Excessive moulting

[Bren22]

Thanks for the advice, I've ordered a furminator, it looks amazing on the video.  I can use it on fat Jasper as well.  As for the amount of food, I think they do get enough, perhaps I underestimated the amount of dry stuff.  Harvey is daft as he won't eat 'people' food, that includes raw and cooked meat, not even chicken breast or cooked fish and if I put anything on or in the food he immediately turns his nose up at it. He's a good size though so I'm not really worried about underfeeding!!  I'll do the grooming thing as he does like to have the attention. See if you can spot him up the tree.

[Fire Fox]

Moulting is only excessive if the coat is thinning. Does the coat look thick, does he have 'dandruff' or mild dermatitis? Is he good at grooming himself? What brands of food are you currently using? Cats need saturated fats in their diet along with a little omega-3, which means fatty meat but only a modest amount of fish. They have no requirement for carbohydrates (cereals) so some show signs of 'intolerance' with looser poops, poor skin or fur, excess ear wax. Rather than adding supplements to foods that are intended to supply complete nutrition you may find you need to reduce, eliminate or substitute.

Noah is also white and I do notice the debris a lot more than with my previous furballs or other people's cats! Another vote for the Furminator, Noah likes it enough to headbutt it and I got a good handful of fur every day over the summer, but few furballs.  I think his coat is in better condition than when I adopted him (Oct 09), but I can't say for sure that is down to a change of diet as he was very sick when rescued (Feb 09).

[lauriex]

 

Laurie, I never heard of chammy-ing a cat before

Oh yes! It works a treat!!!   

[Tiggy's Mum]

If he'll tolerate being brushed then I highly recommend a 'furminator'. I literally got balls of fluff the size of a whole other cat from Lukey and he was in ecstasy while I was doing it, Riley didn't moult quite as much but his fur feels slightly different texture to Lu's.

If you do it regularly there shouldn't be as much to come off him (fingers crossed!) I know the link says 'dog' but I got the same one and it's fine for cats, just a little bigger than the teeny cat one so better if you ask me!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Furminator-Dog-Shedding-Tool-Medium/dp/B000FSFNVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288041827&sr=8-1

[BazandGem]

I can't help on the moulting I'm afraid, I just do a lot of vacuuming or try to ignore the hairs  I've also got one of those sticky rollers which works quite well on clothes, the bed, sofa, rug, etc!

I'm a bit surprised about the amount of food your cats are eating though, one pouch and a small handful of dry food a day doesn't seem enough to me - Rossi and Joey both have around double that much, although I do have quite small hands so that could make some difference... but the usual amount for an average cat would be either 3-4 pouches or about 65g of dried food or if you're mixing the two, half of each (ish) which is about what ours have - tends to be a little more or less depending on the weather, how active they've been during the day etc.

Laurie, I never heard of chammy-ing a cat before

[lauriex]

Hi Bren,

Do you brush Harvey? That really helps. I have 2 British Shorthair cats and summer time is mega moulting time in my house! I have a brush that I bought from a hardware shop, its like a little scrubbing brush and I find that this generates enough static to pull out those loose hairs. A leather chamois is good too, that also generates a lot of static.
Maybe give him a little brush or go over his coat with the chamois once a day, you'll see a difference in a week. With Harvey being white, you will most certainly notice every hair!!!! He'll probably enjoy the fuss too!
I hope that helps

[Bren22]

My white cat Harvey moults by the handful, my house is covered in white fur!  He is healthy and eats well but I wondered if anyone could recommend a supplement that would reduce the moult and help his coat which is a bit dry I think.  I can give him tablets, but drops might be a problem as all 3 share food.  It's all the same, but they have to try each others!  They have one pouch of wet food a day, and dry food as and when, usually about a small handful each a day.