Advice—May 2009

Dear Sparkle,
How do I stop my fur from getting all over the couch? I always get yelled at because of my shedding. I will come up to my humans and lay on their lap and when I jump off, they are covered in fur. What can we do to fix this so they love me all the time?
Signed,
Furry Sad

Dear Furry,
Your poor kitty. It sounds like your humans don’t appreciate your lovely fur at all and don’t understand that they should be honored to wear it. In fact, it sounds like you have gotten a complex from their anti-fur attitude. In our house, our fur is so treasured that when my human goes out, she makes cat allergic people sneeze just by what we have left on her clothes. But some misguided people have this weird thing about not wanting cat fur around. I don’t get it — I mean, if you have a cat, unless it’s a Sphynx, you’re gonna have cat fur. Cats and fur go together. But the really frustrating thing about your dilemma is not only are you getting flack for spreading your plush fur around, it’s your humans‘ fault that it’s all over the place. Chances are you are not being properly groomed.

If your humans spent some time brushing you on a regular basis (a couple times a week for shorthairs, daily for long-haired cats), then you wouldn’t be shedding so much. But they also need to brush you right. They should first run a metal comb through your fur to get out any tangles and to get your fur ready for brushing. Then, they should brush you with a bristle brush, or one of the cute rubber ones that are growing in popularity (the rubber ones are especially nice for short fur). The combing and brushing should go in the same direction your fur goes, unless you have a ruff that needs to be fluffed out. Some cats don’t like to be groomed, but most do, as long as humans do it correctly — it feels like an extension of being petted, kind of like a light, skritchy massage. Any cat that has a lot of knots should be taken to a professional groomer so the knots can be properly cut out without hurting. But if you are brushed regularly, you shouldn’t get many of these.

If you shed an exceptional amount, your humans can get a shedding blade that will catch a lot of the fur that a comb and brush won’t get. There are also de-shedding tools like the Furminator that will really get that undercoat hair that would otherwise wind up on your human’s couch.

And here’s a thought about that precious couch of your humans: maybe they should get you your own cozy cat bed and place it on the couch for you to sleep on. Then you can get all the fur on it you want and they can just throw it in the washer occasionally. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll use it; if you still prefer the couch itself, they can run a damp washcloth over the fur you leave behind. A washcloth usually picks it up pretty well, and a lint roller works for clothing. All that said, I still believe that in a perfect world, your humans would brush you frequently and not worry so much about whatever fur you choose to leave behind. I say, “Love me, love my fur.”