Grooming Tools for Your Pet
Walk through your local pet supply store, such as Petco and Petsmart, and you’ll be amazed at the selection of grooming tools and products that are available to help make grooming your pet a less difficult task, whether you are a professional groomer or an individual that wants to groom your own pet. Besides your local pet store, there are numerous websites and mail order catalogs that carry pet grooming tools of all kinds and in all price ranges. Anything that you might need or want is probably available somewhere.
Bathing Products
The variety of products for just bathing purposes can be mind boggling. Some shampoo varieties that you can get are medicated, herbal, hypoallergenic, flea or tick targeted, and “normal” shampoos. Hypoallergenic shampoos work well for those sensitive skin puppies and many of these are soap free. If you prefer organic shampoos, you can get shampoos that have oatmeal, aloe, chamomile or honey. These are all very gentle shampoos so they can be used on puppies or the older dog that has sensitive skin.
Scrubs and exfoliants are for dry flaky skins and they work quite well. If you have a Chinese crested dog, you may want to try the exfoliants. These dogs have very little hair and often suffer from blackheads. Whoever heard of blackheads on a dog? These dogs also need sunscreen applied to their skin or even an adorable little tee shirt to protect their skin from the sun. While you’re at it, how about getting some sunglasses or goggles for your photosensitive puppy.
Brushes and Combs
Depending on your pet’s coat, you’ll need brushes as well as combs. Combs with wide teeth are great for detangling. Extremely fine combs are used to remove pests, such as fleas, from the coat.
Brushes are available in soft bristle or wire tooth. Wire slicker brushes work quite well on dogs like schnauzers and those with similar coat types.
The dematting tool looks similar to a rake and must be used gently. The teeth on these may be extremely sharp and care should be taken to not make direct contact to the skin.
Different types of shedding blades and equipment are very beneficial for dogs that have a downy kind of undercoat. These dogs are sometimes referred to as being double coated or triple coated and, boy, can they shed a lot of hair. Some of the shedding tools look very similar to the curries that are commonly used on horses.
The “Furminator” looks like a huge clipper blade over a rubber coated handle and works wonderfully at removing loose hair. Many dogs like the feel of the teeth on the “blade”. It’s almost like getting a free back scratch while that excess itchy hair is being removed at the same time.
Clippers and Trimmers
If you want to clip your dog’s coat, there are many clippers and accessories available. Some clippers have a power boost setting which is fantastic for those very thick coats. The cordless clippers are great. They have to be charged, but many of them are extremely quiet and are nice for the nervous dog or puppy. Some of these can get quite hot during use, so be sure to check this often so that you won’t accidentally burn your pet’s skin.
You can also get small clippers, or trimmers, that look similar to a beard trimmer. These really work well around the face area. Trimmers may are available in corded or cordless varieties.
Scissors are usually used by the professional groomer. If you’re not very proficient when handling scissors, be very careful. Scissors are sharp and can easily result in a wound that must be sutured. It only takes one quick movement from your dog while you’re using the scissors to cause an injury. Veterinary hospitals handle many accidental cuts in pets each year because of scissors being used in untrained hands.
Some breed of dogs require the removal of excess ear hair. Sometimes, you can remove the hair with your fingers, but a tiny hemostat is a good tool for removing the hair within the ear canal quickly. Plucking the unwanted hair from the ears keeps them cleaner and reduces the probability of ear infections.
Nail Clippers
Whether you have a cat or a dog, nail trimming is probably one of the most dreaded grooming tasks for every pet owner. For some reason, small breed dogs hate having their paws touched. Sometimes it’s like trying to hold a bag of slippery worms still with these little guys. Many of them will wiggle and squirm so much that it may be hard to clip their nails.
The larger dogs are much calmer when it comes to messing with their paws, but even they don’t like having their nails clipped. Before tackling this dreaded task, it would be very wise to have some “quik stop” handy in the event you happen to clip the nail a little too short and hit the blood vessel, which is known as the “quick”. In a pinch, you can rub a softened bar of soap across the nail if you don’t have any “quik stop” on hand. This will seal the accidental cut and stop the bleeding.
Cats must be clipped with tiny scissor like trimmers. Their nails are shaped differently than dogs. You can also get grinders to smooth the nail edges right after trimming. Be very patient when using these nail grinders, but they do a good job of smoothing out the rough edges.
Dental Care
Has your vet told you that you need to brush your pet’s teeth? Now doesn’t that sound like lots of fun and it even seems kind of silly? Truth be told that the tiny dog breeds seem to be more predisposed to dental issues.
Puppies that have crooked teeth or those that will only eat soft food will also need some help with their dental care. Tartar control food, treats, biscuits and also chew toys are available and these do help control plaque, but they don’t replace the toothbrush. Pet toothbrushes have a longer handle than human toothbrushes so that you can protect your fingers. If a normal toothbrush is difficult to handle, finger brushes are available. It basically slides over the tip of your finger and works quite well for cats and puppies.
Never use human toothpaste when brushing your pet’s teeth. There are ingredients in human toothpaste that can be upsetting on the digestive system of a dog or cat. Toothpaste for pets comes in a variety of flavors such as liver, fish or chicken. The stuff looks pretty disgusting, but pets sure love the taste. Dental scalars are available to eliminate tartar, but that may be something that should be handled by the professionals. Brushing, providing dental treats and toys should be sufficient pet dental care that you should provide for your pet.
Specialized Pet Grooming Tools
All of the grooming tools mentioned are pretty common and are necessary for proper grooming of your pet. Some breeds of cats and dogs will require other grooming tools that are more specialized. If you’re not sure what you need to groom your pet, start with the basics. Start with a brush and comb that is appropriate for your pet’s hair. When it comes to shampoo, get one for sensitive skin if you have a puppy or kitten. After you’ve done a little grooming, you’ll have a better idea as to what other tools you may need.
If your dog or cat is a breed that requires special pet grooming tools but you need help in deciding which tools to get, ask the breeder or your vet for advice. Search on the internet for websites that are specifically for your cat’s or dog’s breed. These specialized websites will be a tremendous source of information for you.
