What it is
A hair cutter is a device that is both a comb and scissors. It comes to the rescue in cases where hair matted into a dense ball cannot be sorted out with a regular comb. Such a device must be in the arsenal of grooming products for all owners of long-haired cats, such as the Nibelung.
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Varieties
Essentially, a webbing cutter is a knife. With its help, you can carefully remove a matted clump of fur without causing any inconvenience or pain to your cat.
Manufacturers offer the following types of tools:
- vertical;
- horizontal.
Vertical webbing cutter
Vertical
Outwardly, it resembles a classic comb, since it has one row of long blade teeth. There can be 4 to 12 of them in total. But don't worry - they pose no danger to your pet.
Long and medium teeth are suitable for the following breeds:
- Persian;
- Maine Coon;
- Siberian;
- Somali;
- Burmese;
- Turkish Angora and others.
A short-toothed tool will help remove tangles from short-haired breeds:
- British;
- European;
- Oriental;
- Siamese;
- Scottish;
- British and others.
If the cat does not like to be combed, then you need to take a mat cutter with curved blades.
Horizontal tangle cutter for cats
Horizontal
A horizontal wedge cutter visually resembles a knife for slicing vegetables in the shape of noodles. It has several blades located parallel to each other. Moreover, one edge is sharpened, while the opposite edge is rounded. This design guarantees the safety of the pet device during use.
Like the vertical, horizontal webbing cutter can have 4 to 12 blades of different lengths. The tool is suitable for removing mats from cats of almost all breeds.
Colt cutters are also available mechanical and electric.
Mechanical
Mechanical devices do not have an electric drive. You perform all movements of the instrument yourself. These are both rounding and forward movements. As a rule, such a gadget is perfect for home use, provided you follow the rules for its use.
Battery-powered electric
Electric
Electric braid cutters are powered by batteries—usually AA batteries—and the knives are driven by pressing a button on the handle body. A similar, more complex gadget than the one described above is intended primarily for professional groomers. Although at the same time, even professionals most often prefer a mechanical welt cutter.
Small but convenient webbing cutter Drop
A drop
If necessary, you can buy a welt cutter for narrow applications. It is teardrop-shaped and is used for hard-to-reach areas, such as cats' ears and paws. It is a plastic hook for capturing a tuft of wool and a sharp blade for cutting it, as in the photo. Some skill is required to use this tool.
Method of use
A hair cutter for cats requires some skill. It may take some time to get the hang of using the tool quickly and easily. If the owner fails to completely remove the mat the first time, then the procedure must be interrupted for a short period of time and repeated again. Also, a break will be useful for the animal, since the procedure is not pleasant.
To effectively carry out the manipulation, you can use the following recommendations:
- The animal must be calm. The procedure should not be carried out during the game or immediately after eating. At the same time, the pet should not be hungry.
- It is necessary to place the pet on a hard surface without foreign objects, and hold it well.
- It is advisable that the procedure be carried out by a person in whom the cat has the maximum trust.
- If your pet does not like to comb its hair, then it is better to fix it well. To do this, you can ask someone close to you for help.
- Special sprays that soften hairballs will help speed up the process of removing tangles.
The actual removal of tangles is carried out by running a tangle cutter in the problem area along the hair growth. In this case, the sharp edge of the instrument should “look” at the person.
Note. Typically, the handle of the tangle cutter is made in such a way that it will be uncomfortable to hold if you have the wrong grip.
Movements must be performed smoothly and carefully, without strong pressure. The procedure is carried out until the stray hairball is completely eliminated.
The tangle cutter is used only on the problem area; it is not suitable for daily combing.
Hair cutter for cats: video
Manufacturers and prices
The cost of the product depends on several factors. The main ones are:
- the material that was used to make the blade;
- model size;
- type of handle material.
Horizontal devices for removing tangles can be purchased for 350 – 740 rubles. Purchasing a vertical webbing cutter will be less expensive: it will cost 190 – 520 rubles.
The following models receive good reviews from cat owners:
Hello Pet "Drop"
Convenient for travel use. Stainless steel is used to make the blade. During processing, a minimum of intact hair is removed.
Artero
It has proven itself well for removing complex tangles in long wool.
ZOLUX
The blades are made of stainless steel. The device has a rubberized non-slip handle.
Collun cutter for cats in a package
Reviews
“We have a Persian living in our family. After moving to a private house, he began to often walk outside, and the problem of constantly matted fur appeared. We bought a universal Trixie cat hair cutter. It turned out that the thing is very useful. It is easy for them to untangle matted wool and cut tangles. The tool is easy to use: it has a comfortable handle and rounded teeth, sharp on one side. The ends of the teeth are specially blunted, so they cannot damage the skin. We're happy with the purchase."
“For my Maine Coon cat, I use a Beeztees mat cutter (made in Hong Kong). It performs its functions well: stray tangles are removed quickly. Naturally, the cat doesn’t like the procedure, but using this tool is much safer and more careful than scissors.”
Mats (matted hairs of fur of varying lengths) are a fairly common problem. They appear in representatives of any breed if the animal is not cared for correctly and in a timely manner.
The resulting tangle increases over time, and the animal cannot solve this problem on its own, because the hair comes off with difficulty. In such a situation, the owner should purchase a special webbing cutter.
Pros and cons of the tool
When used correctly, the tangle cutters offered by manufacturers do not cause even minor discomfort to the cat.
Advantages of webbing cutters:
- a variety of models, which allows you to select devices for removing matted hair from cats of all breeds, including pets with very thick and long hair;
- high-quality and painless removal of mats for your pet.
The disadvantages include the rather high cost of the product. Especially if you plan to purchase an electric model.
Operating instructions and how to use it
The device is easy to use. The main thing is to follow the recommendations of experts:
- The pet needs to be calmed down. To do this, treat him with his favorite treat. Removing mats should be done when the cat is in a favorable mood.
- Holding her by the body, begin to carefully and slowly comb out the tangles. You need to move the tool in the direction of hair growth until the lump is completely removed. There is no need to apply excessive force, otherwise you may injure the skin.
To facilitate and speed up the procedure, the mat can be treated with a special gel or liquid. This will help soften the lump and speed up its combing out.
How to choose
The selection of webbing cutters is very large. Therefore, in order not to make a mistake with the product model, you need to know what parameters to pay attention to first of all.
When choosing a device you need to consider:
- Number of blade teeth. If a cat's fur is regularly groomed and combed, mats will form very rarely. In this case, you should give preference to products with a small number of teeth. But if the cat is free-range, then it is better to buy a tool with the maximum number of them.
- Blade length. The average length is universal, then the mat cutter can be used on both long-haired and short-haired cats. But if there are large tangles, you need to use products with long teeth.
- Blade material. When purchasing, you need to look at what the blades are made of. If they become dull, you will not be able to sharpen them yourself. Therefore, experts advise buying a tool whose blades are made of high quality steel. Only in this case will it last as long as possible.
- Pen. It is desirable that it be rubberized and fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.
- When choosing a tool, you need to carefully examine the box. If its integrity has been compromised, then before using it, the mat cutter must be immersed in boiling water. This will keep the blades clean and sterile.
There are three types of wedge cutters, depending on the length of the blades. You can buy products with long, medium and short teeth.
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Reviews
You can leave your reviews about the mat cutter for cats; other users will be interested in your opinion:
Olga
I have a long-haired pet with very thick fur. From time to time she develops tangles. Especially when the cat becomes pubescent by winter and has to be brushed at least three times a week. But unfortunately, for some time the cat could not be combed and she had many tangles on her stomach and sides. Naturally, it was no longer possible to comb them. I decided to buy a webbing cutter. I tried the tool and really liked it. While I was cutting the tangles, I didn’t hurt myself or the cat. Before this I tried cutting out the mats with scissors, but the mat cutter was definitely the best. I am very glad that I have such a useful tool!
Karina
We recently picked up a cat on the street. She is black and very fluffy. They are still treating us very warily. It seems that because she lived on the streets, she doesn't trust people. Except that sometimes she will allow herself to be petted, at moments when she is in a good mood. Since she lived on the street and was all so fluffy, her fur became matted into many tangles due to poor living conditions and poor nutrition. We bought a tangle cutter, but there was a whole problem with cutting out the tangles. The cat didn’t trust us anyway, but here we were going to carry out such a procedure with her. She kicked and bit, trying to escape. And after she was released, she was offended at us for a long time. The tool is, of course, wonderful, but if only our cat would get used to these procedures... But in any case, we are patient and wait!
A mat cutter for cats is used to remove stray hairballs - mats. This tool is a comb and scissors at the same time, and helps tidy up your pet's fur. Despite the fact that using this device is quite simple, you must be as careful as possible so as not to cause physical or psychological harm to the animal.
Expert advice
It is advisable to use the mat cutter only as an emergency aid for your pet, when the fur is very matted and it is no longer possible to sort it out with a comb. When cutting the clumped areas with blades, serious damage to the structure of the coat can be caused. And subsequently it will take a long time to restore it.
Cats have very thin skin, so it is easily injured. If you have little experience with working with a tangle cutter, then it is advisable to choose models with blades in the form of hooks. This will reduce the risk of skin injury.
Is there a danger from mats for a cat?
Tangles must be removed, because they can cause various troubles for your pet:
- There is no oxygen supply to the skin area at the base of the tangle, which can lead to the appearance of pathogenic microbes.
- The cat cannot lick this place as well as is customary for these animals, so self-cleaning will not occur.
- The mat will constantly come into contact with the skin, and these areas of skin will itch, causing discomfort to the cat. The pet will try to scratch through the tangle and either get caught in it with its claws (it may even tear out the claw completely), or scratch the skin and microbes can get there, causing an inflammatory process, or, if the cat tries to scratch with its teeth, it may bite through.
- It is almost impossible to cure a cat that has mats from fleas. There is an explanation for this - fleas settle in the very middle of the tangle. That’s why it’s imperative to remove the clumps with a cat webbing cutter.
- The appearance of the cat will also suffer, which is also bad, because it is much more pleasant for the owner to see his pet beautiful and healthy, but in this form he will look pathetic.
- a cat that is tormented by a mat becomes more aggressive, and during an attack of itching may bite its owner, who will try to help her.
