indoor cat...hair

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Ok, my family is planning on getting a cat. It will be indoor since that's the safest place for it in my neighborhood. I have had regular shorthair cats before and there was hair everywhere. It drove me crazy, it was totally gross gathering on the edges of the carpet next to the baseboards...you know, the limbo area your vacuum doesn't get to.

So my question is how does everyone else deal with this pet hair? Does everyone just vacuum daily and launder their furnishings constantly? I have a baby that absorbs a lot of my time so cleaning isn't happening as often as it used to as it is. Are there any solutions? Do I just shave the cat...get a high maintenance hairless cat? Am I the only person bothered by the heavy accumulation of pet hair that repels allergic guests?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Oh, I hear ya. I have two dogs that shed constantly. Beside the problems you mentioned, it seems that dog hair is a condiment in our house. I just have to vacuum a lot and then don't worry about it too much. I put sheets on the couch so I can take those up and wash them (yes, I let my dogs on the couch).

One thing that may help is to spend time brushing your cat daily.

Good luck and try not to get too grossed out.

 

[cristylove89119]

Outta all the cats I've had , it always seemed that the short haired cats shed a lot more then my medium/long haired cats. The two cats I have now are med/long haired, they do shed but, not as nearly as much as the shorts hairs I've had. But another thing you could think about is shaving them down. I do it to cut down on the fur they do shed and so I don't have to comb them (which they aren't happy with) Hairless cats are great, but you do have to bath them a lot due to oily skin. Also most people are allergic to dandruff from the pet which you can cut back with regular baths

This was my favorite hair cut for one of my cats

 

[Mattemma]

I was going to recommend the lion strip too. I have 3 cats and 3 dogs and I HATE all the hair.Absolutely drives me insane. I just clean a lot.

Cristylove do you shave the cats yourself? I have a hard enough time trying to do the dogs.

 

[1muttsfan]

Brush the cats regularly to help reduce hair. A Zoom Groom is the best brush I have found yet for loose hair.

How much a cat sheds has more to do with that individual cat, not so much if it is long or short hair. Clipping a long-hair cat down does reduce the shedding considerably. Cornish Rex cats shed very little.

 

[cristylove89119]

I didn't shave the cat in the pic (that was my coworker/groomer) but I have shaved them since for the past couple of years. They pretty much let me shave, they do get a bit antsy if I take too long but other than that perfect angels I did work as a receptionist/kennel/help wash the grooming animals and I would rather bathe a cat over many of the small dogs but there were a few cats you couldn't even look at without it trying to eat your face off (those ones I could do without)

 

[Baymule]

I had a long haired cat in the house. It shed a LOT. I worked long hours and just didn't have it in me to be a vacuum clean freak. I just lived with it. It was DD's cat, she went to college, got married to a wonderful man that was allergic to cats. It was hard on him to come to our house, so the cat found a new home. We had a ceiling leak that flooded the house,we tore out walls, the whole works. So we had a nice NEW CLEAN house, even had all the duct work cleaned. We have a house dog, but it was the cat that he couldn't breathe around. I loved the cat, but I don't miss the cat and I really really don't miss all that HAIR! We even shaved her in an attempt to help my DSIL, but it didn't help. I would much rather have my DD and DSIL in my home than a cat. If hair drives you nuts, get prepared to be nutty.

Oh, and cat hair has a sticky thing to it that makes it hard to remove. If you spray mist water on the carpet, couch, chair, or whatever you are vacuuming, it will come up easier.

 

[Kaitie09]

We have 2 dogs and 6 indoor/outdoor cats, and my mom is allergic to a couple of the cat's dander. Invest in a carpet cleaner! We basically just live with it. There are a few rooms like the finished basement and the bathrooms that we do not allow them in, but we still find hair there, like another poster said, it is basically a new type of condiment on all our food.

My mom is a neat freak and hates the hair. We brush the dogs and cats regularly, we have a cleaning woman come every week, and we clean all the carpets and furniture about 2x a month. If we are having a party, we kick all the animals outside for the day, shampoo the carpet early in the morning, and then vacuum before everyone gets there. After the Christmas decorations come down, we are tearing up the carpet and replacing it with bamboo hardwood. It stands up to heavy traffic and it is much easier to clean.

 

[justbugged]

Outta all the cats I've had , it always seemed that the short haired cats shed a lot more then my medium/long haired cats. The two cats I have now are med/long haired, they do shed but, not as nearly as much as the shorts hairs I've had. But another thing you could think about is shaving them down. I do it to cut down on the fur they do shed and so I don't have to comb them (which they aren't happy with) Hairless cats are great, but you do have to bath them a lot due to oily skin. Also most people are allergic to dandruff from the pet which you can cut back with regular baths

This was my favorite hair cut for one of my cats

This has been my experience with pet hair also. I normally only have any trouble with hair during the Spring shedding time. I have also found that you should feed the cat the best food you can afford. A poorly fed cat will shed more than a cat on a high protein high quality cat food. A stressed out cat will shed more also.

 

[justbugged]

Most people are allergic to the cat's saliva, not the hair. Because cats tend to groom themselves a lot, most people tend to blame the hair. So how long a cat's hair is doesn't really matter. The other thing is that you can be very allergic to one cat, but not so much to another cat. I have experienced this over many years of living with cats. Leaving a cat alone most of the time will stress out most cats. There are always exceptions to that rule. But even my feral barn cats, need me to pet them occasionally.