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Dealing with spring time shedding and moulting

Loose pet hair is just a part of every day life for most cat owners. Outdoor cats (or cats with some access to the outside world) shed their coat much more heavily in Spring and Autumn, whilst most indoor cats moult constantly. Whichever type of cat you have, you're sure to have faced this problem at some point.

Pet hair around the house can aggravate allergies and it sticks to carpets, curtains and soft furnishings like nothing else, making regular housework much more of a hassle - not to mention the extra effort needed to de-hair almost any item of clothing before leaving the house!

Dealing with extreme amounts of shedding can be extremely frustrating, but whilst there is no 'cure' you can certainly take highly effective action to minimise the problem.

Special tools can be useful for removing the unwanted hair from the environment, such as specific vacuum cleaner attachments for pet-hair, room ionisers and sticky lint rollers, although these are only a part of the solution as they are curative, rather than preventative.

These types of tools are certainly a help to all cat owners and should not be abandoned, but the best and most effective thing you can do is simply brushing loose hair from the cat's coat.

A regime of daily brushing really can make a huge difference to the amount of pet hair that gets into the environment in the first place, reducing the need for clearing it all up later. A thorough brushing routine will not only reduce the problem, but will also help your cat greatly, as they will swallow less hair during washing and will therefore have fewer hairballs.

Regular grooming sessions with your cat can also improve the bond between you, so this really is one of those win-win situations.

Each cat owner will have their preferences for the type of brush used, my personal favourite used to be the JML Pet Mitt, but this now seems to be out of production. When I found out they were going out of production I bought a few Pet Mitts and made them last as long as I could, but they do wear out eventually, especially if you use them for de-hairing the carpet before hoovering (which they are brilliant at!)

Just when I had made the Pet Mitts last as long as I physically could and had resigned myself to going back to a 'normal' brush, I found out that Kong make something called the Zoom Groom, which works in the same way as the Pet Mitt but has longer prongs and actually works even better than the Pet Mitt did!

Another popular choice is a shedding blade, but I've not tried one of these so I can't comment on how good they are. I'm quite interested to try the Furminator brushes I've heard about recently too, but I'll have to save a review of both of these for another time. (Please email me if you've used either of these products and would like to tell us about them)

Whichever type of brush you use is not as important as understanding the very good reasons for regular grooming of your cat, especially during moulting season. Make this a part of your routine and your cat will thank you for it.