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  1. #1
    House Broken Angela_WM's Avatar
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    Help! 13 year old lab AND Maine coon blowing out coats ALREADY!

    I know this isn't a cat forum, but he's not helping the matter at all. I *just* vacuumed. There is hair everywhere AGAIN. Since the lab is so old, I was cautioned against things like the furminator, but he is actually in really good health (poor night vision, a little arthritis, a sudden wheat allergy, but nothing else wrong. People still think he's a puppy as long as he's on his rimadyl). He has no coat troubles (clearly)... he was on my bed for less than 5 minutes and shed an entire dog. I often just vacuum him with the upholstery attachments, which he loves, but I work full time and have a kid in online school (that's my other full time job). I can't vacuum anything every day. He loves being brushed, but every brush fills with hair too fast to get anything done... I've tried several and they just. Don't. Work. There is TOO MUCH HAIR.

    The cat literally tries to kill anyone who tries to brush him AND the brush. He is only half, so he's short-haired, but definitely double coated with tufts and all. He is currently shedding at the same rate as the dog, and he's shedding the soft under layer and the outer coat, too.

    My daughter and I are both asthmatic (though we've lived with them for years, and she's the only one allergic - mainly to the dog). Is there a special brush that could work better? Should I try the furminator? I'd ask his vet first, if course... maybe a brush that attaches to the vacuum? Like what we do with the attachments but less time consuming (as it is, it takes about 30 minutes to vacuum him this way...), and obviously, I can't do that every day. I barely have time to walk the poor guy. Last year, we had a housekeeper quit on us because of the hair (and I was vacuuming twice a week when she wasn't here). Others have just looked at the animals and size of the house and said no thank you, not that I can actually afford to keep one on anyway...

    Any ideas?

  2. #2
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    Not the furminator. I'd first use a double-toothed rake and then the Zoom Groom and then a soft slicker. My guys get the rake and then the slicker every morning after breakfast. Every. Morning.

    You're on your own with the cat. My cats all either loved being brushed (soft slickers) or hated it but didn't need brushing (thank goodness). My Maine Coon (full long coat) was one who loved the brush.

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    Angela_WM (02-20-2017)

  4. #3
    House Broken Angela_WM's Avatar
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    Do you have any suggestions on the rake? I don't know much about them... I've just always vacuumed him. I inherited him at the end of 2014. Before that, I only helped with his care. I'm not sure what my mom did when he was shedding like this besides asking everyone in the house to vacuum more.

    The cat... yeah... he's an asshole. We have a love glove that he'll let us use about three times before he chews our hands. The other cat won't let us use it on him, either (Himalayan mix, he's not very touchy feely). The dog loves it, but it's no match for his fur.

    My best friend used the zoom groom on him once while bathing him and I couldn't believe how much hair came out (there is no way I could bathe him here - tub is small, drain can't handle fur, hell, the septic system probably couldn't either).

    Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

  5. #4
    Senior Dog
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    This is the one I have. The dogs are fine with it (they have issues with brushes and the noise that some brushes make).

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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  7. #5
    House Broken Angela_WM's Avatar
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    I put that in my Amazon cart... what do you think if this slicker?
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirect...one_search_atf

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  8. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Same as Barb, I use a slicker on the cats. The slicker and the rake and a zoom groom on the dog. The frurminator can remove undercoat if used too much or improperly so it scares me, I'd be sure to use it wrongly. I don't actually have a zoom groom, instead I bought a rubber curry comb at horse tack shop for way, way less.

    Sure, go ahead, try a brush attachment on the vacuum on the cat. Tell us how that works out. LOL, kidding. I think you meant on the dog. Honestly, I have dogs who don't mind the vacuum but I don't think it would solve your problem. The brush does all the work. All the vacuum will do is catch the hair once it's out.
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  10. #7
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    this is the slicker I have...soft and very effective:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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  12. #8
    House Broken Angela_WM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    Same as Barb, I use a slicker on the cats. The slicker and the rake and a zoom groom on the dog. The frurminator can remove undercoat if used too much or improperly so it scares me, I'd be sure to use it wrongly. I don't actually have a zoom groom, instead I bought a rubber curry comb at horse tack shop for way, way less.

    Sure, go ahead, try a brush attachment on the vacuum on the cat. Tell us how that works out. LOL, kidding. I think you meant on the dog. Honestly, I have dogs who don't mind the vacuum but I don't think it would solve your problem. The brush does all the work. All the vacuum will do is catch the hair once it's out.
    Oh yes haha I definitely mean the dog on that one. The cat will often attack the vacuum while it's off.

    The zoom groom I found was under $5

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002...KIKX0DER&psc=1

  13. #9
    House Broken Angela_WM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    this is the slicker I have...soft and very effective:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Thank you. Your recommendations are in my cart. Hopefully, the floor will be less black soon. The cat... well... I don't know. The weird thing is he's never had a single hairball in his entire life (7 years) despite all that hair... it's medium length, but you can feel the double coat just petting him. And it's certainly noticeable when he sheds. It's not much better with the Himalayan (again, also medium length), but at least his coat is thinner.

  14. #10
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    I use a comb that's something like this one for getting the hair out of the slicker. It's also good for combing out mats or getting out the undercoat (used against the growth direction) but none of my dogs have seemed to like that. I'd bought it decades ago for Akitas and now just use it for cleaning out the other brushes.


    https://www.amazon.com/Wooden-Handle...words=dog+comb

    If you're going to be brushing in the house, I'd suggest doing it on a hard floor with a beach towel or something like that under the dog. The hair will fly a bit and it's easier to clean up than it would be on a rug. I actually use an old (non-soft) slicker to get the hair off the floor/towel.

 



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