LH vs. SH-which sheds more?

white cat lover

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I have gotten to thinking about longhaired cats vs. shorthaired cat. Somewhere I read or heard something about the fact that longhaired cats she less than shrothaired cats. Is this true? I don't brush Twitch or Lily very often(once a week, maybe), but my grandma has a longhaired kitty that gets brushed daily. He doesn't seem to shed as much as Twitch & Lily. My aunt has two kitties, on LH & on SH. The SH seems to shed more of the two. They both get brushed on a daily basis. I have never had a LH, so I don't know. All I know is that my sweatshirt is always covered with cat hair(long & short) after a trip to the HS.


If you have any input, I'd love to hear it. There is a potential adoptee at the HS who asked about this & I hope to have more to tell her Thursday night. I am hoping that she will take home a LH girl who was surrendered because she sprayed(she was declawed but not spayed
). I think this lady will be a perfect match for this kitty, but her husband seems to have trouble with allergies, but only around LH cats(when he sits by their fur, he gets really watery eyes & sneezy, etc.-OK when petting sometimes). They are both very eager to take this girl home as she seems to love them already, but they don't want to take her home if there is the chance that her husband will get worse). If she doesn't take this kitty home, there is another pair of SH kitties she is looking at(another family is looking at these two as well). Whichever way she goes is excellent, but I am secretly hoping she will take home the LH.
 

sharky

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Longhairs may shed a tad less due to type of hair and the fact that it is longer before being shed... Longhairs I have trouble with likely the excess salivia sticky to a greater surface area
 

kitytize

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I also agree my shorthair sheds way more then my longhairs.
 

renny

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I find that the short haired ones seem to shed more and since the hairs are smaller they seem to get airborne easier (and hence more trouble with allergies etc). It also seems to depend on the food. Neither of mine seem to shed much (one long haired, one short haired), while my sisters on a lower quality diet seems to she excessively.
 
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white cat lover

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I am going to relay this info tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that they adopt the LH kitty.


I will make sure to mention diet makes a difference. From what I could tell, they will do anything for their kitty.
 

kaleetha

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You might also (if the husband comes in) have him play a bit with each kitty. I have allergies to some cats but not to others.

Good luck!
 

semiferal

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My experience is that longhairs shed somewhat less.

As far as allergies go, that is a very individual thing. Someone would have to spend some time with the particular cat to see how it goes.
 

wellingtoncats

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My Exotics shed a lot more then my Persians, but that's probably because Exotics have a nice thick short plush coat and Persians are long and silky.
 
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white cat lover

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They are currently fostering the LH kitty they really liked. The husband didn't seem to have any trouble with her in the HS as far as allergies go. The wife was completely & totally in love with this kitty & this was the kitty the husbnad liked best(he never said he loved her, the wife did).
 

kittyloves2bunt

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Actually, cats all shed their fur at about the same rate, but longers hairs create more friction and stay in place. Shorter, coarser-haired cats shed hairs almost immediately, but "poofier" cats need to be groomed (by tongue or by brush) to remove their already detatched hairs.
 

lizch6699

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One problem I do find with my LH is that she gets bad hairballs from time to time. I give her a laxative when she's in heat b/c thats when she tends to get the hairballs.
 

xdx

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I think it depends on the breed of cat because of the type of coats are Ragdoll and Norwegian forest cat have they dont shed much. Grooming also reduces it. But our two DSH moggies shed all the time
 

jen

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I think my opinion is that they all shed pretty equally but in different ways. When you pet a short hair cat, a lot of times a bunch of fur will go flying into the air. A long hair cat will sometimes have hair stick to your face when you snuggle into it, and they leave hair behind when they were laying in a spot for a long time. Cats like persians and himalayans and some other long hair cats shed in clumps. So there may be a lot, but it isn't all over your house on everything like a short haired cats would be. It is just here and there in easy to pick up clumps. All cats are different though and there are exceptions to what I said. In my experience I have found that to basically be true however.
 
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