Has anybody used the Furminator?

beveragelady

Will this thing work on a smooth-coated collie cross and a long-haired collie cross, both of whom shed like it's their job? They both dislike being groomed, no matter what I do. I also have a long-haired cat, recently acquired, and it would be great if it would work on him too.

ShaShaBear

beveragelady wrote: »

Will this thing work on a smooth-coated collie cross and a long-haired collie cross, both of whom shed like it's their job? They both dislike being groomed, no matter what I do. I also have a long-haired cat, recently acquired, and it would be great if it would work on him too.

My boy is a collie cross and hates being brushed in most areas that he needs it the most. He doesn't particularly like the furminator any more or less than another brush, but it gets the job done much quicker, which saves on stress for him. I'd recommend even a spray bottle of water before you start. If there's any mats under the coat it can be quite sore!

beveragelady

ShaShaBear wrote: »

My boy is a collie cross and hates being brushed in most areas that he needs it the most. He doesn't particularly like the furminator any more or less than another brush, but it gets the job done much quicker, which saves on stress for him. I'd recommend even a spray bottle of water before you start. If there's any mats under the coat it can be quite sore!

Thanks, I think I'll give it a try. It would be great if it works on my extremely sensitive smooth-coated girlie, who even hates being dried off with a towel. If it works on the cats too then I'll definitely be getting my money's worth.

Madisonmenece

I have the furminator brush along with several others, it does its job very well but is harsh on the dog coat. Personally I have stopped using it and when my husky or Malamute blow their coats I prefer an undercoat rake, also find a slicker brush very effective and not anywhere near as harsh as the furminator

tk123

Madisonmenece wrote: »

I have the furminator brush along with several others, it does its job very well but is harsh on the dog coat. Personally I have stopped using it and when my husky or Malamute blow their coats I prefer an undercoat rake, also find a slicker brush very effective and not anywhere near as harsh as the furminator

This is what I do too - I just don't trust the furminator not to damage the coat. You can get double and springloaded rakes that are brilliant and lift much more hair than a standard rake.

beveragelady

Right, so I went mad and purchased not one but two furminators from Amazon. One for the dogs, one for the cat.
Up to now I have used slicker brushes on the dogs with limited success. They're brilliant for getting the dog hair off the carpet though!

mymo

Let us know how you get on with the cat, we have a long haired cat and she's shedding her kitten coat now, been using a pin brush and slicker brush so far.
She's not keen though (been wearing my gardening gloves), and will only tolerate so much.

Hooked

beveragelady wrote: »

Right, so I went mad and purchased not one but two furminators from Amazon. One for the dogs, one for the cat.
Up to now I have used slicker brushes on the dogs with limited success. They're brilliant for getting the dog hair off the carpet though!

Husky owner here and I'd be lost without my furminator. As others have said above, just don't overdo it. Not sure about collies, but huskies have a double layer coat and shed the undercoat twice yearly... So we only use it at coating time. Not as a regular 'brush'.

Alicat

I use one on my two long-haired cats and love it. I only use it once every few weeks though to give them a good going over, and then use a normal brush inbetween. One cat has sort of silky hair so she doesn't need it as much, but the other is a big fluff ball and gets massive hair balls regularly if we don't keep it up.

This photo is from the first time we used it. Very little effort and didn't hurt the cats.

tk123

You'll get a feel for it OP - like it'll almost glide through the hair at first but the moment you feel it dragging a little it's time to stop. My dog's coat has really come on in the last year since switching to raw - a proper fluffy thick retriever coat at last (he'll be 4 in July) so I'm afraid to chance the furminator on it lol - especially since ours is the older one and not one of the ones specifically for longer hair... But...:p I read on a forum one time that somebody tried it on their hair and teddies etc... I tried it on a teddy and my own hair lol and no probs so I may just be worrying over nothing!

Tropheus

Got one for our Beagle. They're not cheap, but it does work. He doesn't mind it at all. Most evenings I take off enough hair to make another dog:). We've also noticed that there is noticeably less hair around the house.

MurdyWurdy

My friend has the cat one because her bf is allergic to cats and they were moving in together. She thought it might help. She swears by it now - said it was fantastic, especially at getting the dander which is what causes the allergies.

She sent me a picture of the fur that came off her cat. It was gross and fascinating at the same time!

DBB

Madisonmenece wrote: »

I have the furminator brush along with several others, it does its job very well but is harsh on the dog coat. Personally I have stopped using it and when my husky or Malamute blow their coats I prefer an undercoat rake, also find a slicker brush very effective and not anywhere near as harsh as the furminator

+1 for me too with a long-coated GSD.
Destroyed her coat by slicing long topcoat hairs in half, so I'd be very slow to use one on a long-haired, silky-coated breed. I can see though, that they'd be good on a shorter coat, like the Beagle, Husky, JRT, and cats!
However, as tk says, feel your way with it, because even taking care with mine, I actually scraped my GSD's skin with the bloody thing The Guilt

beveragelady

DBB wrote: »

+1 for me too with a long-coated GSD.
Destroyed her coat by slicing long topcoat hairs in half, so I'd be very slow to use one on a long-haired, silky-coated breed. I can see though, that they'd be good on a shorter coat, like the Beagle, Husky, JRT, and cats!
However, as tk says, feel your way with it, because even taking care with mine, I actually scraped my GSD's skin with the bloody thing The Guilt

Thanks. The long-haired chap is silky in places and fluff-tufty* in other places, but the silky its aren't the bits that cause problems. If the furminator works on the fluff-tufty places, it'll be worth the money.
The cat is silky all over, I might be returning that brush.

*Fluff-tufty: A technical term for the fuzzy growth my dog has on his tummy and his bummy.

Pumpkinseeds

I used it on one of my cats, he has a thick rather than long coat. He doesn't like to be brushed and he'd usually try to wriggle away when brushed with a slicker brush, but the Furminator made him hiss at us. We didn't use it more than a couple of times, he just hated it too much.

Soodle

Furminators are very harsh good for thick coated dogs I wouldn't reccomend them on cats and if so be very gentle while using this. Best grooming brush on smooth coats is a rubber brush or glove no comb or slicker brush should ever be used on smooth coated dogs (all learnt from my time at college:))

Papillon!

I use it on my Pug and Cavvy and it's great. Pretty sure they lose half their body weight in hair every time I use it on them and theres noticably less furball tumbleweeds flaoting around the kitchen