Is There Any Point To Brushing A Shorthair?

[ArtNJ]

We recently bought an EquiGroomer, which pulls TONS of hair off our shorthair. He likes it, and doesn't attack. Its been many years since we bothered to try brushing a shorthair. Now that we can . . . is there any point to it, other than that he sort of likes it? I feel like if we capture 95% of the loose hair we brush off of him, the total amount in the house still goes up. And like there is an infinite supply on the cat, so brushing does not actually reduce the amount of shedding.

The Equigroomer is much less effective on our medium hair cat. We do not currently have a brush she likes or will tolerate, but she does not ever get mats.

Really the only hair issue we have is that we have carpet in the finished basement and dont vacuum it enough. So hair accumulates, and one of them eats it and a hairball results. But I feel like the solution is vacuuming more, and that brushing probably wouldn't make a difference?

 

[maggie101]

I have a short haired cat that loves to be brushed and has thrown up twice in the 7 yrs I have had her. Yesterday she gagged some so I gave her furball remover. I still brush her and a she only eats wet

 

[Kris107]

I think that maggie101 makes probably the biggest point - if your baby ends up getting hairballs then you probably do want to brush your cat to reduce the amount of hair the cat ingests. But you're also right, the hair just gets everywhere - seemingly endless. So I get it... sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't. The hairballs would be the biggest issue - those can cause constipation, vomiting, and sometimes even blockages.

 

[IndyJones]

Some shorthairs also have think double coats, Indy is one such cat, she gets so much fur in the winter she doubles in size and gets almost like a mane on her face. It comes off in big clouds in the spring. I sometimes wonder if she has a tripple coat even its so thick.

Kabuto on the other hand has lots of guard hairs and a thin undercoat he bairly needs brushing which is good because his skin has gotten thin with age.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby is shorthaired and probably sheds more hair than my previous two cats who were long haired. She likes to be brushed and that makes a difference, because we can brush her daily with no issues. It also spreads the natural oils throughout her skin which makes her coat softer and smoother - and helps to compensate for any deficiency she may have in cleaning/grooming herself given her age (19+ yo). She also likes to eat her own hair, so brushing reduces that aspect as well. I use a simple slicker brush and that serves her well.

Overall, I think regardless of hair length, getting a cat used to being brushed on a routine basis has got to be better for them in the long run.

 

[GranolaLouise]

I have a short hair and I used to use one of those self cleaning brushes with balls on the end of the tines. I would get nothing in the brush. Then a vet told me to get a Coastal Safari self cleaning brush. She loves it and the amount I get in one brushing is huge! Her hair balls are fewer and a lot smaller. I got it on amazon.

 

[tabbytom]

My boy is short hair and he loves being brushed.

Cats will shed hair all the time even for short hair cats. Everyday, I brush my boy several times and also each time when he's asleep in the day, I'll take a lint roller and go roll gently over his body and also where he sleeps and after he has gotten up from where she sleeps, I'll use the lint roller again and run over the place where he sleeps.

Cats so shed some fur while sleeping too and plus all the scratching, fur is dislodged.

I use a soft bristle brush to brush my boy and each time after brushing, I'll use my hands to sweep the fur that has fallen on the floor while brushing and also use a fine tooth comb to weed out the hair on the brush after brushing.

This is the brush I use to brush him with,

I find that sticky roller (lint remover) is best for removing hair from fabric, bed sheet or furniture or cat tree.

 

[iPappy]

Like the others, I have 3 shorthair cats and 4 shorthair cats that live at work. They all shed, but 3 of them shed heavily.
Two of my house cats are litter mates. The male sheds like crazy, the female, hardly at all.
I have been a pet groomer for over 20 years. I have found that removing the "last of the last" hair on a cat is best done with a comb, no matter what brush you use. I can brush my male cat for 30 minutes and think I'm done, and then take a comb to him and get a pile of fur out.
This boy can shed!
This is my 15.5 year old male after a 15 minute session with a wide and fine tooth comb. This is what the brush misses and ends up on my furniture! His coat is VERY thick, and the wide tooth comb actually works best on him before using the fine tooth comb. If his coat is very thick and hasn't been combed in a few days, the fine tooth comb just snaggs clumps of undercoat. The fine toothed flea comb works better on his sister, who looks just like him but has a much thinner coat.
If there is fly away hair after you're done brushing, a damp towel gently rubbed all over can help pick the stragglers up.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Like everyone else who's replied, I have shorthairs and they are massive shedders - I swear the excess I get from Daisy's thick coat could stuff cushions. While I've never known her to have a hairball (on the other hand Phoebe, with her thinner coat, will hack one up every few months - go figure) I reason that the less fur she swallows the better. Plus, both of them love being groomed, whether with the Kong Zoom Groom, a slicker brush, an old steel comb, or a soft brush. Grooming stimulates their skin's oil glands, and apparently helps muscle tone. It's also a great bonding activity.

 

[RTR]

I flea comb mine till vet little hair comes out. Then I brush them to bring the oils out! It keeps hair down and it's a bonding time! Cats shed!! I used to own Geman Shephards and would brush them 100 times 3-4 times a week! Again very little sheding, and it was a bonding Time. My cats groom themselves much more than the dogs ever did, and I believe they love the grooming more!

 

[GranolaLouise]

Like the others, I have 3 shorthair cats and 4 shorthair cats that live at work. They all shed, but 3 of them shed heavily.
Two of my house cats are litter mates. The male sheds like crazy, the female, hardly at all.
I have been a pet groomer for over 20 years. I have found that removing the "last of the last" hair on a cat is best done with a comb, no matter what brush you use. I can brush my male cat for 30 minutes and think I'm done, and then take a comb to him and get a pile of fur out.
This boy can shed!
This is my 15.5 year old male after a 15 minute session with a wide and fine tooth comb. This is what the brush misses and ends up on my furniture! His coat is VERY thick, and the wide tooth comb actually works best on him before using the fine tooth comb. If his coat is very thick and hasn't been combed in a few days, the fine tooth comb just snaggs clumps of undercoat. The fine toothed flea comb works better on his sister, who looks just like him but has a much thinner coat.
If there is fly away hair after you're done brushing, a damp towel gently rubbed all over can help pick the stragglers up.

Someone grab me my knitting needles!

 

[susanm9006]

It’s good to get them used to it and part of their routine because grooming and shedding may not be an issue for a two year old but ten or fifteen years down the road it may be a necessity.

 

[CaseysMom]

I agree with everyone that says shorthairs can be big shedders! Tiny Dancer certainly is! In addition, she has finally learned to really LOVE being brushed, now that she has calmed down a little bit since her kitten hood. So, it is a major bonding experience for us. Every Saturday morning, she knows I'm going to give her some extra love, and goes and lays down in her spot in the sun where I brush her.

 

[GranolaLouise]

Something I found: Those areas the cat cannot reach to groom sometimes get tangled even though short hairs. My cat gets these tangles down under and next to the skin in the crevice behind her ears. it used to knot up under there and I did not notice it.
If you find little knots or tangles and they are stubborn and won;t untangle without pulling on the kitty's skin, then this DEFINITELY is a proven remedy.
For 3 days, put a small amount of olive oil on the knotted area and massage it in.(it will look yucky). Do it for 3 days and by the 4th brush the area and the knot is GONE! It works.

 

[ailish]

As I say to my cat when I brush her - hair in the brush, not in the stomach. I brush Ailish almost every day and get very few hairballs or vomiting. Plus, she likes it and asks to be brushed. If she likes it, that's good enough for me.

 

[bobkater]

Prevention being better than constant treatment, it makes sense to get a low shedding breed to start with.

Such breeds are: Sphynx, Burmese, Birman, Siamese, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex, Tonkinese, Ocicat, Bengal.

 

[iPappy]

Something I found: Those areas the cat cannot reach to groom sometimes get tangled even though short hairs. My cat gets these tangles down under and next to the skin in the crevice behind her ears. it used to knot up under there and I did not notice it.
If you find little knots or tangles and they are stubborn and won;t untangle without pulling on the kitty's skin, then this DEFINITELY is a proven remedy.
For 3 days, put a small amount of olive oil on the knotted area and massage it in.(it will look yucky). Do it for 3 days and by the 4th brush the area and the knot is GONE! It works.

Yes, behind the ears are a prime area for tangles. With Goofy, he's a very thick coated cat (short haired) and the fur on the rear part of his back legs will clump up into tangles. I have not used olive oil, but I can see how it would work! Another old school method I was taught for tangles was corn starch. Apply some on the area, wait 15-20 minutes, then gently break the tangles apart with a soft slicker brush. (This is a messy process BTW, corn starch is dusty.)

 

[straycat31]

We recently bought an EquiGroomer, which pulls TONS of hair off our shorthair. He likes it, and doesn't attack. Its been many years since we bothered to try brushing a shorthair. Now that we can . . . is there any point to it, other than that he sort of likes it? I feel like if we capture 95% of the loose hair we brush off of him, the total amount in the house still goes up. And like there is an infinite supply on the cat, so brushing does not actually reduce the amount of shedding.

The Equigroomer is much less effective on our medium hair cat. We do not currently have a brush she likes or will tolerate, but she does not ever get mats.

Really the only hair issue we have is that we have carpet in the finished basement and dont vacuum it enough. So hair accumulates, and one of them eats it and a hairball results. But I feel like the solution is vacuuming more, and that brushing probably wouldn't make a difference?

It's a good idea to brush them becasue it gets rid of dead hair, skin, and foreign objects that we might not be able to see. I still use the Furminator for my shorthair cats.