We have a Manx named Tabitha. She is 13 1/2 years old. She sheds hair like crazy all the time. She has done this since we got her four years ago. We used to brush her a few times a week, but she would still shed hair.
When we have time to brush her every day, it obviously helps more. When we don't, cat hair gets all over the house. We are constantly dusting and vacuuming.
It's weird because our two cats shed worse in different areas than others. Max, our nine-year-old Tabby, sheds mostly in the living room and during the spring months. Batman, a nine-year-old black Havana, sheds only in the bathroom and kitchen (we find his black hair everywhere in our food and on the bathroom walls).
When they first moved in with my fiancee, they didn't shed much, but it became terrible once May arrived. My lady told me it had to do with the changing of the season and their coats adapting.
I would recommend getting a pet brush called the Furminator. It works better than any pet brush I've every used. It gets down in there and pulls out the loose undercoat. This thing will take off so much loose fur that you will feel like you have another cat with all the fur you'll brush out. When I am consistent with using it, there is much less hair all over the furniture and our clothes. I highly recommend it.
My Cats are exactly the same! As Sandooch said, the Furminator is actually a god send. It is more than just a brush, it is a de-shedding tool that actually removes the undercoat of your cats hair - it doesn't hurt the cat, or cause it to look shaved or anything, but it boasts to reduce shedding by up to 90% which it sounds like you need! They cost around $40 - $60 bucks, but I bought a knock off one from ebay for around $14 delivered. I would recommend, as my cats are fluff balls and this really makes a difference.
Switching to a higher quality food, if possible can also help to reduce shedding, but I have no idea what food you are eating. Also the seasonal coats do make a difference, I have noticed this in my cats too!
Both of my cats are regular short-haired cats, so shedding is not a big problem. My older cat bathes herself pretty often, and she has beautiful, soft hair and doesn't shed too much, even in the spring when they're changing coats. My younger cat doesn't spend so much time cleaning himself, and he sheds a lot more than her. Sometimes even just petting him once leaves a lump of hair in my hand during spring time (he doesn't have any bold spots, so it's not a health issue). I brush them with a regular brush, and it helps a little. I plan to invest in a Furminator first chance I get, I hear only positive things about it everywhere.
My Persian shed constantly. There was always long, white cat hair all over the place. We had to brush him frequently. My current tabby sheds a lot during the summer, but it obviously isn't as noticeable. When she sits on your lap and gets up, there's usually a nice amount of fur on your pants. She'll occasionally shed clumps of fur, but she cleans herself a lot, so that might have something to do with it.
My Princess sheds like crazy. I comb her twice a day, but the fur never seems to stop coming off. Even as I'm petting her throughout the day, I gently try to pull off loose fur. It doesn't matter how much I take off, she seems to produce more right on the spot!
Her long hair is sometimes a problem because she's prone to hairballs. If I ever see her getting into an intense self-grooming session, I need to step in and try to comb her out before she swallows half her fur. If I do slack in combing her, you can bet the hairballs will come up.
(09-19-2012, 05:21 PM)sandooch Wrote: I would recommend getting a pet brush called the Furminator. It works better than any pet brush I've every used. It gets down in there and pulls out the loose undercoat. This thing will take off so much loose fur that you will feel like you have another cat with all the fur you'll brush out. When I am consistent with using it, there is much less hair all over the furniture and our clothes. I highly recommend it.
I've heard this comb recommended before and have been wanting to try it. I have about 3-4 combs for my cats (more than I have for myself!), but none of them seem to do a very good job.
A tip for cat fur on furniture and beds: I've found nothing works better than plain old dishwashing gloves. I put them on and wipe the fur off the bed covers (okay, and sometimes the kitty herself). The fur comes off easily by sticking to the textured underside. I had tried some of those sticky rollers before, but they didn't "grab" as much fur as the gloves.
I agree with the Furminator recommendations. My boyfriend takes off a tennis ball sized ball of fur whenever he "Furminates" his cat. When I vacuum the carpet once a week the bin gets full to the brim with cat hair. It's insane! I can't imagine having a thick coat like this in the middle of the summer, but that's obviously why they shed.
Our black cat sheds like crazy, even though she technically isn't a long haired cat. Any time you start petting her you wind up with a wad of hair in your hands. I don't know how the heck she grows so much hair, I could probably fill a trash bag with it when I'm combing her. Initially I thought it was just a summer thing, as the weather started to get warmer, but she seems to be doing this year round. It's kind of annoying because I have to keep washing my hands after I pet her, otherwise it gets in my eyes, in my mouth, etc...
Both of our cats shed and I just can't keep up with it. I do my best to have a variety of supplies on hand and use them for different things. I have a pet mitt that I use regularly on the cushions on the kitchen chairs (our Siamese's favorite sleeping hangout)the small landing at the bottom of the stairs (our tortoise shell calico's favorite) They both have full run of the furniture. Some I try to protect by covering with blankets, although it doesn't seem to take long for the hair to sneak its way through the the chairs. I sweep during the week, and vacuum on the weekends to pull more off the furniture and collect what's gotten to the floor. It really doesn't matter. I don't like hair on everything, particularly, especially my clothing when I leave the house. But when you have furry friends it's unavoidable, in my opinion.
The Siamese just sheds all the time, and it doesn't matter when you pick her up, you're going to get covered. Touch her and the hair flies. The calico is a bit easier to deal with. She likes to stand still for a good petting/scratching and her hair collects nicely in my hands, so I try to get some off her each day. Just now she's got a bunch of under fur that's coming out on her rump/hip area. I can pull it out in clumps. That's normal spring and late summer thing for her, it seems.
When I had dogs, one morning I was reading the Sunday paper and they had an insert with a sample of this pet hair remover. It was the sticky paper stuff you use to lift pet hair off of your clothes. I don't know what I was thinking (I was half awake at the time and groggy), but in a moment of complete stupidity for some reason I thought you were supposed to put the sticky paper directly on to your pet and rip it off to remove the excess hair. So one of my dogs was sitting by me and I put it on her and ripped it off. Not surprisingly she freaked out and took off and hid from me the rest of the day, lol.
Well, my cat too shed hair daily but only goes through large-scale shreds once-twice a week. Not all cats shed a heavy winter undercoat during the spring, or lose dry hairs in the fall to make room for a heavier winter coat. You can do one thing is clean it up by using a perfect fit vacuum for pet hair that can help you and your family to remain healthy and fit from all allergies.
