Cat Grooming with GROOMIT and KONG ZOOM GROOM

by Mary
(Oxford, England.)

Groomit

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Groomit

Groomit Groomit Zoom Groom

Please can you recommend the best way to use this type of cat comb (Groomit Deshedding Pet Brush)?

She is long-haired and has never been super-keen on being groomed, but I get there ... The wide-toothed-part is acceptable to Kitty, as is the "Zoom Groom" brush (the purple one in the picture). That one was recommended by the vet.

What about back-combing with the wide-toothed part of Groomit. She seems happy with that. Any thoughts?

Thanks for any advice.

Mary


Hi Mary... thanks for visiting and bringing these two grooming tools to my (our) notice. Your query has made me think about these grooming tools which is good for me and my cats.

I have the FURminator® which I believe is similar to the GROOMIT. They are deshedding combs as you know.

My lady cat who has a double coat doesn't like the FURminator®. It is highly effective in bringing downy fur out of the coat - tons of it just flies out and gets everywhere - but she balks at it being used on her. It is a bit heavyweight and not gentle enough for her it seems to me. For that reason I don't use it, hardly.

I have not used the GROOMIT deshedding pet brush. I guess, "follow the instructions" is the answer but with gentleness and never against the wishes of the cat. If we make grooming even slightly unpleasant we have lost the battle it seems to me and grooming will become difficult. We need our cat's cooperation and grooming can and should be a loving experience ideally.

But on a basic concept level I am not sure that this brush is sensible in retrospect.

In a natural state (say in the wild) cats don't use brushes to remove a lot of undercoat! The undercoat is there for a reason and it will fall out in a natural way. Using these effective and popular devices we are taking the fur out en masse and that is unnatural. We are doing it for out sake, to try and minimise the amount of fur around our house. I am not sure that they achieve that or if it is wise that we use them - just my personal views. I am not sure that they are effective in getting rid of matting - they will pull and hurt so it is inadvisable. They will prevent matting but so will combing with a large course comb that will be more acceptable.

Visitors will no doubt have a different perspective on the GROOMIT and FURminator® and that is fine.

As for the ZOOM GROOM, I have never heard of it until now! I can't really advise then can I?

However, good old Amazon does give some clues. The feedback for this product is very good and it is cheap at about $8 (USD - you can buy it in the USA too).

The most outstanding benefit of the ZOOM GROOM over the GROOMIT (or Furminator) would be that cats seem to be more willing to accept the ZOOM GROOM and in fact love it. That is the general impression I get from feedback. It seems to be a more gentle device and my experience tells me that, with cats, gentleness goes a long way. That and patience are the bywords in dealing with cats.

As to how to use it? Just use it, I guess! I don't think any particular rules apply other than as instructed or through commonsense.

As a final note: I actually comb my dense double coated lady cat all over with a flea comb! This is a very fine toothed comb (32 to the inch) and initially it was impossible to get it through the undercoat. But with patience and gentleness I can do her all over now. I do it twice per day. If not it is impossible to do it. But she loves it and asks me to comb her. We have a little ritual and it is very loving.

Returning to your enquiry. I would prefer the ZOOM GROOM brush and I might get one. As I said, it seems to be more gentle and as effective or less brutal in its effectiveness.

I would welcome feed back from visitors.

Buy the ZOOM GROOM at Amazon.com (
for US market):

And on Amazon.co.uk as well (
for the UK market):

How to minimise cat hair

Best

Michael Avatar

From Cat Grooming with GROOMIT and KONG ZOOM GROOM to Cat Health

Comments for
Cat Grooming with GROOMIT and KONG ZOOM GROOM

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Dec 11, 2010 groom-it
by: Anonymous

My cat loves the groom-it he lays down for me and he turns over so I can groom his other side he adores it. hewill sit for ages and get groomed.


Nov 16, 2010 Zoom Groom
by: Michael

I have just groomed my lady cat with Zoom Groom. She liked the feel of it a lot. It must have a nice massaging effect as Mary said. Some hair came out too. It flew around a bit so it was hard to collect.

This is primarily a massage type tool with some ability to remove loose fur. There are better groomers I feel. A straight conventional brush or comb is as good if not better.

Michael Avatar


Nov 13, 2010 Instructions
by: Michael

Well I got that wrong on following instructions! Yes, Mary, the Zoom Groom looks very coarse but seems to be effective in removing undercoat (according to feedback) and thereby reducing the chance of matting. But you seem to have tried one and it doesn't remove undercoat or loose hair, which judging by its coarse comb is what I would expect. Anyway I have just bought one from Amazon so I'll give it a try too.

Flea combing a Persian is going to be hard on the face of it because of the length and density of the fur.

Thanks for the comment, Mary.

Michael Avatar


Nov 13, 2010 Thanks for grooming thoughts
by: Mary

Unfortunately there were no instructions (except for those on-going ones from the cat) ! 🙂

Fine grey fur finds its way all over the house whatever I do (or not), so that is not the reason. I'm keen to keep her fur free of tangles not least because otherwise she gets very cross with them, probably ingests far too much fur and, yes ... unfortunately ends up being sick. I'm sure that can't be fun.

I have long hair myself and after a lifetime of trying various brushes GROOMIT looked promising for Kitty - but then, I expect it is different for a cat.

I haven't tried using a flea comb. It doesn't sound very promising but I'll look out for one in the shops. Must be worth a try. She does seem to like ZOOM GROOM, but I can't see it having any effect beyond a nice cat-massage.


Nov 10, 2010 Furby has one
by: Joyce Sammons

We sit him on a small table and only brush in the direction of the fur. This closely imitates what he'd do licking himself. I was amazed how much loose hair came off of him. We didn't try to get any of the undercoat off. He won't be still long enough for that.

If you think it works well on a cat, you should see how much it gets off a dog. It's great but can only be tolerated in small doses.


2 thoughts on “Cat Grooming with GROOMIT and KONG ZOOM GROOM”

  1. I have not tried the Groomit yet. The FURminator works wonderfully and my felines love it. It is best to use a gentle, mindful touch, which maybe suggests we use it when feeling quiet, at peace. (I’m really teasing!)
    Michael, as always, your research is speedy and amazing. Thanks for linking to this earlier article; I am looking forward to waking up in the morning thanks to your energy! 🙂

    Reply
    • Thanks Caroline. It is more about discipline than pure energy! LOL. I am bit knackered these days compared to the way I was. Being a solicitor which was very hard work has made everything else seem easy.

      Reply

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