Sunday, May 24, 2009

Felix and the FURminator, Part 1... and Part 2

Actually, this post (and video) should be called "Felix vs. the FURminator," or "FURminator FAIL," because, despite what many of you said, about pets just loving the FURminator, Felix did NOT enjoy being FURminated. In fact, he much preferred the lint roller. But as we all know from science class, experiments don't always turn out the way you planned or hoped -- but you still have to turn in a report.

But before you watch (and judge) the video, which was filmed by a giggling just-turned-11-year-old, a bit of background.

As many (if not most) of you know, we have two cats, Flora, a 15-pound torbie (i.e., a cross between a tortoiseshell and a tabby), who is six, and Felix, a three-year-old, three-foot-long mostly black cat who bares a striking resemblance to as well as the leaping abilities of a Sifaka lemur.

And both cats shed. A lot. Typically all over my laptop and my wireless keyboard and my desk and.... You get the drift. So in addition to keeping a dustbuster next to my office chair, I keep a lint roller. And every so often, I gently lint roll whichever cat happens to be in front of me.

I thought it a pretty good method, and blogged about it a while back. (Of course, the day we decided to film me lintrolling Flora, she got all uppity and started attacking the lint roller. But I guess that's what you get for trying to get a cat to act on cue.) Anyway, after seeing my post and the video, people started telling me about the FURminator de-shedding tool. People didn't just tell or write me about it, they RAVED about it. So, we gave in and bought one, finally, a couple weeks ago. And yesterday morning, in honor of J-THREE-O's 11th birthday, we decided to test it out.

So, without further ado, FriskieLand pictures and J-TWO-O Productions present "Felix and the FURminator, Part 1."



UPDATED 5/25/09: Felix and the FURminator, Part 2: This morning, during a quiet moment over breakfast, I decided to try FURminating Felix again -- without the bright lights and camera rolling. And I have to say, it was a success. Felix really seemed to enjoy being FURminated this time, purring loudly and rolling onto his back so I could FURminate his belly. The only problem was the shed fur, which I needed to lint roll up, so it didn't fly all over the kitchen. So as I FURminated, the spouse lint-rolled the excess fur off Felix and the chair, and I have to say, Felix really seemed to enjoy the combination de-shedding treatment. However, I think the FURminator people need to come up with a combination FURminator - Flowbee device, to instantly suck up all the excess fur. (Billy Mays, if you happen to be reading this, have your people call my people.) Next up, Flora (who is, as per usual, lounging across my desk, pawing my right hand as I type this)....

UPDATE #2: Flora and the FURminator: Feeling good about my earlier FURminator experience with Felix, I decided to have a go at Flora, who several times attempted (and succeeded) at whacking me with outstretched claws as I tried to FURminate her.

Still, I would have to call the experience a success as she seemed to (mostly) enjoy it, at least when I stuck to her back. Though objectively I think it's still a tie between the lint roller and the FURminator in terms of de-shedding enjoyment. And I still think there needs to be a vacuum/suction-type device attached to the FURminator to quickly suck up excess/shed fur.

11 comments:

larissa said...

Trinity and Al
Will soon be FURminated
Nice infomercial!

Anonymous said...

Wow-what cat were you watching?

Felix got peeved when you STOPPED FURmintating him and decided to clean the carpet! Jeez-you live with 2 cats you still don't know that it is ALL ABOUT THEM! Anytime you spend a nano second on another topic-time to go!

Happy Birthday J-Three-O

J. said...

What I failed to mention is that the second Felix saw the FURminator he wanted to bolt, and I had to forcibly hold him down the whole time I was trying to FURminate him and J-THREE-O was filming him. Every time I removed my hand, he tried to bolt -- and finally succeeded at the end, springing onto the table to get away from the thing.

Anonymous said...

The fear and loathing (Felix) and your firm grip wasn't shown very well on the tape.

It really looks like he likes it...

J. said...

I guess Felix is a better actor than I thought. ; )

Anonymous said...

My feral cat sheds prodigiously, so about a year ago I broke down and got a Furminator. In general, he loves the thing -- he'll purr through most of it. The inevitable exception is when I get to a matted fur area around his hindquarters. (My kitty is getting on in years and no longer has the flexibility to groom thorougly.)

Point is, after about 90 seconds, I've peeled off enough loose fur to make a new cat. I wish I'd sprung for a Furminator years earlier...

TommyMac71 said...

Felix's voice is straight out of a horror movie.

I think maybe you could have transitioned from the lint roller to a gentle pet brush before you came at him with this monstrous device....

Dave S. said...

Felix did seem to enjoy that at times...

We have provided valuable nesting materials to local birds by Furminating Gracie in the back yard and leaving the fur clumps on the grass. Within an hour you wouldn't know we had brushed the dog.

J. said...

FYI, I decided to try FURminating Felix again this morning, without J-THREE-O and a camera around -- and it was a success! To read/learn more about "Felix and the FURminator, Part 2," go back to the post, which I just updated.

Anonymous said...

Cats just love attention!

But if you are using both tools-why switch?

mellomouse said...

great post! if only i saw it before getting my own furminator :(
scubby doesn't like being furminated too. and i do agree, furminator failed!