If you ask me about my favorite grooming products for cats, the FURminator will definitely get my thumbs up. (It’s also a great tool for cat Donald Trump impersonations). I bought an early model of the famous de-shedding tool a couple of years ago and it’s a staple in my household. So when FURminator came out with a new updated line of grooming tools, I was very interested in trying them out.

But before I get to reviewing the new line of tools, a little about why I like the FURminator and why I recommend it over a normal grooming brush for de-shedding. First of all, the FURminator not a brush. Instead of having flexible bristles, the FURminator has a hard metal comb-like edge, which kind of reminds me of a hairdresser’s razor tool. But rather than cutting the fur, this metal edge is designed to remove the fur undercoat and loose hair on your pet. If used often (and properly), a FURminator can not only help reduce the amount of fur that your pet sheds, but for cats, can prevent those dreaded hairballs.

From left to right: standard metal brush, my old FURminator, brand new FURminator

Before buying the FURminator, I bought a standard metal-toothed grooming brush for the kitties. While it seemed to do a fine job in keeping their fur smooth and well-maintained, the brush didn’t actually remove much loose fur. In comparison, during a fruitful FURminator session, I can remove at least a few puffs of undercoat fur from P. Kitty and about a fist-full of fur from Biggie (whose coat seems made almost entirely of undercoat). Biggie definitely enjoys the FURminator. In fact, I think it was the FURminator that turned Biggie into a more social cat. Since her first FURmination, she has let me groom and pet her much more. P. Kitty goes back and forth between enjoying the FURminator and getting annoyed with it. She likes the feeling and will put up with FURmination if she doesn’t actually see the tool being used on her. But once she sees or feels the hard plastic handle, she gets a bit irritated and will usually end the session early. I definitely think you should only FURminate your kitty as much as they comfortable. Be gentle while using the FURminator and don’t go overboard, either, as it can irritate your pet’s skin if you overdo it.

Yep, we’re a FURminator family over here, so I was excited when I received a Short Hair deShedding Tools for Cats to try out on P. Kitty and Biggie. The new FURminator product line takes breed, size, and fur-length into consideration. I got the Large Short Hair deShedding Tool for Cats since P. Kitty and Biggie have coats shorter than 2 inches and since they both weigh a little over 10 pounds.

The new FURminator tools have been redesigned to be more comfortable for the human to use. The new handle has an ergonomic shape — it’s curved and has knobs and grooves for comfortable finger placement. It’s also covered with a soft, grippy rubber.

The new FURminator tool also has what the company calls a FURejector button, a plastic slide tab at the top of the FURminator which you push down to clean and remove loose hair from the tool. My old FURminator doesn’t have that button, but I’ve never had a problem pulling the fur from the teeth with my hand. In fact, the FURejector button seems a little unnecessary to me. Biggie’s sticky, fluffy fur still often has to be pulled from the FURminator.

Other than these two changes, I didn’t really notice any other new features. Neither did P. Kitty and Biggie Smalls, who, nevertheless, both seemed to enjoy the grooming I gave them with it. As they both get regular FURminations, I’m sorry that my photos and video demo don’t really show how much hair you can extract from a cat using this thing (If you go long enough between FURminating, you can seriously make another cat using the excess fur!). Also, it’s not very easy to operate a handheld digital camera while FURminating, so sorry for the budget photos/video.

Perhaps a real difference would’ve been noticed if P. and Biggie were long-haired cats, since it seems like the Long Hair deShedding Tool is a new noteworthy feature — any Pawesome readers out there try it? In the meantime, I’m satisfied that the FURminator is still a great tool and that the cats enjoy being groomed with it.

(Images and video: Sarah Han)

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