Shedding - long vs. short hair cats

I have a DLH adult and a DSH kitten. Right now I'm cat sitting my son's 2 DSH adults.

Long hairs always get the reputation for lots of shedding. Well, my experience tells me the opposite is true. Short hair cats shed more than long haired cats!

My DLH molts once a ear. During the months of May and June (earlier or later depending on the weather, but at most 2 months a year) she loses most of her coat. I comb her daily during this time, and am able to confine most of the hair loss to the daily combing. Not so with short hairs. These 2 of my son are shedding constantly. I've swept up more cat hair in 4 days than I do in a year at home!

I suspect that the reason why is the length of a hair cycle. All furry mammals, including humans, have hair cycle growth patterns. A hair follicle grows for a period of time, then goes dormant (which is when the hair falls out). Then the follicle goes through another growth/dormant cycle. In short haired cats, this cycle occurs more frequently, accounting for the constant shedding. In long hair cats, the cycle is less frequent, and somewhat weather dependent, accounting for less constant shedding, and more of a shedding "season."

Of course this may vary from cat to cat, but from my personal experience, I think short hair cats shed more.

having five short hairs I see more single hairs vs my old longhair who shed in clumps ....

diet has alot to do with it as does weather the longhair has something like a ragdoll in it s back grd

Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

Of course this may vary from cat to cat, but from my personal experience, I think short hair cats shed more.

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I have 3DSH and a DLH in the house, and I agree. Sherman does shed his fair share, but as sharky said it's in clumps - or fur tumble weeds. They usually collect in areas he's rubbed or brushed against, such as under the tv stand where he usually climbs under after toys.

With the DSH I've noticed that different type of undercoats are the main thing affecting shedding. The fluffier the undercoat the worse the DSH shedding will be since they'll have more undercoat to regularly replace.

I also have a theory that wearing certain colors make it worse. Wearing black around a white cat - somehow that cat's shedding increases ten fold and every bit of fur is on you.

I've had the same experience! Our family cat when I was growing up was a DSH with a fluffy undercoat, and she would shed EVERYWHERE. I now have two longhairs and was nervous about getting them because I remembered how bad the shedding had been with Copper (the family shorthair) and didn't want it to be even worse! Turns out, I'm finding less hair around the house with two longhairs than I did with one shorthair. Funny how that works out!

I did think of one theory... maybe longhairs shed less on their own because they tend to be brushed more?

Actually it really depends more on the thickness of the short hair cat. My two Ocicats don't really shed (or shed about as much as a Cornish Rex - which I owned and bred/showed). This is cause their coat is very short and close laying to the body.

Our domestic shorthair barn kitty - sheds a heck of a lot more and we can actually get a lot from her using the Furminator. The hair in the house on the furniture and floors are from the Labrador and the DSH - not from the Ocicats!

i have 5 dsh and 2 of them don't shed at all, 2 shed a normal amount, and the other one sheds like she should be bald by now. as she got older i've started brushing her more because her fur will get matted. i've noticed it's her thick undercoat that the shedding comes from

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Actually it really depends more on the thickness of the short hair cat. My two Ocicats don't really shed (or shed about as much as a Cornish Rex - which I owned and bred/showed). This is cause their coat is very short and close laying to the body.

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Current cats don't shed much (all Ocicats).

Past cats, 2 domestic shorthairs that didn't shed much and 2 domestic longhairs + a shorthair that all shed quite a bit. Depends on the cat and the breed.

I find mostly tumbleweeds with my DLH's whereas I have a friend who has 3 DSH and the amount of hair on me when I leave is disgusting. Granted we feed significantly different quality foods. Although our outside cat is a DSH and she sheds much more than our DLH's and they were on an identical diet for awhile.

Leslie

My DSH grey (Nabu) doesn't have a thick coat at all, and I think his hairballs are actually from grooming the other cats. He really doesn't shed at all. Lola (black DLH) doesn't really shed. We have tumbleweeds around the house too. Stimpy (tabby DSH) on the other hand sheds like MAD! It's crazy how much hair comes off of him.

We switched dry foods a while back, and I've noticed the shedding has decreased in general. But Stimpy still sheds more than the other 2 combined.