Multi-cat households and shedding

Question for those who have multiple indoor cats: How do you manage the shedding? We have 5 cats, and I am working on convincing DH to let me keep a sixth that I've taken in, but he HATES the cat hair all over the furniture. How frequently do you brush you shorthairs to keep the shedding to a minimum? Other than washing bedding and lint-rolling couches, does anyone have any other tips for managing the hair?

Funny you bring this up, but i've just been chatting to Lei(xocats) on the telephone who has one of those Furminators, and i've just ordered one online for my kids

I have to vacuum the furniture daily. I brush everyone, well those that like brushing every few days. But for the most part fur is apart of our lives.

I am a recent convert to the Furminator...
It really works.

http://www.furminator.com/

For me, (I have six cats) Brushing is #1 in reducing the hair amounts, daily vacuuming, and I keep my clean clothing folded inside out, so I have fur -less clothing.

Originally Posted by OpieBopie

I keep my clean clothing folded inside out, so I have fur -less clothing.

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Wise move.

Well for starters you can tell him that one more cat isn't going to be any worse than five lol. That's what I told my hubby. Actually, I am lucky my cats shed less than the dogs so most of our problem is doggy hair. I love the folding inside out, that's awesome. Since my older cats have passed away over the last couple of years we have replaced them with kittens and I have taught them not to get on our bed as often. These kittens don't sleep with us like the others did and this gives us a place that is pretty hair free. Now if I could just convince the puppy to sleep in her own bed. lol I use a bagged vaccum cleaner, after years of thinking the bagless were the way to go for convienance, they pick up hair about twice as well. Diet is important as well, I have found that purina naturals is great for mine. I have tried many brands both expensive, specialty, and lower cost and for mine this has been one that they all thrive on. They are healthy, and have nice coats. I am not saying rush out and get some for yours, you will have to see if one works better than others for you. Of course, there is that commercial on tv with the couple living in the house where they have covered everything with plastic lol.

Originally Posted by kat89447

Of course, there is that commercial on tv with the couple living in the house where they have covered everything with plastic lol.

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Oh, yes, that is my DH's favorite commercial! "See that? That's what it's come to around here!"

I comb, comb COMB! And bathe and blow dry (which helps emensely if you have a high velocity pet dryer) And I vacuum every day and swipe my furniture with one of the many tools I use for removing fur! I only have two cats right now though. When I had 5, it was much less manageable. It helped having wood floor throughout the home. A dust mop was invaluable then!

Buy couches that don't show the hair.
We've got multiple lint rollers and vaccuum often.

It's funny, at our cats vet check up yesterday she said their coats were gorgeous, and asked how often we brush our girls. Then had a laugh when we said they never get brushed (they don't like us using sharp brushes on them, only hands and even thats a stretch).
With two medium hair orange kitties, I look like a carrot sometimes.

Originally Posted by Zooy

Buy couches that don't show the hair.
We've got multiple lint rollers and vaccuum often.

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We have a green microfiber couch. Easy to clean and pet hair doesn't show. We keep a lint roller handy (especially since DH works in an office). I also use the Zoom Groom on them fairly often. I vacuum a few times a week too.

Thanks for all your suggestions! I will start Furminating my crew regularly, and hopefully that will help. I think I will have to make set days of the week for getting them all brushed. I comb out my longhairs every couple of days, but it's soooo easy to procrastinate on brushing the short hair kitties.

I have three, and I have to agree that brushing is the #1 hair reduction method.

I try to brush at least every other day...if they go more than ~4 days without being brushed I start to see loose hair on top of their coats and it comes off in my hands when I pet them (which I can't stand).

I brush using a zoom groom...really works great, sorta attracts loose hair to it via static. Then I finish with a bristle brush to get the extra loose hair the zoom groom loosened up.

I have to put the clumps of hair (from brushing) straight into the trash and take it out as the cats will knock over the can and EAT it (grosssss!).

I also try to bathe every month or so, but that doesn't effect the sheddng much.

Vacuuming is done once a week, but I don't really notice much hair build up on the furniture (I guess the brushing helps).

Art

Radar is the only one of mine who noticeably leaves hair all over the place (being mostly white doesn't help!) He has an incredibly dense undercoat which gets everywhere.

As he's a shorthair, I find the zoom groom best at removing loose hairs.