Your furry friend needs you during shedding season
12/5/2023
Translation: Eva Francis
Spring is pollen season – and shedding season. It’s when dogs and cats change from their winter to their summer coats. This can be exhausting for your pet. Luckily, you can help.
Many mammals change their coat twice a year. In the autumn, they grow thick winter coats that helps them stay warm. In the spring, they shed all that extra hair. The transition from thick winter coat to thin summer coat doesn’t happen overnight. It usually takes between six and eight weeks. So it’s perfectly normal if your dog or cat is currently losing more hair than usual.
If, however, the increased hair loss doesn’t stop after a certain period of time, I recommend going to the vet. Shedding isn’t the only reason why pets lose hair. Hormonal changes after neutering, stress or the wrong diet could also be causing these symptoms.
Source: Four Paws
Shake your hair for me
Regular shedding, however, is good for your furry friend. This doesn’t mean it’s easy or happens automatically without any problems. Dead and loose hairs often don’t fall to the ground immediately, but get caught in the fur and feel prickly. This causes itching and makes your dog shake a lot more and your cat groom more frequently and intensively. Not to mention that both scratch themselves more often.
Especially long-haired dogs and cats often struggle with further problems during shedding season. If old hairs become tangled and matted with the new ones, there’s a risk of unpleasant knots in the coat and even painful inflammations.
Source: Shutterstock
The pleasantly scratchy brush
To make the shedding process as easy as possible for your four-legged friend, you can and should do your part. The animal welfare organisation «Vier Pfoten» (Four Paws) recommends that you brush your dog or cat thoroughly every day during this period to remove loose and dead hair. Which brush or comb you use depends on the length and density of your pet’s coat. If you’re not sure which one’s best, go to a specialist shop for advice. You can find more tips on pet grooming here (only in German).
Grooming isn’t only necessary during shedding season. Depending on the animal breed or the length and amount of hair, your pet will be happy if you brush, comb or groom it regularly. Having said that, some cat breeds don’t need grooming for obvious reasons.
I pledge to do better
Back home, the first thing I’ll do is look for the cat brush. It’s sure to be somewhere – almost unused. I must admit I’ve been neglecting the grooming of our cats (all short-haired), though not wilfully. I just didn’t think it was necessary, as their fur looks immaculate and healthy at all times. Maybe I’ve been wrong all these years and I could actually make their shedding experience more enjoyable by brushing them regularly. I’ll definitely give it a go and let you know how it went.
Do you regularly brush your dog or cat’s fur? Which brush does your furry friend like best? Let me know in the comments.
Header image: Shutterstock
I'm a full-blooded dad and husband, part-time nerd and chicken farmer, cat tamer and animal lover. I would like to know everything and yet I know nothing. I know even less, but I learn something new every day. What I am good at is dealing with words, spoken and written. And I get to prove that here.
