OK today we will take a bit of a food break. On Thursday’s I always bring you great gadgets for the kitchen. Well I have an AWESOME gadget for you this time but it is not for cooking. So if you have little furry friends at home keep reading.

Have you met my 2 babies yet? There playing contortionist on the left is my massive long haired Mickey, and on the right the petite princess Sati. Are they not too cute? I present you my masters.

OK so if you have a 4 or more fury legged creature at home you know as well what a pain in the butt hair can be. I admit I am not a regular brusher but one of the reasons is my cats are ‘special’ when it comes to it. Sati does not like it…yet I can hold her down by force without a peep from her for as long as I want. Not fun for either one of us. And god she ALWAYS has loose hair. On the on the end Mickey LOVES to be brushed…well at least head/face/neck area. The rest he does not care for and forget touching his tail. Also he needs to walk into the brush, he won’t stay still. Holding him down is a hellish prospect I did only once and I fear. I will need help with another pair of fearless hands.

And how much hair does a regular brush get out? Some, quite a bit at times, but not that effective. So while in Washington DC my friend showed me her FURminator. She uses it on her 2 cats and swears it is a gift from heaven. Well I had to get it. Regular pet stores and online stores sell it for ridiculously high prices (saw between $35 and $55) but I got mine on Ebay from Asia for $7 shipping free…and yes it is the real thing.

The picture above is apparently the result of a brushing (of a cooperative pet) The FURminator is a deshedding tool that comes in different sizes. I got the small one for pets (1.75″ wide). No there are no blades so it does not cut the hair. And if used with normal pressure no it does not hurt them at all. Pet has to be dry, clean enough and no hair matting present. The FURminator promises to:

• Removes undercoat/loose hair
• Reduce 90% of shedding
• Reduce air born allergens
• Help eliminate hairballs

Sounds good to me! So how effective is it really? Well last night I tried it on easy-to-hold-down Sati and I gave her a good FURminator treatment for as long as she could stand it. I could have combed much longer and gotten more out. She did like the feeling but she hates being brushed. She did not miaow once out of pain or discomfort. So this is the pile below I got out of her.

Keep in mind the tool is about 6″ long and I pushed the fur into a pile which was about 2″-3″ high. All I have to say is WOW! I never saw such a big pile of cat hair. I really recommend this tool _ but get it on Ebay for cheap. So, any ways to recycle all this fur into a project?