The Five Worst Cat Products That You Probably have at least one of…

In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than a waste of time or money, so for me this was a kind of dream-assignment. I love calling people out on crappy pet products (and there are a ton!). I’ve probably tried all of them, but would love some suggestions if you have any new ones that I’ve overlooked. These products range from absolutely absurd and completely useless to actually dangerous. You may have seen me review the useless Leo’s Paws Clam comb on Instagram recently. WOW- a mind-boggling amount of people messaged me to tell me they had blown a few bucks on that thing. A waste of money for sure- but it falls into that category of you get what you pay for, right? Well, they aren’t all that benign…Without further ado, the six worst cat products that you probably have in your home.

Guuv cat shower net bag (as seen on Amazon)

This handy contraption is supposed to help you bathe your cat!

Look, I’m all about cat owners empowering themselves to bathe and groom their cats at home. I’m practically a fanatic about it! Someone please tell me how this thing is going to help you get your cat clean? Can you imagine placing a net bag over your own head of hair before trying to wash and rinse it? Seems like it might impede the process just a tad. One of the most important differences between bathing cats and dogs is that rinsing all the soap out of cats’ coats takes much longer and is crucial since cats lick themselves so much. I don’t see this contraption helping with that. I suppose the concept is that the cat won’t be able to scratch you through the bag, or jump out of the sink. I promise you that you can still get scratched through this device, but I’ll concede that it may keep Kitty in the sink for a minute longer than you may have otherwise been able to keep him. Anybody out there have one of these and love it? Prove me wrong and tell us about it!

Leo’s Paws Massaging Clam Comb

The marketing team behind this little piece of plastic is pretty strong. Hell, if I didn’t know anything about combs, I might have fallen for this thing myself! The ads are all over social media… adorable photos of cats just loving being combed with this puppy. I had hundreds of followers on Instagram DM me about this product, so I had to purchase one for myself just so I could prove to everyone what a piece of crap it is. I compare it to a Barbie comb in the review video, which is a fair comparison. It looks a little like a real comb, but the similarities stop there. Please don’t waste your money on this thing. It’s harmless, but WHY BOTHER?

Floppy Electric Fish (Sold under many different names)

I wasted a total of $10 on the old floppy “realistic” electric fish (seen above). A fairly inexpensive fail in my opinion. It comes with catnip (which does help to get Kitty’s attention for a few moments), and a USB charging cord. This thing is sold under dozens of different names, but most appear to be manufactured by the same company- somewhere in China to be sure. I REALLY REALLY wanted to believe in this product. I NEEDED it to work! What a perfect way to distract cats in the salon, am I right? If for nothing else, just for fun videos to post on social media. You can imagine my disappointment when it failed to hold the attention of a single cat. I mean, we tried this thing on every cat that came in the door for months. That’s an average of 8 cats a day, 5 days a week…at least 300 cats in total were forced to stare at the flopping fish as part of their groom. In the end… only a kitten went for it- he was about 4 months old, and extremely playful. I’m pretty sure I just sent it home with him because I was so happy that someone actually paid attention to it. Great idea… didn’t work for me though.

Do me a favor and never use a Hartz product on your animals ever again!

You probably know by now that I was a veterinary technician before my foray into the world of grooming, so you should believe me when I tell you that Hartz flea are among some of the most toxic products to cats that are actually MARKETED TOWARDS THEM. Clients often incorrectly assumed that an over-the-counter Hartz flea product would be safer than a prescription flea product from their veterinarian. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Neurologic side-effects such as seizures and tremors were not abnormal to see on cat that had been treated with Hartz. In fact, if I saw a cat with neurologic symptoms come in, asking if they had recently applied an OTC flea product such as Hartz was often my first question! How could their be so many issues with a product that is still sold on the shelves of your local supermarket? I’m not really sure, to be honest with you. What I do know, is that it doesn’t kill the fleas, so best case scenario- you’ve wasted $8 and your cat still has fleas. Worst case, your cat still has fleas AND you end up at the emergency clinic. If you don’t ever take any of my advice again, this is the one piece of advice that I wish you would heed. It just might save your cat’s life, and no, I’m not being dramatic. If you have any products similar to this hibernating in your laundry room or under your kitchen sink, you should go ahead and toss them in the bin. They are products of a by-gone era and you need to let that shit go. Just let it go.

The Furminator is a very popular home de-shedding device.

I would venture to guess that this product is one of the most popular cat-specific grooming items out there. The theory is sound, and it actually looks very similar to the de-shedding devices found in most professional pet salons (mine included). It’s even the same COLOR, which means it has to BE THE SAME, RIGHT? It’s funny what a little thing like color does! Let me reassure you, it is not the same. These blades grab the coat and pull it out with each swipe. Does it matter that the hair is still attached to the cat? Of course not- just go ahead and yank those hairs out indiscriminately. AHEM… only it certainly does matter whether the fur is loose and ready to come out or not. Ripping the fur out in this manner only causes the coat to immediately begin to re-grow in the areas where the shaft was untimely ripped from the follicle. This begins a vicious cycle of ripping out and regrowth that is extremely unnecessary. Regular combing with a quality metal comb will grab all the loose fur that is ready to come out, without activating more growth. The de-shedding devices used in salons use vacuum technology to gently pull away hair that is already loose, instead of sharp blades that grab and pull. Understand the difference?

This is by no means a complete list, and if you must know, that’s probably on purpose. I could do a hundred of these, so I’m leaving a little room for a second edition in a few months. Did you make a cat-specific purchase recently that was more than mildly disappointing? Send me a message! I’ll buy one and try it out for myself. Disagree with any of the product reviews above? I’d love to know about it! Just kidding- That would be a huge waste of time foe both of us.

New Stickers in the shop!

http://www.pineapplecatshop.com

Nothing says “back off” like a feral sticker on your car, laptop, or water bottle 😂

~Whitney

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