How we handle (and reduce) all of the pet fur!

Hello all! So I get asked to share a lot of products with you but decline 99 percent of them. I only choose to share items I use or think will be helpful and that we actually use and I have to tell you, I was totally intrigued by this product. I've been using it for awhile now and am impressed. 

You may know by now that we are animal lovers and always have been. Both my husband and I have had a dog, a cat or both (or multiples of both) our entire lives. And even though they drive me crazy at times I simply cannot imagine our home without our furry loves in it. 

Sometimes they feel like no work at all, and sometimes…well, I feel like I have a two-year-old again. Not one, but three. :) Of course our sweet old boy kitty that recently passed was our best animal ever. The dog is pretty easy but the two cats are young and lets just say…active. ;) 

Compared to the messes our crazy cat Colby gets into, keeping up with their fur is the easy part. But it's constant upkeep. I get asked about this a TON on the blog, so I when the folks at FURminator® Professional Pet Care Products contacted me I was looking forward to trying their products. 

So was Colby: 

They sent the FURflex™Pet Hair System with their deShedding tools and I've discovered since that this product has a HUGE following -- it sounded like once you try it you're hooked. I was excited to try! 

You get the attachment size you need with a handle and then other attachments for cats/dogs of various sizes. I tried it on our Peanut first -- at first glance he doesn't have the typical problem dog hair. It's short but thick -- and because our sofas are the exact same color as his fur, we just don't notice it as much. But…he plops down on the back of the cushions and that's his perch for the day -- and between the cushions and the sofa is where I find an insane amount of fur every week. This cute little Nutter is worth it though: 

Look at him posing so nicely for you all! :) 

I took off his collar and really focused on the around his neck. This cute dog LOVED getting brushed: 

Eventually he figured out the deal and kept moving around so I could get a different spot. :) The design of the tool allows for it to push through the topcoat and remove the undercoat without hurting the pet's delicate skin. After using it a few times it will help to reduce loose hair from shedding. 

This is what I got after just a few passes on his neck with the FURminator® tool: 

It may not look like much but those are little bitty coarse pieces of fur that are difficult to clean up. They are easy to sweep but they stick to upholstery like you wouldn't believe. Heading it off before that even happens would be fantastic, and that's the point of these tools. 

I tried it on the cats next. Honestly we rarely brush them because they don't have really long fur. Most of our cats up till these two have had gorgeous, long coats that would need grooming more often. Because these two don't get brushed I wasn't sure how they would react. I tried it gingerly at first, leaving them where they were laying at the time:

I was honestly a little surprised at how well they sat for us to do it. Eventually I picked them up and like our long-haired cats before, I focused a lot on their neck area and they loved when I brushed there. They didn't love having their backs brushed as much:

She thought eating it would be a lot more fun. 

Our tuxedo kitty above surprised me -- oh my goodness there was SO MUCH FUR. They warned me not to do this before leaving the house because we'd be covered in it and especially with our girl, they were right. There was a cloud of black and white fur and it was stuck all over. 

I felt pretty bad after doing this the first time with her -- I realized she had so much more and longer fur that I thought. I should have known better because of our two, she's the one who has more problems with hairballs. I did some research on their site (it has a ton of useful info) and it turns out the hair we see on furniture is only one third of what the cat sheds -- two thirds of that goes into their stomachs and that is what becomes hairballs. I'm happy to report this brush has made a difference where those are concerned for our kitties. 

So here's the thing about these brushes -- they reduce shedding up to 90 percent with regular use. That is pretty amazing! They do not stop shedding, but help to control it. When we keep up with it we've already noticed a difference in the amount of fur on the furniture. 

Here's what we got from just a few minutes of brushing each animal: 

I was impressed! That was with the two cats not being entirely sure about this whole brushing thing, so they don't always let me do it for long. Since then they are getting more used to it and enjoying it more each time. 

One thing to note -- beware of knock offs of this product! They're often sold under the same name by different manufacturers (on Amazon, for example). If you find it anywhere other than pet stores it is most likely not the real thing, so be cautious. As I mentioned, the FURminator® products have a loyal following and after using them I understand why. 

I also love that you can also use these tools on smaller animals like rabbits and ferrets and very large animals like horses. They sell attachments that are the perfect size!

Have you tried these products on your animals? They were new to us and so far I'm very pleased with the results. Beyond the fact that they actually work, our animals are a part of our family and this is such a small, simple thing to do for our dog and cats. It's nice to spend a few minutes loving on them and I have really enjoyed that. I brushed them all today and currently have one kitty laying on my arms as I type, giving me all kinds of love. I think they enjoy it as much as I do. ;)

I love sharing products like this that I find useful and know will help some of you out as well. I know so many of you are animal lovers too!


This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of FURminator® Professional Pet Products. I only share brands I trust and use myself.