Zoom Groom or Furminator???

Which to buy? Haven't got my kitty yet but he looks to be a medium hair. Would love to cut down on the shedding due to allergies in the extended family.

Furminator is over $22 and supposed to remove the "undercoat." Hate to spend that if the other works just as well.

I would not recommend a Furminator in inexperienced hands- if used with incorrect pressure or on boney areas you can damage skin pretty quickly.

I've groomed cats for 34 years, and still would not use one- a good fine toothed comb will do just as well. IMO Furminators are best saved for use on double coated dogs- cats just don't drop undercoat the same way. I know they advertise it for both dogs and cats but I see that more as marketing than as true life experience.

Zoom Groom gets rave reviews around here.

Zoom Groom was probably the best $8 (I think) I've spent. Trent is also medium haired, and has a major propensity for hairballs. I was amazed at how much fur the Zoom Groom got off of him, which would have otherwise ended up in his stomach (and most likely back out on my floor...). I don't have any experience with the Furminator, but the Zoom Groom is the only thing we need here. And the best part - Trent actually somewhat likes being "Zoomed"! He HATES being brushed with anything else.

My cat is medium-haired and he drops a lot of undercoat. I looked at the Zoom Groom but it doesn't seem to me like it would do anything on a medium- or long-haired cat... it looks like it would be better for a short-haired cat.

I got the Furminator and it works very well. You do have to be more careful with it, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it and the cat seems to like it (he sometimes lets me use it on areas where he usually objects to grooming with other tools). I don't use it every day... I alternate days with one of those loop-shaped grooming rakes; the Furminator seems to get off slightly more hair. I think it would get off even more if my cat weren't tricky about grooming and would let me do more.

Since you haven't gotten your cat yet, though, it would probably be better to wait and see what the shedding is like before you buy tools. You may not even have a shedding problem with the cat, and find that a regular brush is all you need.