words Al Woods
Shedding is a healthy and a naturally occurring process in different species of animals that helps them cut off extra fur, feathers, or wool when it’s no longer needed. Shedding occurs mostly during warm seasons. At this time, animals including home pets lose a lot of their fur to cope with the rising temperatures.
Generally, animals that are kept indoors tend to be prone to smaller fluctuations in their fur and shed off evenly throughout the year. Dogs in particular usually grow thick fur in winter and shed some of it during spring. The mess that animals create when they shed off fur can be a handful to handle at times. Let’s take a look at various ways on how to take care of animals that shed too much.
1. Start with Regular Baths
Good amounts of bath at least twice a month, depending on the environmental conditions, will help in maintaining a healthy fur by removing loose hair, dirt, and pests that may cause fur damages. This will result in a more firm and strong layer of fur. While administering a bath to house pets like cats and dogs, use lukewarm water and choose the right bathing products for animals. Now, you’ll need to separate your pet cleaners from your own. This will make it easier not to mix your hair shampoo with your pet’s. In line with the guys at https://clean4happy.com/best-shower-caddy/, having a shower caddy is not a bad idea, will significantly help with this as well as making your bathroom look hype and updated. When it comes to making your pet smell nice, try pet-formulated shampoos that are gentle to your animal’s skin and fur, or go with a pet-friendly detergent. These products’ cleaning properties will leave your pet friend with a shiny, healthy, and beautiful coat.
2. Brush Their Fur
Regularly brushing an animal’s fur helps in the shedding process. This also gives you control over where the fur falls which makes it easier to clean up after. Using a gentle brush, rub on the fur in steps at given points on the animal’s body while at the same time, avoiding being too hasty as this may startle the animal and result in an aggressive reaction. Another thing you can do is to create regular brushing sessions that your animals will be familiar with; this makes the whole process much easier. Animals like a good brushing and this will ultimately improve your relationship. It’s a bonding process that you’re going to also enjoy.
3. Check Their Health Status
Although shedding off of fur or feathers is a naturally-occurring process, sometimes it shows signs that an animal might be pregnant, ill, or going through stress. Having your vet on speed dial and getting a professional diagnosis whenever you feel that your pets or yard animals may be shedding too much is the right thing to do. Consider following up on your animal health and keeping track of their changes in habits as a top priority. There are a myriad reasons why your pets or yard animals shed excessively. You could start by checking if your animal’s coat has a healthy sheen. A discolored, flaky, or dry skin could be a sign that your pet needs to visit the vet. Below are some reasons to get concerned whenever your animals are shedding excessively, they include:
- Imbalanced diet
- Parasites and pest infestation
- Hormonal imbalances
- Stress
- Using the wrong detergents
4. Keep a Clean Environment in Check
The place where an animal spends most of its time be it a pen, a stable, or a shed may also be a factor that adds to their excessive shedding. Ensuring that these places are kept neat, clean, and in good standards at all times may help towards controlling irregular shedding. This will also be a great way to avoid possible health hazards posed by an unwelcoming environment. For house pets, ensure that their beddings are cleaned regularly and by providing them with a safe resting environment, you’ll be doing yourself a favor as it will drastically reduce the amount of fur cleaning.
5. Learn About the Animals
Taking good care of animals that shed off a lot of fur goes deep into how much knowledge you have about the animals in particular. To avoid assumptions and self-proclaimed diagnostic procedures, get enough information about the animal. In the process, you’ll learn about their habits, behaviors, and the reasons behind their shedding.
Certain farm animals like mountain goats, lamas, and breeds of sheep like bighorns shed off relatively large amounts of fur and wool in their seasons. This also goes to various dog and cat breeds. So before you assume that your animal has a problem, it could just be a genetic issue.
