furbliss. It's not as effective as the FURminator, but if your cat screams and runs away, it is a decent alternative because something is better than nothing.
I did just take care of my senior cat yesterday, and because she's not right in the head, we used both types of tools and she loves it loves it loves it.

In our supplies, we have 3 FURminator tools and 2 Furbliss brushes. I gave the third Furbliss to a friend to help with her dog.
We have the standard FURminator that's pretty old. It works for everyone, regardless of their coat. Then there is a smaller one with ejector, that's for less chonky and long haired cats. The third is a dual blade without ejector. It works well for getting it done quick and fast on my short haired thirteen lb boys.

I can insert photos in a bit, but I'm in the middle of starting a batch of raw cat food for my males.

Last resort for fussy cats, may be to trick them into it. There are many facsimiles by now, but the Love Glove worked amazing for the Turkish Angora we used to keep before we brought the feral cat home. It's a mit with nubbins. You just pet your cat.

 

[Spookyandsammy]

what do you recommend for short haired cats their gonna enjoy and not try to beat me up and runaway or bite the comb I use a metal dog comb I have to scruff them ad say I'm sorry and give them a treat their prob plotting my death after I try to brush them

 

[lalagimp]

what do you recommend for short haired cats their gonna enjoy and not try to beat me up and runaway or bite the comb I use a metal dog comb I have to scruff them ad say I'm sorry and give them a treat their prob plotting my death after I try to brush them

Furbliss® - Blue Brush for Small Pets with Short Hair

Stewart hates it, but is a good sport

Furbliss® - Yellow Brush for Large Pets with Short Hair

^^This may be more appropriate for slonky long bois.^^

WOW. I just found a demo video I don't even remember filming.

 

[IndyJones]

Furbliss® - Blue Brush for Small Pets with Short Hair

Stewart hates it, but is a good sport

Furbliss® - Yellow Brush for Large Pets with Short Hair

^^This may be more appropriate for slonky long bois.^^

WOW. I just found a demo video I don't even remember filming.

This looks like a little curry comb that they use for horses. Does it basically do the same thing?

 

[lalagimp]

Not sure. I have not had horses. They do make one for horses, too.

 

[catwithmycoffee]

Regarding preventing dryer fires, you want to get a dryer vent cleaning kit. It can be found at any home improvement store (Menards, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc... maybe even Walmart). It hooks to a drill, has extensions and a brush so you can get the entire length of the dryer duct.

I use a variety of grooming tools for our six furkids. Harry has a dense undercoat and while the Furminator will work on him, it takes far too long due to his large size and long coat. So for him I use an actual undercoat rake designed for dog grooming (the cat one I found was too small!). Cha'Kai loves the Furminator. The three girls are indifferent to it, and seem to prefer a soft brush. Sam, our senior, is partial to one of my old hairbrushes lol.

I found that on Cha'Kai if I hold the Furminator so the handle is parallel to his body I get the best results. Yes, it doesn't get nowhere near as much hair as the undercoat rake does but for Cha'Kai's short hair it works.

Back when I purchased my Furminators, they made both a long and short hair variety (I have one of each). There doesn't seem to be much of a big difference between them; the blade depth for the long hair one is a little deeper but not by much. Both work fine.

 

[lalagimp]

Regarding preventing dryer fires, you want to get a dryer vent cleaning kit. It can be found at any home improvement store (Menards, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc... maybe even Walmart). It hooks to a drill, has extensions and a brush so you can get the entire length of the dryer duct.

hadn't tried that. We use an As Seen on TV called the Lint Lizard. Long flexible plastic tube that connects to a vacuum hose. You can attach it to a shop vac, and it keeps collecting the wads of lint and fluff at the end of the tube, and you retract and pull the wads off the end and then keep repeating.
Neat. I'll have to look into it.

 

[Jem]

For those of you who use the Furbliss.
Do you find it helps with mostly the top coat/coarser fur? I have several different brushes and most of them tend to only (or mostly) remove the undercoat, but it's the coarser fur that I want to brush out, that's the stuff that "sheds" when I pet them. But when I brush them, the fuzzy stuff comes off them then two seconds later, I pet them and the coarse fur still sheds.
I need a brush that removes coarse fur/top coat

 

[IndyJones]

Have you tried a comb? Like a wire comb?

 

[IndyJones]

I'm not sure they even still make it but the best brush I have ever used is this

https://www.amazon..ca/Salon-Signature-Combo-Brush-Large/dp/B0032GADR4

(remove second dot before ca, link not showing properly otherwise)

It is a slicker with a rake at the bottom of it. Seems to do an excellent job of pulling the undercoat up and the brush grabs the hair while grooming the top coat at the same time.

There is probably a similar product to this that is not discontinued. I bought this brush probably 15 or more years ago from a final sale bin.

 

[Rhall]

I just tried my furminator (which I had for a golden retriever) on my short haired cat! Holy smokes I got a lot! I have every brush/comb known to man and I have a zoom groom which looks similar to the Furbliss. I have to say this will be my go to brush. My oldest cat gets quite congested with hairballs - we have really been struggling and it has made her not feel well. I think I found my solution (with her hairball food, laxatone etc). I'm still going to get some cat grass and pure organic pumpkin but I give two thumbs up on the furminator for short haired cats!

 

[IndyJones]

I've tried the zoom and groom rubber brush but it doesn't really do much for the cats but horses seem to like it on their face maybe because it feels like a cury comb?

The cury comb type brushes don't seem to do much for a double coat (most cats are double coat) on a cat though