DEAR PET TALK: I love spring, but it is a time when pets shed — and shed and SHED! Yes, we brush our dog and cat, but what other recommendations do you have for doing a more thorough job?
— Drowning in Pet Hair
DEAR DROWNING: We are in the same boat — even though both our cats are domestic short hair felines, and our dog is a Lab/retriever mix with a short coat — there is plenty of fur. My husband recently had to repair our washing machine, and determined that there was plenty of pet hair that ended up in the drum (not the cause of the malfunction, but a factor).
Cats can shed anywhere from 100 to 1,000 hairs a day and there are two “shedding” seasons every year: fall and winter. So that’s a lot of fur in both of your lives!
One of our “go-to” experts for Pet Talk is Dr. Iryna Smyrnova, veterinarian and cat expert at Meowoff (https://meowoff.us). Here are tools she recommends — and consider the breed of pet you are working with — “deshedding brushes for double-coated dogs or fine slicker brushes for cats, which can drastically lower the amount of loose hair in your house.”
Brushing your dog and cat should be an enjoyable activity, and one that calms you both. Keep your brushes in a basket near where you watch TV, and you’ll find your blood-pressure lowers if you’re brushing your cat while watching the news — or your favorite sports team.
Of course, that still means there’s plenty of “tumbleweeds” floating around your home. These can come to rest under your couch, along your hall or on your furniture.
Smyrnova recommends “rubber-based tools because they physically grip hair embedded in the fabric fibers. Rubber gloves, silicone brushes, or specialized pet hair removers can be very useful on sofas, car seats, and upholstered chairs especially where fabric is tightly woven or textured as hair tends to cling to those surfaces.”
If you are planning to vacuum, you’ll want a HEPA filter and vacuum with motorized brush attachment. “This tool lifts hair from cushions while also trapping dander which is very important for allergy sufferers.”
As for the washing machine. Before clothing goes into the washer, take a dampened microfiber cloth over items that have pet hair (always more on trousers, we’ve found) and go over the surface to lift pet hair. If you use a dryer (we line-dry everything), Smyrnova suggests: “running clothes in the dryer with wool dryer balls on a low-heat or air-fluff setting pulls the remaining hair into the lint trap.”
As I type this column, I note small hairs from various cats who patrol my office to remind me that dinner time was five minutes ago! Signing off for now, and readers, let us know your methods for surviving this spring’s shedding season!
Sally Cragin is the director of Be PAWSitive: Therapy Pets and Community Education. Text questions to 978-320-1335.
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