Do cats shed more fur in the spring?

I'm being inundated with fur, fur and more fur.   The last month or so it seems to be everywhere!!!!   I brush her. I (lint) brush my clothes.   I Swiffer and vacuum, but I'm losing the battle.  I can even pull on her fur and some comes out in my fingers.  It wasn't like this when I got her in November. So my question is:

Do cats shed old fur to get a new spring coat?

Cats shed all year long, however much less in the fall to prepare themselves for the winter months, then lose all that extra fur during the spring months, which is why you are dealing with so much fur now.

This is amplified quite a bit when the cat is allowed outdoors at all. 

Lots and lots of brushing and combing helps with all the fur, I know, it's a pain to stay on top of.

My longhaired girl Simone is all white with very fine fur so it sort of floats in the air even, I am always covered in white hairs!!

Ruby's been an indoor cat since I adopted her, but she had been an outdoor cat as she was brought into the SPCA by someone who found her.

Will the shedding settle down again, or will it be like this till fall when she starts getting ready for winter again.

No it will settle down after a couple months or so and some good brushings to help remove the shedding fur.

Thanks Catwoman707 for your replies.   Good to know it will settle down again.  Meanwhile I'll get a lot of use out of the new brush I bought her.

Omg tell me about it. They have been shedding like there's no tomorrow. I try to brush them, but they don't let me! Ghh.

I always brush outside on nice spring days (2 long-hairs). Great to watch the hair just float away like dandelion fluff, knowing that all that hair is not going to be in my house.

rubysmama said:

 
Thanks Catwoman707 for your replies.   Good to know it will settle down again.  Meanwhile I'll get a lot of use out of the new brush I bought her.

Click to expand...

Glad to have helped

OMG!! i have 2 cats and do they shed or wat!! v are always covered with hair!! all our clothes,furniture,even the towels we wipe our hands with[emoji]128567[/emoji] at times when we are having food,we find our hands covered with cat hair and am not sure how much of it we actually swallow or inhale.IS THERE NO REMEDY TO THIS [emoji]128557[/emoji][emoji]128557[/emoji]

Lots of brushing, they also have the de-shedding tools like the Furminator, etc that work excellent.

Some people vacuum their cats daily in shedding season, huh!,  my cats will NEVER allow me to do this...........!!  

Lots of sticky rollers sort of help, at least for the moment......

my cats would kill me and the vacuum!! LOL!!
btw,wat kind of diseases can we catch by consuming cat here?!? wonder why nobody is concerned abt tht [emoji]128552[/emoji]

aroojay said:

my cats would kill me and the vacuum!! LOL!!
btw,wat kind of diseases can we catch by consuming cat here?!? wonder why nobody is concerned abt tht [emoji]128552[/emoji]

Click to expand...

You will not catch any diseases from swallowing cats hair. You could possibly get worms or ringworm ( which is a fungi not an actually worm ) but apart from that no actual diseases.
In fact there are very few diseases that are zoonotic and can pass from cat to human these are -

Rabies
Worms
Ringworm - is a fungi
Cat scratch disease
Salmonellas
Toxoplasmosis

I think that's it - please correct me if I've missed any

No, consuming cat fur wont hurt you. My cousin who had a white cat used to joke about "The Great White Spice" making any thing he cooked taste better.

I myself have a long haired kitty (i've always owned short hairs), and I must say it's been an adjustment. I just try to brush at least once a day. I also have a tool called a Shedmonster that works ok. I just try to use it sparingly b/c it can remove too much fur. I've heard the Furminator is better, but I haven't tried it.

Has anyone else noticed their kitty has a particularly long coat this season? I bet they produce hair based on the temperature. Here's what I'm dealing with.

bigperm20 said:

Has anyone else noticed their kitty has a particularly long coat this season? I bet they produce hair based on the temperature. Here's what I'm dealing with

Click to expand...

That's a LOT of fur!!! They are beautiful cats, though.   My Ruby is a short-hair, but she still has been shedding a lot.   It seems like it may have settle down a bit this week, though.   Course that could be because the blizzard on Wednesday made her think winter was coming again.

The pics are actually both pictures of Beans. It was my intention to show how long her fur had gotten this winter. Her ruff and her "britches" have gotten extra long this year.

Here's a better example:

This was last summer:

This is now:

You're right! I've just been comparing pictures of my long fur kitties and they are much fluffier this year.

Here's Chicken, on the right, March 1213.


And here she is January 1214.


Her ruff is much longer and thicker this year. Maybe because we had such a cold winter?

All my cats go outdoors and they all shed fur like crazy. I'm always covered in the stuff.

Occupational hazard of being a Mad Cat Lady I guess

aroojay said:

,even the towels we wipe our hands with[emoji]128567[/emoji]

Click to expand...

That is one of the worst feelings.  Noodles is short haired; but the hairs are fine.  If she gets to lay in the towels before I fold them; they are covered.  It's really unpleasant to go to dry your face especially after a shower and you end up with cat fur stuck to you.  DH is allergic so he's finicky about them getting too close to his face or anywhere his face goes. (They aren't allowed to sleep in our room or get on our bed.)  I try to cover any unfolded laundry with a blanket if I can't get right to it. 

I do find the furminator helpful for my2 short hairs; mostly Noodles since she sheds more.  I don't have much experience with long hair cats. 

I need to see if I have any comparison pictures of my Mom's long hair cat; Olivia.  I love her pantaloons in the winter!

I too recommend the 'furminator' - they love it and it's easy to grab the 'bunches' of fur coming off. however, when the situation becomes dire - and only if it's warmish temps - i do bathe the kitty who has the most fur; my cats are indoor cats, not outdoor. i did read somewhere that, if one creates a daylight effect in the house by leaving lights on when one isn't there...that it stimulates hair growth since the cat's body thinks it's spring!  i was amazed to learn that.

also, after the furminator i use a long rubber 'brush' - like little rubber fingers - not only does it seem to 'magnetise' the hair which I had brushed with the furminator but it soothes kitty and gives kitty a lovely massage.

still...hair is balling everywhere and thank heavens it's so easy to pick up on the wood floors; it's another matter ground into the carpet.

good luck!

@norachan Chicken is beautiful!. If my Beans and her hung out they'd be one vegetable short of a "meat n' 2".


All I have to say about finding cat hair everywhere is: Brush regularly... Every day if possible.

what a beautiful cat you have!

I'm thinking now...since you live in Tenn, your temps will be higher now than ours in Canada.

your pix seem to show your kitty has really 'grown' since last summer - yes, i agree, brush brush brush

  what's a 'meat in 2'?