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Cats are an extremely controversial pet, as there seems to be a 50/50 split in opinion regarding likability. Those who like cats tend to love cats, but those who don’t, usually border on fervent dislike. If you are on this site, however, I am going to pull out my “jump-to-conclusions mat” and assume you fall on the loving side of the cat fence. I am a proud cat-lover and have consistently had these feisty fur balls in my life for as long as I can remember. Now that I am older and living on my own, however, I find myself solely responsible for pet maintenance and cleaning up after them. About three years ago, I decided to adopt my first pet as an independent grown-up since my parents had gained custody of the family pets upon my departure for college.

The cat I ended up adopting turned out to have a hyper-active shedding problem, and I soon found myself sleeping, eating and relaxing amidst cat fur. This quickly morphed from an annoyance into an issue of hygiene. I proceded to try numerous tricks, brushes, sprays and techniques to battle the enemy, but nothing seemed to work. I spritzed her, trimmed her, brushed her 36 times every other Tuesday while facing East, but I was still finding bits of her coat in every nook and cranny of my apartment. Eventually, my pocket book, energy, and caring diminished drastically and I admitted defeat. I countered the problem with a vacuum and a pair of rubber gloves I used on the furniture. They worked pretty well, but rubbing down every piece of furniture and collecting the fur was pretty time-consuming. Then, two months ago, my life changed. An apparatus by the name of FURminator stepped into my life, and at that moment, my fur follies came to an end.

The philosophy behind the FURminator is completely different from previous methods of fur removal. The loose hair on top of the coat is the least of our problems when it comes to dealing with tenacious cat hair. The undercoat is where the bulk of the dead, loose hair dwells until it falls off the cat and and onto the kitchen floor. Ick! The FURminator deShedder is able to reach deep into the undercoat and grab masses of superfluous fur and removes it. The tool does not cut the hair, as that merely provides a Band-Aid effect. The trick is to completely remove the hair as quickly and easily as possible, which is accomplished with this tool.

When my mom first told me about the FURminator, I brushed it off, assuming my cat wouldn’t let me within a foot of her while holding that evil, metal-toothed monster. I eventually decided, however, to give it a try and take PetSmart up on their return policy if my suspicions were proven correct. On the first attempt, my cat struggled a bit as I got her into position for her first FURminating. By the time I was on stroke number three, however, she was sprawled on her side, purring and nuzzling my hand with each motion. It was a pretty ridiculous sight, and I suddenly realized who was actually under who’s paw. Oh, the things we do for our pets!

I do not work on the sales team for the FURminator maker, and I have absolutely nothing to gain or lose if you buy one or not. I am merely passing on information regarding a product that will most likely save me thousands of dollars in future medical bills due to excessive fur ingestion and inhalation. Two warnings: Use the FURminator outside, as indoor use pretty much defeats the purpose, wouldn’t you say? Secondly,be gentle when brushing your cat. The teeth are metal and can hurt them if you press down too hard. Plus, it’s made to grab the hair without much pressure, so please do not go outside to brush Sparky and wind up skinning her. Other than that, enjoy the sweet reward of a less hairy cat without the embarrassment of owning one of those Mexican hairless disasters!