Cat hair conundrum

How do you guys keep the cat hair at bay?

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with all laminate floors. 2 short haired felines and a lot of dark furniture. I vacuum twice a week and still...hair everywhere! I know regular brushing might help. Anyone have some useful fur-busting tips for me? (Kindof a clean freak even though I want another kitty...longhaired LOL)

For brushing, use the Furminator. :nod: NOTHING removes the undercoat (the fur that sheds) like a furminator.

For your furniture - use throw blankets LOL. Fold 'em up and put them in a closet when company comes over - the quickest way to cat-hair-free furniture there is. :lol3: Wash the blankets weekly. With the throws, you don't need to vacuum your furniture any more! It's not the prettiest when you're home a lone - but it's the easiest!

I TRY to groom my cat's once weekly . I first use the Furminator, then the rubber curry, then a slicker brush - DONE.... I also trim nails. Each cat I can run through in about five minutes. Now that it is winter - I don't do weekly as they are not shedding as much. I usually brush my cat's outside on my patio table. They love to watch the birds and bugs flying around. Good distraction while I quickly get the grooming done. They are all used to the routine and actually all wait by the patio door for their turn :lol3: Except for Perla - I have to try to get her when she least expects it.

If anyone can figure it out, let me know. With 6 cats and 4 dogs (included a Samoyed - a long hair sled dog), I'm going crazy. It's not too bad right now since shedding season is over but spring and summer are a B*TCH! We brush them, we shave Brooke (the Samoyed) in the spring when it gets warm and we STILL have enough animal hair to stuff a mattress. 

Funny story though. A few years ago before we shaved Brooke I went around the house and picked up all the big tufts of white hair I could get before I vacuumed (saved on vacuum bags), and then ran the sweeper. The hair was in a bag that was sitting by the back door ready to go out. Harley decided to investigate and somehow got his head through the bag handle and couldn't get it out, and he panicked and tore through the house with this bag "chasing" him, depositing handfuls of white dog hair all over my nice clean carpets  . Yeah, I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was seriously considering cat stew for dinner that night. Anyway, I got the bag off Harley (who proceeded to lick himself and give the impression of "yeah, I meant to do that....."}, picked all the fur up again and vacuum ONCE again. No cat died that night, but I DID really think about it.

We have seven cats. I pick one cat every night and s/he gets brushed and combed. It takes me about an hour or so as all of our cats just love to be brushed (and much of that hour is probably spent fending off the other cats). It's good quality time with that particular cat (at least I think it is) and it also lets me run my hands down through their coats and their bodies, so that I can look and feel for lumps or otherwise funky things going on. (We lost a cat to breast cancer many years ago and I'm still paranoid....I always look for lumps and such.) I really need to get a Furminator

We vacuum about three times a week now, sometimes four. I used to vacuum only twice a week with a thorough cleaning on Saturdays, but it's just not enough anymore. We vacuum the furniture and the drapes, too.

The cats have an assortment of pillows and throws throughout the house. I do one load of laundry every week that is nothing but kitty stuff: pillowcases, throws, blankets and such. You know what? Even with every cat being thoroughly brushed once a week, it is amazing how much cat hair we find in the washer and dryer after that load of cat laundry! And even though I wash the bed linens every week, the cat hair that we find in the dryer especially after doing that load of bed linens is kind of gross.

calico2222, I can imagine how beautiful your Samoyed is. Many, many years ago, we had an Alaskan Malamute and he was simply a gorgeous dog! They need a lot of exercise and we were always outside walking somewhere. He was very strong, too. I loved that dog. But oy! did he ever shed! I was constantly brushing him, especially during the spring when he'd lose his winter fur. Fur all over the house! 

Thanks all! It's nice to hear all your coping strategies. I have leather couches so I'm not sure I need the throws although I really like that idea and might try it just to keep the hair from flying around.

I'm finding the laminate floors both a blessing and a curse. I feel that I can get them nice and clean but the cat hair just floats around and gets all over my shelves and stuff. Carpets suck it all in...but that is a problem in itself especially with allergies.

I have a furminator and should really use that!! Both cats love being brushed and I really need to get on top of that. I also have a slicker brush...do those rubber ones work well too?

Winchester said:

calico2222, I can imagine how beautiful your Samoyed is. Many, many years ago, we had an Alaskan Malamute and he was simply a gorgeous dog! They need a lot of exercise and we were always outside walking somewhere. He was very strong, too. I loved that dog. But oy! did he ever shed! I was constantly brushing him, especially during the spring when he'd lose his winter fur. Fur all over the house! 

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Oh, she is beautiful. Here's a link to the post with pics when we first brought her home:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/131198/brookes-home-pics

We know she's not pure because of her snout and the fact that she is taller than most purebreds. We figure there may be some collie, retriever or GS in her because her snout is longer that a pure Samoyed. The vets office (where we rescued her from) thought she was a Malamute but after doing research we think she has Samoyed in her instead. According to the vet, when we adopted her she was around 2 years old. She has filled out a LOT!

I really don't care WHAT she is, she's a sweetie! She is DH's dog hands down though (even thought I'M the one that decided to rescue her from the vets, HE'S the one that picked her up so I guess he is her savior). Oh, and if you read the replies to my thread, she really doesn't walk on a leash very well. She's a sled dog. She pulls. Hard. I found that out when I was taking her for a walk after the big 2009 snow and, yeah, if she is in snow it's on. You're going to be pulled. DH walks her now.   (we do have a large yard she can run in every day, but she's a sled dog to the core.

Sorry Lokilove, didn't mean to hijack the thread. 

Lokilove said:

I have a furminator and should really use that!! Both cats love being brushed and I really need to get on top of that. I also have a slicker brush...do those rubber ones work well too?

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Are you talking about the one's with the rubber teeth or with metal teeth? If it has rubber teeth I wouldn't very use it. They are worthless. In my experience they just get the hair out and let it float around the room to fall on anything. Something like the furminator  gives you a chance to collect the hair and bag it. Some is still going to get airborn and land in the worse places. 

Here's an idea....have you tried to vacuum your cats? If you have a vacuum with attachments you may want to try that. Especially if they enjoy being brushed. It depends on the cat but some absolutely love being vacuumed. My one friend does that to her cat, and any time she tries to run the vacuum on the floor, the cat keeps jumping in front of it and lays down like she's saying "ok, it's my turn". I think it definitely depends on the cat, whether they would enjoy it or not. I know I can usually vacuum my dogs, but the cats want no part of it. But, they don't get groomed daily and HATE the vacuum with a passion so it would be more hassle than it's worth. But you may want to try it on yours.

I have the most amazing attachment for my sweeper. It's called a turbo brush that attaches to the hose. No matter how much brushing I do GiGi and.Hercules shed like beasts. But the attachment picked up every little hair they left around. I couldnt live without it especially for hercules favorite sleeping spots on the back of the couch where it goes from tan to.white after one nap.