Is anyone else removing an inordinate amount of cat hair when they comb? Please help

[jane_marie]

My dear SO has a gorgeous long haired cat with a particularly dense coat of very fine hair.

For about a year now I have been struggling with keeping her hair out of my own.

To illustrate the severity of the issue, here is a gross pic of the sheds I have pulled from my *brush over the last two months.

https://i.imgur.com/rjbmN0v.jpg?1

...Is that normal?

To battle this problem I have been regularly wearing my hair up in a cinnamon bun, braid, twin braids, or Frida braids for the last four or five months... and it's not helping. I do occasionally wear my hair down when I sleep because l suspect constant sleep styles were giving me breakage (despite my silk pillowcase) and most days I have my hair down for an hour or two in the morning. I did try wearing it up constantly for about a month but somehow her hair was still getting trapped in mine. I think it might be magical. :lol:

I'm curious if there is anything I can do to reduce the amount of her hair that gets caught up in mine. If I don't brush it out daily the cat hair causes my hair to get tangles at the back of my neck but I have been trying to encourage my waves to clump and brushing it out unclumps the waves and gives me that wavey hair brushed out poof.

Do any of you lovely folks have ideas I can try?

Thanks so much. <3

[florenonite]

Does the cat like your silk pillowcase? :lol:

I get a lot of cat hair in my comb, though my cats are both shorthairs so not to the same extent as you (one of them is white, though, and as fellow white kitty owners know, they shed a LOT). I have a similar hairtype to yours so I usually comb and then braid for bed; combing instead of brushing keeps the hair from getting poofy and, though it does kill the waves, I get some texture from the braid and usually wear it up the next day, anyway.

[SelenVinland]

How often does the cat's hair get brushed? Regular brushings can help with shedding. I'd recommend a furminator brush, though you have to be careful not to overdo it with those.

Honestly though, I have a short-medium haired cat and finding cat hair in odd places is just kind of my life at this point. Like the Midas touch, but instead of gold it's cat hair.

[jane_marie]

Thank you both for responding!


Does the cat like your silk pillowcase? :lol:

I get a lot of cat hair in my comb, though my cats are both shorthairs so not to the same extent as you (one of them is white, though, and as fellow white kitty owners know, they shed a LOT). I have a similar hairtype to yours so I usually comb and then braid for bed; combing instead of brushing keeps the hair from getting poofy and, though it does kill the waves, I get some texture from the braid and usually wear it up the next day, anyway.

It doesn't look like she likes it. The pillowcase is black and she is a ginger kitty with a layer of downy white under the orange. I never see her hair on my pillow. :shrugs:

I tried combing instead of brushing but it doesn't seem to remove the hair at all. The only tool I have that seems to get it out is my knock off TT.


How often does the cat's hair get brushed? Regular brushings can help with shedding. I'd recommend a furminator brush, though you have to be careful not to overdo it with those.

Honestly though, I have a short-medium haired cat and finding cat hair in odd places is just kind of my life at this point. Like the Midas touch, but instead of gold it's cat hair.

I suspect that she could be brushed more. I'll talk to the SO about that. It shouldn't be that hard to brush her out more than once a week. That said, I think he should do it because... she's his cat not mine.

Interestingly I have a white and black cat with short coarse hair and I never find his hair mixed in. I know that sounds odd but they have very noticeably different hair.

[EdG]

You may want to re-read my article on lint. https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=151460 On page 7, you mentioned that you were combing out cat hair.

I suggest using tools that you can clean frequently. Last year, I needed to clean my wide-tooth wooden comb after every few strokes. This year, the amount of lint has diminished to the point where I clean after every few sessions.

Lint (and presumably cat hair) accumulates in places where the hair has become folded or twisted around itself. This tends to happen next to the scalp. The remedy is to get the tines under the tangles and comb in a perpendicular direction away from the scalp.

Unfortunately, you may need to get rid of the source. :kitten: :run:
Ed

[jane_marie]

You may want to re-read my article on lint. https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=151460 On page 7, you mentioned that you were combing out cat hair.

I suggest using tools that you can clean frequently. Last year, I needed to clean my wide-tooth wooden comb after every few strokes. This year, the amount of lint has diminished to the point where I clean after every few sessions.

Lint (and presumably cat hair) accumulates in places where the hair has become folded or twisted around itself. This tends to happen next to the scalp. The remedy is to get the tines under the tangles and comb in a perpendicular direction away from the scalp.

Unfortunately, you may need to get rid of the source. :kitten: :run:
Ed

I couldn't possibly get rid of Eddy! She's such a lovely lady. :)

I have read that thread many times throughout dealing with the problem but it doesn't seem like it's working. Then again, I only just recently (less than a month maybe) switched over to a diluted conditioner only wash so maybe it's just still too soon.

Her hair is particularly fine like spiderwebs. Do you think that it could be beneficial for me to comb my hair while the conditioner is in? I see you suggest water as a lubricant but spritzing water on my hair then brushing it for an extended period takes my waves from pretty to "wow, it looks like you have chemically relaxed your hair for years and never condition it" every single time... not a good look. brushing after the conditioner has set for a minute or two doesn't tend to have that effect.

It sounds like I might also need to clean my brush each time for awhile.

Thank you so much for the response. :)

[EdG]

I couldn't possibly get rid of Eddy! She's such a lovely lady. :)

I have read that thread many times throughout dealing with the problem but it doesn't seem like it's working. Then again, I only just recently (less than a month maybe) switched over to a diluted conditioner only wash so maybe it's just still too soon.

Her hair is particularly fine like spiderwebs. Do you think that it could be beneficial for me to comb my hair while the conditioner is in? I see you suggest water as a lubricant but spritzing water on my hair then brushing it for an extended period takes my waves from pretty to "wow, it looks like you have chemically relaxed your hair for years and never condition it" every single time... not a good look. brushing after the conditioner has set for a minute or two doesn't tend to have that effect.

It sounds like I might also need to clean my brush each time for awhile.

Thank you so much for the response. :)It is very difficult to remove lint that has become wrapped around hair. I had a severe case and now I am re-growing my length.

I don't have experience with conditioner products. I can say that natural conditioner (sebum) helps the comb pull lint out due to its waxiness. I had been water-only for quite a few years and so I am used to the appearance. I noticed that as I removed lint, any slight waviness disappeared. I have now gone back to using shampoo but stretching washes to a week.

There are many sources of lint. Since you can't get rid of Eddy, then getting rid of other sources should help.
Ed

[jane_marie]

It is very difficult to remove lint that has become wrapped around hair. I had a severe case and now I am re-growing my length.

I don't have experience with conditioner products. I can say that natural conditioner (sebum) helps the comb pull lint out due to its waxiness. I had been water-only for quite a few years and so I am used to the appearance. I noticed that as I removed lint, any slight waviness disappeared. I have now gone back to using shampoo but stretching washes to a week.

There are many sources of lint. Since you can't get rid of Eddy, then getting rid of other sources should help.
Ed

hmmm... okay. Well, I guess I keep experimenting. I can't give up conditioner until my bleach damage grows out.

[-Fern]

I take a pretty different view about lint than Ed does, so I think it's just one of those things where different strokes work for different folks. I tend to think it is the sebum/lint combo that causes issues rather than lint by itself.

I shampoo/condition about three times a week, sometimes oil my hair as well. I get lots of lint in my brush. My solution is to clean my brush weekly. Been doing this about 3 years and not yet had an issue with tangles or mats forming.

[jane_marie]

I take a pretty different view about lint than Ed does, so I think it's just one of those things where different strokes work for different folks. I tend to think it is the sebum/lint combo that causes issues rather than lint by itself.

I shampoo/condition about three times a week, sometimes oil my hair as well. I get lots of lint in my brush. My solution is to clean my brush weekly. Been doing this about 3 years and not yet had an issue with tangles or mats forming.

You know... maybe it's not such a big deal. I mean, clearly I want to keep enough of it out that my hair doesn't get huge tangles but maybe as long as I get a good percentage out it will lessen it.

Thankfully with my coarse hair my hair doesn't really tangle that much and since I have started my new routine it's my hair hasn't been getting the terror tangles.

Weird idea, I wonder if a humidifier would help. Maybe decreasing the static in my home might make her hair less attracted to mine. :hmm:

[MusicalSpoons]

You know... maybe it's not such a big deal. I mean, clearly I want to keep enough of it out that my hair doesn't get huge tangles but maybe as long as I get a good percentage out it will lessen it.

Thankfully with my coarse hair my hair doesn't really tangle that much and since I have started my new routine it's my hair hasn't been getting the terror tangles.

Weird idea, I wonder if a humidifier would help. Maybe decreasing the static in my home might make her hair less attracted to mine. :hmm:

If you notice static with hair (cat or human) and a humidifier would decrease the static, then that absolutely sounds like it ought to help. (I'm only speaking so conditionally because I don't have experience with it myself.)

I don't have issues with cat hair in my own hair but I came to sympathise - we find cat hair *literally* everywhere, woven into underwear, in our food even though he doesn't go near the countertops (I honestly pour myself a bowl of cereal and between picking it up in the kitchen and sitting down to eat, a hair or two will have made its way there WithOut Fail), stuck on the inside of the screw top of my tub of moisturiser, in the sleep from the corners of my eyes even when he's not been in my room for a couple of wekks - and even (TMI, sorry) when I blew my nose the other day out some came! He doesn't even shed huge amounts, relatively speaking, but I think maybe because they are more medium hairs for a cat they are heavy enough to make their way around the whole house. The ONLY place I don't usually find it is in my own hair, and I don't have an explanation for that. I occasionally find the odd one or two, but it's rare.


-Fern I agree; I've not had massive problems with lint, although until a few months ago it used to be almost the sole cause of (infrequent) tangles. Now my main tangles happen due to texture and hairs wrapping themselves around each other vertically, whereas lint tangles were always just at the point on the hair shaft where the lint was. I do still get out occasional bits of fluff but actually far less than when I was combing more regularly :confused:

[meepster]

Get a cat whose color matches your hair?

[embee]

Brush the cat. Every day, just for a couple minutes. I'm using a slicker brush on my cat, and he loves it, but I have to be careful not to brush too hard. Those wire bristles could hurt. The amount of hair that gets into that brush is *astonishing* and I do not know why the cat isn't bald. ;)

[MusicalSpoons]

Brush the cat. Every day, just for a couple minutes. I'm using a slicker brush on my cat, and he loves it, but I have to be careful not to brush too hard. Those wire bristles could hurt. The amount of hair that gets into that brush is *astonishing* and I do not know why the cat isn't bald. ;)

Oh my life slicker brushes are miraculous - they fill up, take out *loads* of hair, and just more and more keeps coming with every stroke :thud: A cat I used to house-sit looooved hers so much, she'd trill and go all giddy whenever she got near it :inlove: Ours is ... less fond, but he is 19 and quite tender in places now, although he still loves it on his head and chin (tolerates it everywhere else, in short sessions). Both kitties would rub their cheeks on their slicker brushes all day long, if they could!

[jane_marie]

Brush the cat. Every day, just for a couple minutes. I'm using a slicker brush on my cat, and he loves it, but I have to be careful not to brush too hard. Those wire bristles could hurt. The amount of hair that gets into that brush is *astonishing* and I do not know why the cat isn't bald. ;)

I had a discussion with the SO. He says he'll brush her nightly. While I was at it I chatted with him about putting his clothes away after I fold them.,, there is a pile of clothes that have been collecting cat hair for two weeks now. :lol:

Hopefully, the brushing will help a bit. I feel like I live in a cat hair snow globe.

[Twig]

Sometimes I'll find fine short hairs in the bathroom sink, and I hope those are my cat's and not mine breaking off. But yeah, same, the cat hair's everywhere. So is mine.

[Ragtatter]

Interestingly I have a white and black cat with short coarse hair and I never find his hair mixed in. I know that sounds odd but they have very noticeably different hair.

Cats have all kinds of different hair in terms of thickness, texture, etc, just like humans do! Same with dogs and rabbits. It's why some longhaired animals will mat like crazy, while others with coats just as long require little to no grooming.

[Jane99]

I did find a ridiculous amount of cat hair in my tangle teezer, but I wonder if one of the kiddos decided to brush the cat with it.