How do I brush a cat and reduce the amount of hair everywhere?

Cats groom themselves thoroughly, so brushing is not about cleanliness — it is about removing dead hair before the cat swallows it or leaves it on the sofa, and about spotting problems on the skin. Long-haired cats genuinely cannot maintain their own coats and will mat without help. Short-haired cats mostly manage, but shed heavily in spring and autumn, which is when the daily two minutes pays for itself.

Safety

What you'll need

• A soft brush or rubber grooming mitt
• A wide-toothed metal comb for long coats (optional)
• A moulting comb or deshedding tool (optional)

Step by step

1. Start where the cat already likes being touched.Cheeks, chin, along the top of the head and down the shoulders. Almost every cat accepts brushing there first, and it sets the session up as something pleasant rather than something to be endured.
2. Keep sessions short and stop early.Two to five minutes, and stop while the cat is still enjoying it rather than when it has had enough. A cat that has been held through one too many sessions becomes a cat that leaves the room when you pick up the brush.
3. Brush in the direction the coat lies.Backcombing a cat is uncomfortable and achieves nothing. Long, light strokes following the coat, with no pressure — you are lifting dead hair out, not scrubbing.
4. For long coats, use a metal comb that reaches the skin.A brush skims the surface of a long coat while the layer beneath felts. The comb has to pass from skin to tip. Do the armpits, the belly, behind the ears, the ruff and the trousers, which is where mats form.
5. Increase to daily during the moult.Spring and autumn are the heavy periods, and indoor cats under artificial light often shed steadily all year instead. Daily brushing through a moult removes most of what would otherwise end up on the furniture and in the cat's stomach.
6. Hold the base of any small mat and tease it from the tips.Support the hair between the mat and the skin so there is no pull, and separate the outer edge with your fingers. If it does not release quickly, stop and book a groomer or the vet.
7. Treat mats over the hips and lower back as a health signal.That is the area a cat reaches last, so new matting there usually means the cat has stopped twisting — most often because of arthritis, which is under-diagnosed and very treatable. Book a vet check rather than just combing it out.
8. Use the session to check the cat over.Lumps, scabs, fleas and flea dirt, sore ears, and any area the cat objects to. A regular brush is the most reliable way most owners find things early.
9. Reduce the hair in the house at source.Brushing removes it before it lands. After that it is washable throws on the places the cat sleeps, a rubber glove or squeegee dragged over upholstery, which gathers hair far better than a vacuum, and a vacuum with a turbo head for carpet.
10. Support the coat from the inside.Good body condition, a complete diet and enough water intake all show in the coat. A dull, greasy or thinning coat, or a sudden increase in shedding, is worth a vet visit rather than a different brush.

Tips

• Many cats that hate a brush will accept a rubber grooming mitt, because it feels much more like being stroked.
• If a cat leaves after two minutes, that is a completed session, not a failed one. Do another later the same day.
• Hairballs are common in long-haired cats and brushing genuinely reduces them — but repeated retching, or retching that produces nothing, is a vet matter rather than a hairball to be managed at home.

Common mistakes

• Brushing only the top of a long coat — The underlayer felts against the skin while the surface still looks well kept. Only a comb that reaches the skin tells you the truth.
• Cutting mats out with scissors — Cat skin is thin and loose, and lifts into the mat far more readily than dog skin. This is one of the commonest causes of serious home grooming injuries in cats.
• Treating a newly scruffy older cat as a grooming problem — A cat that stops grooming is usually unwell or in pain. Arthritis, dental pain and kidney disease all show up first as a coat that stops being maintained.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask