How often do you brush your pet?

[Geila]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but this seemed related to cleaning...

For you fellow pet owners out there, how often do you actually brush your pets? I know we're told to do it a lot - some articles even say every day. But between the walking of the dogs, the feeding of all the pets, the daily pick up and cleaning of their poop & litter boxes, playing with them, cuddling them, etc... I just can't see brushing them more than once a week at most. Truthfully, I go longer than that.

I have a boxer, a mini poodle, and two young cats. The poodle doesn't shed, but I bathe him once a week because he sleeps with me and give him a haircut every 6 weeks or so; the boxer is very easy to groom and doesn't shed much, she gets bathed every 3 weeks or so. I don't bathe the cats and they seem to need the most brushing as they do shed a lot. Not sure if it's age or just the fur type, they're both short-haired. My boxer did shed a lot when she shed her puppy coat at about the same age as the cats are now - appx 9-10 months old.

I'm thinking I might need to put the cats on a brushing routine.

[Float On]

The cat...never except a little during spring shedding time. She'd probably kill me otherwise.
The dog....maybe twice a year. He's some sort of medium-hair rough coat terrier that doesn't shed much. When I bathe him it's towel dry and go.

[Teacher Terry]

I keep my 3 Maltese in a puppy cut so nothing really to brush. I bathe them monthly and get them groomed ever 2 months. I brush my big guy every few weeks and bathe him a few times/year. In warm weather he swims all the time which I am sure helps.

[Ultralight]

My dog brushes himself.

[Teacher Terry]

I want video proof:~)

[kib]

If I don't brush the cats, then I have to brush the couch. And the carpet. And the bed. And basically all the rest of the furniture and the blinds and windowsills. I know this. But I still don't do it as often as I should - basically when the rest of the house drives me too nuts, I brush Everything, including the cats; maybe every 2 weeks. :|(

[Chicken lady]

I never brush the (indoor/outdoor) cat. I should brush the (outdoor) fiber rabbit every few days, but she's lucky if it's once a week.

[iris lilies]

We have our longhair cat shaved 2 or 3 times a year.

the dog-- I brush him during the worst of shedding seasons. I got a free "Furminator" for the asking, and
I,like it a lot. It is a sturdy comb, basically.

[freshstart]

Bernice quakes in fear when the brush comes out, so never, except when she gets groomed and they do it, she doesn't get groomed often, when better I can bathe her here.

Buddy is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel with a gorgeous red flowing coat. We have relentless prickers in our grass that will not die and they attach to his coat. So he gets shaved down because the only way to get them out is to cut his hair and they hurt. Once shaved I don't brush him, i suppose I should.

I do have one of those Fulminators, too. That trims the undercoat and thins the hair. We have not that much shedding anyway but if I faithfully use this gadget, we have none. But won't do it to Bernice.

[iris lilies]

Bernice quakes in fear when the brush comes out, so never, except when she gets groomed and they do it, she doesn't get groomed often, when better I can bathe her here.

Buddy is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel with a gorgeous red flowing coat. We have relentless prickers in our grass that will not die and they attach to his coat. So he gets shaved down because the only way to get them out is to cut his hair and they hurt. Once shaved I don't brush him, i suppose I should.

I do have one of those Fulminators, too. That trims the undercoat and thins the hair. We have not that much shedding anyway but if I faithfully use this gadget, we have none. But won't do it to Bernice.

Furminators were manufactured and sold from St. Louis, I worked with the former head of Marketing, so I sidled up to her one day and asked if she had nay extras lying around her basement. She did! And she gave me one.

Theodore H. Bear, aka Teddy Bear, aka Bozo, loves his furminating sessions.

[pony mom]

My late dog loved being groomed and would let me vacuum her as well. I have a horse who gets groomed every time I see him so grooming a smaller animal just seems like a daily routine to me.

The recently departed barn cat (RIP Bubba Kitty) had long hair and I was the only one patient enough to comb and brush and Furminate (bought for horse, used on cat) and pick mats. This past summer was the first time he was mat-free from constant deshedding.

[Stacy]

I brush my cat about once a week, or whenever she noses at the brush, which I keep in a basket on the coffee table. She absolutely loves it. She mostly rubs her face against the brush, but I also manage to brush some other parts of her body before I'm done.

[catherine]

My dog LOVES being brushed--we have a mitt with little plastic nubs all over it, so it's not a deep-bristle brush, but it does collect the dead fur, and she'll stand there as long as we want to brush her. But we probably don't do it enough. And I'm a little lazy in the doggie bath department, and on occasion I know she smells exactly like an old gym sock.

Does brushing mitigate doggie smells? I've read that it does, but does anyone have any experience with that? I could be motivated to make brushing a daily activity. Grooming places are expensive and time-consuming to drop her off, wait around, pick her up, and she HATES baths and backyard showers (although she LOVES swimming in the pond at the dog park--go figure).

[SteveinMN]

We don't. Just another thing Miss Priss doesn't tolerate. >8) DW gives her a bath every other month and the dog sees a groomer every couple of months (tomorrow, in fact). She's a Bichon, so she really doesn't shed. And by the time the two months are up, the hair has curled nicely anyway. So we let it be.

[jp1]

We brush the cats whenever we take them outside on the deck with us. That way the hair can just blow away and not be an issue. So, maybe 10x per year, but not on any sort of schedule. It seems as though we could brush them constantly 24/7 and the amount of hair coming off would remain constant, so I don't know that it actually does any good except that they both really love having it done.

Related to this I've also been brushing one of them's teeth every day. He doesn't love it, but tolerates it. His brother pitches a fit when I try. I've been doing this for a few months now. It'll be interesting to see if the vet can tell a difference the next time we take the two of them in.

[leslieann]

Max gets the furminator almost daily during heavy shed season. Outside on the deck and even from there DH complains about the piles and piles of undercoat that litter the yard. I figured they'd compost in place, but not so....raking leaves last fall I found big pads of dog fur. This time of year, no brushing, but I figure I make up for it otherwise. It is entirely about shed, and trying to keep the hair/fur outside of the house. Most months of the year we have ankle deep dog hair in the house DAILY. Not right now....now it takes two days.

He's a great dog, though. Likes his backrubs (furminating sessions). And he's going on eight, and starting to slow down, and I notice I'm more tolerant of the dog related chores as I can imagine a future when he's not here....not grimly, but it helps me appreciate having him with us.

[Geila]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only slacker in the brushing dept! Yesterday after I brushed the pets I wiped them down with pet wipes. They don't like it, but it made a big difference in their coat, they were so shiny and clean. And they smell good too! Now if I can just get myself to do this on a regular basis....

My two females (the boxer and the Bombay cat) love being brushed. They act like they're at the spa having body massages. My boy cat doesn't like it but he does a much better job of grooming himself and doesn't need it as much. I always brush them outside because of the hair flying around. I even bought myself a nylon hairdresser smock with pockets and that helps quite a bit. When I take it off, I'm all clean. I also made a grooming basket with everything in it so I can just grab it and go outside for their sessions.

[Teacher Terry]

When I first got my babies I brushed them all the time. But they never liked it so I did less and less and cut them shorter and shorter.