Reduces shedding up to 90% for cats. Stainless steel edge reaches through topcoat without damaging skin.
Reduces shedding dramatically
Skin guard for safety
Ergonomic handle
Works on all coat types
Expensive brush
Can pull if not careful
Not for matted fur
Effectiveness: 10/10 · Build Quality: 9/10 · Value for Money: 8/10 · Ease of Use: 8/10
These are our own scores for the things that can be judged from the specification, the materials and how the product is built. They are not Amazon's customer rating.
Cats groom themselves constantly and swallow most of the hair they remove. That hair either passes through the gut or comes back up as a hairball. A tool that takes loose undercoat out before the cat swallows it reduces hairballs at the source, which no food does as directly.
For long-haired cats it does something more important: it prevents mats. A matted long-haired cat is a painful animal — mats pull on skin, trap moisture and hide sores — and the endpoint is a sedated shave at the vet. Regular undercoat removal is the prevention.
Cat skin is thinner and more mobile than dog skin, and cats tolerate grooming for far less time. Two rules follow:
Shorter sessions. Five to ten minutes is plenty. Many cats will give you two minutes on a given day, and two minutes today is better than a fight that makes the next attempt harder.
Lighter pressure than you would use on a dog. Cat skin lifts with the blade if you press.
Stop while the cat is still happy. The single biggest predictor of whether you can groom a cat in six months is whether the cat enjoyed it today.
Suits: cats with a dense undercoat — Maine Coons, Norwegian Forest Cats, Siberians, British Shorthairs, Ragdolls, and most ordinary domestic shorthairs and longhairs that shed in volume.
Does not suit:
Cats with very fine, single coats and no real undercoat, where the blade thins the coat rather than removing loose hair.
Hairless and rex-coated cats — Sphynx, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex. Obviously for the first, and the delicate curly coat of a rex is easily damaged.
Any matted cat. Pulling a blade into a mat drags on skin, and cat skin tears more easily than dog skin. Mats need careful cutting with blunt-nosed scissors, a mat splitter, or a groomer or vet. Never use scissors flat against a cat's skin — skin tents up into the blades far more easily than you expect.
An older cat that has suddenly developed mats or a greasy, unkempt coat is usually telling you something. Arthritis makes turning to groom the lower back and hips painful, and hyperthyroidism and dental pain also show up as a decline in grooming.
A cat whose coat condition has changed should be seen by a vet, not just brushed more. Grooming the cat is the right supportive care, and it is not the answer on its own.
1. Comb through first to find mats and tangles. Do not discover them with the blade.
2. Dry, clean coat only.
3. Short strokes in the direction of hair growth. Never against.
4. Start where cats like being touched — cheeks, along the shoulders, the top of the back. Save the belly, tail base and hind legs for later, and accept that many cats never allow them.
5. Very light pressure.
6. Stop at any sign of irritation, or when the cat has had enough — whichever comes first.
Pair grooming with something good, keep it short, and do it when the cat is already relaxed rather than when you have decided it needs doing. Groom in the place the cat already likes being stroked. If the cat leaves, let it — chasing a cat to groom it ends grooming permanently.
A cat that genuinely cannot be groomed at home and is developing mats needs a professional groomer or a vet visit, and that is not a failure on your part.
Once or twice a week for most cats, and daily in short sessions for a long-haired cat during a heavy shed. Keep sessions to five or ten minutes and stop while the cat is still enjoying it — that is what makes the next session possible.
No. Dragging a blade into a mat pulls on skin, and cat skin tears more easily than dog skin. Mats need careful work with a comb and mat splitter, blunt-nosed scissors used very carefully, or a groomer or vet. Never cut flat against a cat's skin — it tents into the blades far more easily than you expect.
It helps at the source, which food cannot do as directly: hair removed by the tool is hair the cat does not swallow. It will not eliminate hairballs. And frequent vomiting is not normal in cats — a cat vomiting weekly should see a vet rather than being assumed to have hairballs.
Hairless cats, rex-coated cats like Devon and Cornish Rex whose delicate curly coat is easily damaged, and cats with very fine single coats and no real undercoat, where the blade thins rather than deshedding.
Usually because grooming has become painful or difficult. Arthritis makes turning to reach the lower back and hips hard, and hyperthyroidism and dental pain also show up as a decline in self-grooming. A change in coat condition in an older cat is a reason to see a vet, not just to brush more.