Grooming your cat on a regular basis has many benefits:
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- A grooming session can be a relaxing bonding time for you and your cat. If your cat is not immediately receptive to grooming, start slow, and gradually increase the time you spend grooming. Eventually, the calming, repetitive motion of brushing will have a relaxing effect on your cat (and you!).
- More grooming means less shedding and less cat hair around the house.
- Grooming increases circulation – it’s like a mini-massage with some of the same health benefits as a massage.
- A grooming session is an ideal time for you to run your hands and eyes over every inch of your cat’s body. This may help with early detection of diseases such as lumps and bumps, skin issues, or parasites.
But you’re not going to reap any of these benefits if you don’t use the right tool. There’s a wide variety of grooming tools on the market, ranging from grooming gloves to brushes to de-shedding tools. The newest tool on the market is the ShedMonster deshedding tool.
According to the manufacturer, the ShedMonster is good for all shedding breeds and removes shedding fur while carving through mats and tangles. Its stainless steel teeth penetrate deep into the coat while its smooth edges provide massaging contact against the skin.
I like the design and ergonomics of the product. The short, thick handle is very comfortable and makes it easy to manipulate the tool. I’m always a bit leery of grooming tools with sharp edges or points, so I first used the product on my own skin, and it felt smooth and glided easily. Allegra and Ruby didn’t seem to mind the way the ShedMonster felt, but I didn’t get any hair out of either of them. Now that’s not unusual – they barely shed, and even when I brush them with a slicker brush, which they both enjoy, I get almost no hair out of them.
I wanted to give this product a fair shot, so I passed it on to several of my cat clients. The reviews were mixed. Some cats really loved it, some didn’t like it at all. It removed hair well for cats that had a history of shedding a lot, but it didn’t remove much hair from the average shedders. None of the cats in my “test group” were long-haired, but I’ve seen several reviews online that state that the tool works really well for long-haired cats, including one from fellow cat writer Dena Harris.
If you’ve tried other grooming tools and aren’t getting the results you want, this is probably worth a try, especially if you have a long-haired cat. At $19.99, it’s a good value, and it comes with a free five-piece deluxe grooming kit. For more information about the ShedMonster.
This product was sent to me for review by the manufacturer. I am not being compensated for this review.
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