Pet shedding too much? Time for a bath
It's the number one pet owner complaint - excessive shedding. What should you do? Give your pet a bath!
Some people worry that doing this will wash away important oils and cause dry skin.
"That is not true," says Dr. Marty Becker, who runs the website vetstreet.com.
He calls dogs and cats "four-legged dust mops" that pick up everything that gets on the floor.
"Bath your pets once a week," he advises. "It will reduce that excessive shedding. It will flush the allergy triggers off of your pet and you'll be able to save money your pet care without shortchanging your pet."
Dr. Becker also recommends a product called the FURminator. It's a special brush with a stainless steel edge that removes loose top coat fur and undercoat fur.
"When you get done using it on your dog or cat every week or two you'll swear they're not going to have any hair left," he said. "But all of that hair would have ended up in your house, on your furniture and upholstery."
We have a FURminator. We use it on Casey (our cat) and Sam (our dog) and it works great. BTW, I did not get compensated in any way to say this.
Some people worry that doing this will wash away important oils and cause dry skin.
"That is not true," says Dr. Marty Becker, who runs the website vetstreet.com.
He calls dogs and cats "four-legged dust mops" that pick up everything that gets on the floor.
"Bath your pets once a week," he advises. "It will reduce that excessive shedding. It will flush the allergy triggers off of your pet and you'll be able to save money your pet care without shortchanging your pet."
Dr. Becker also recommends a product called the FURminator. It's a special brush with a stainless steel edge that removes loose top coat fur and undercoat fur.
"When you get done using it on your dog or cat every week or two you'll swear they're not going to have any hair left," he said. "But all of that hair would have ended up in your house, on your furniture and upholstery."
We have a FURminator. We use it on Casey (our cat) and Sam (our dog) and it works great. BTW, I did not get compensated in any way to say this.
Okay, so the online reviews for this thing were excellent *and* it has Herb's (?) recommendation, so I got one today. They're a bit pricey at the pet stores, although I bet Amazon would have a better price. It does remove globs of hair with only a few swipes - and this on a short hair cat. Our cat tolerated the grooming quite well, especially considering that she has preferred to do her own grooming. The teeth on the Furminator seem a bit sharp, so if you've used one of those soft tipped pet brushes, you'll probably want to use a softer touch with this. Although I'm sure that you wouldn't hurt your pet with this at any rate. Using this thing is very messy; I expect that as time passes, I'll remove less hair. A paper bag nearby is probably a good idea for the wads of hair - our cat kept wanting to play with them.
I can' say enough good things about the furminator. It's rather expensive but worth every penny. We have three cats (which I am not going to bathe) and the furminator cuts down shedding to almost nothing if you use it regularly.Â
@uumommy Hmm. I wonder if it'd have the same result as bathing for allergy purposes - ? My allergy doc gave me a sheet of allergy control instructions that recommended shampooing *and* blow drying our cat at least once a week. I got a good laugh out of that actually happening!...since the allergy comes from cat saliva, I wonder if this would work...although it would reduce the cat hair in the house...hmmm.
Excellent advice, though my cat REALLY doesn't go for baths...