Unless you have a hairless breed like a Sphynx, as a cat owner, dealing with shedding and loose hair is just part of your life. While you can’t stop the fact that cats create hair, you can do something to minimize the mess and stress that it causes. We’ve discovered eight proven methods you can utilize right now to reduce your cat’s shedding. Any of these methods will help, but combining several methods will give you even more power against your cat’s shedding.
The 8 Ways to Reduce Cat Shedding
Not every cat owner has to deal with hair in the same amount. Some breeds shed more than others. Coats range from short to long. But hair is a normal part of dealing with cats. Still, you can reduce the amount of hair you’re dealing with by employing any or all of the following eight methods. We’ve even included a cheat code you can use to eliminate shedding altogether!
1. Improve Your Cat’s Hydration
The more hydrated your cat is, the less it will shed. As such, dehydrated cats tend to release a lot more hair than cats that are well hydrated. So, ensure that your cat has constant and unlimited access to clean water. Sometimes, this is all that’s necessary to make a drastic reduction in a cat’s shedding.
However, cats are known for not drinking enough, so you might have to find other ways of improving your cat’s hydration. For instance, if your cat is eating dry food now, you could switch to wet food. A single can of cat food can provide half a day’s worth of water for a cat.
2. Check Your Cat’s Nutrition
For many cat owners, pet nutrition goes only as far as finding a cat food they think is healthy. But if your cat is shedding an excessive amount, you might want to take a closer look at its food regimen. If your cat’s food is lacking in omega-3 and omega-6, it could be causing your cat to shed more than necessary. These essential fatty acids are important for your cat’s coat and skin, and they even improve the health of feline hair follicles.
3. Give Your Cat Somewhere for Its Hair
This one isn’t going to reduce your cat’s shedding, but it will help to minimize its impact. If your couches and chairs are covered in cat hair, you might just try giving your cat a special place to lay and let all that hair stick to instead. Then, you can train your cat not to lay on the furniture but remain on its own bed or area instead.
4. Reduce Your Cat’s Stress
Cats shed more when they’re stressed or scared. It’s a normal physiological response, which is why anxious cats often shed so much. Even cats that are normally quite calm can experience excessive shedding right before a trip to the vet.
If your cat seems to have recently started shedding far more than usual, then you might look into recent stressors, such as major changes to your cat’s life. Perhaps you’ve recently moved houses or gotten a new pet. Whatever the reason, try to discover it and mitigate the circumstances to the best of your ability. The best thing you can do is to consult your vet and try to figure out the reasons together.
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5. Keep a Daily Grooming Regimen
As your cat sheds, the loose hairs build up and get tangled with the other hairs in the coat. By brushing your cat every day, you’ll be able to get rid of these loose hairs, leaving only the strong hairs behind. This will reduce overall shedding. Moreover, it will allow you to contain the mess by removing it all at once and throwing it away, rather than allowing the loose hairs to slowly fall off throughout the day and scatter around the entire house.
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6. Bathe Your Cat Regularly
Unless you have one of the rare breeds that are naturally attracted to water, your cat will probably hate taking a bath. Still, bathing your cat once each month can go a long way towards reducing overall shedding by clearing away all the excess hair in the topcoat and undercoat.
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7. Vacuum & Dust Daily
When your cat sheds heavily, the mess accumulates quickly, increasing each day. If you vacuum every day, you can minimize the impact that mess has, even if you’re not actually reducing the amount of shedding that’s happening. Of course, not all of the hair is on the floor, which is why you should also dust every day and get rid of the hairs that have built up on bookcases and shelves.
8. Get Rid of the Hair Altogether
Getting tired of all the hair around your home? Starting to think that owners of hairless felines have it made? Why not try it out for yourself and shave off your cat’s coat? Your cat does live a pampered life inside, after all. You can simply bust out the clippers once each month and put an end to your shedding problems once and for all! Granted, your cat might not appreciate this, and it certainly won’t look the same, but it will definitely reduce the amount of shedding you have to deal with.
Conclusion
Cat shedding is something that nearly every cat owner has to deal with. Only a few select breeds avoid this issue. Of course, you can turn your cat into a hairless cat with a quick run of the clippers. But shy of shaving your cat, there are still many ways to reduce the mess of your cat’s shedding and the impact it has on your home and on your life. Hopefully, one or more of these methods will help you find some solace from the constant barrage of cat hair that you’ve been enduring.
Featured Image Credit: RJ22, Shutterstock
