Shedding in dogs and cats

Things get hairy as temperatures rise.
FOUR PAWS gives tips on changing fur in dogs and cats.

Hamburg. Dog and cat owners may have noticed: their four-legged friends are losing their winter fur. The timing of hair change is mainly influenced by the duration of daylight and the ambient temperature and can last six to seven weeks. In older animals, the phase usually lasts a little longer than in younger animals. FOUR PAWS gives care tips on how to help your pet change its coat.

“The coat change in spring is particularly intensive because the winter coat is much denser than the summer coat. To make this phase easier for the animals, the fur should be combed and brushed well every day. The undercoat in particular needs to be removed with special combs,” says Judith Förster, qualified biologist and pet expert at FOUR PAWS.

Brushing out tangles and tangles eliminates dead and loose hair. Brushing massages the skin and improves blood circulation. The sebaceous glands are stimulated to produce protective fat.

Food for hair
You can support the coat change with important nutrients. In addition to zinc, vitamin A and the B vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids are essential for healthy hair metabolism. Unsaturated fatty acids are found, for example, in borage, fish or evening primrose oil. All of these nutrients are available in special tablets or oil mixtures as feed additives. Especially in the “hairy times”, attention should be paid to a balanced diet rich in these ingredients.

Differently hairy
There are also dogs that hardly shed any hair: the poodle, for example, is one of the breeds that hardly sheds. Judith Förster explains: “Your hair grows continuously and should be shaved regularly. In terriers and other trimmer dogs, the hair grows, then dies and needs to be trimmed once or twice a year.”