Hertzko Dematting Comb for Dogs Grooming Tool for Long and Short Haired Pets - Matted Cat Fur Remover for Small Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits - Tangle and Knot Remover Brush

I find this type of mat remover indispensable for removing mats, snarls, and the occasional foreign object such as a burr from the fur of both dogs and cats but especially for the latter. These are quite efficient little tools that enable you to remove a mat with little effort and often on the first pass provided your aim is on point. Because each tooth is razor sharp, it cuts through the fur and there is very little pulling on the hairs to cause the animal discomfort. I purchased this one for use on my long-haired cat who frequently develops mats in her hindquarters and tolerates grooming in that area for about 5 to 10 seconds before she attacks me. Without this tool I would be perpetually wounded or would have no other option but to have the vet periodically shave her in this area. I should note that this particular mat remover has longer teeth and is suitable for thicker coats that are medium to long in length. For shorter haired coats and for removing mats that lie close to the skin, you will have better success with the same type of mat remover but with shorter teeth. You can find one produced by the same company on Amazon Hertzko Mat Remover Designed with Sharp Small Trappers - Traps and Removes Mats, Knots, Tangles, or Dead Hair - Suitable for Dogs and Cats . I use the shorter toothed variety for mat removal on a curly-haired Rex breed of cat as well as an elderly cat who can no longer be bothered to groom his short but somewhat thick coat of fur. While there are other types of manual mat removal tools that do work equally well, including scissors, they only do so if the animal is willing to be still or allows you to position him or her - traits seldom found among the feline population. Even cats that enjoy grooming activities such as combing or brushing are often less cooperative when it comes to having a mat or snarl removed. With the level of cooperation afforded me by my cats, I need a tool that will safely allow me to remove a mat in about five seconds or while the animal is in motion. With this tool or its shorter toothed counterpart, I can do both. And it truly didn't take much practice.

The Hertzo Mat remover is _amazing_. I mean, truly amazing. I have used the Firminator on my other (short hair) cats and that's been fine. But what I really needed for my cat Callie is the Hertzo Mat Remover. It works as advertised - even better if you ask me. Let me tell you a little about Callie - she is one of my "inherited cats" from my brother. I'm not quiet sure what breed she is, but she has long fluffy hair that gets matted very easily. Callie tolerates being groomed for a short amount of time. She has napping and eating to do, so we have to work in the grooming as we can. Sometimes Callie is finished with being groomed before we are finished grooming her. As she dashes off, the Hertzko Mat Remover takes care of that. It gently removes the mat without disturbing Callie, even when she decides she has other important Cat things to do. And when Callie allows a grooming session, it is amazing to see how much fur the Hertzo Mat Remover removes. I can almost make another cat and a half with all the fur. Callie likes being groomed by this tool and will sit still for the dematting. Her fur is soft with _no_ mats whatsoever. I have resorted to cutting the mats out of her fur at various times because they were just too difficult to try to tease out with the Furminator. This tool makes short work of the task. I've had this mat remover for less than a week and I have managed to work out Callie's mat in that short time period.. Her fur looks and feels better. Callie seems happy to be groomed except for the break for important Cat things. If you have cats (and I presume you do as you are read this far), you know that you can not interrupt important Cat things. I highly recommend the Hertzko Mat Remover for anyone who has to detangle fur. It is a great product. Plus Callie approves of it, what other recommendation do you need ?

I have a long-haired cat that hates getting brushed and unfortunately prefers to lay on one side, so while his fur generally gets matted, it’s worse on one side than the other. This tool worked better on the side that wasn’t as matted, it worked well to help de tangle the fur and pull it up. On the more matted side, it wasn’t very helpful. It doesn’t seem sharp at all to me and would just pull on the clumps of hair. Even when I tried to use it to pick at the matted sections hoping to loosen it up, it would get stuck on small tangles. I’d imagined that it would be sharp enough to hopefully glide through and help cut the matted sections out but nope, not even close. Just a whole lot of tugging and an unhappy cat. (For what it’s worth, what’s helped me was increasing how much wet food my cat eats…when he was calm I would cut as much of the matted fur off with scissors. His coat overall got healthier and eventually the matted fur grew out and fell off.)

So far this is the best tool I've found and I've purchased 4 from the pet stores; none did the job like this one. Let's go through the pros and cons. Pros: the teeth/blades are small and get underneath the mat. The handle is easy to grip with my carpal tunnel. The purple color makes it easy to locate in my plethora of grooming tools. Cons: I wish the blades were as sharp as a scalpel so they could cut through in one sweep. One and done. Easy on mister, easy on master. It takes a bit of force and effort to pull the mat apart and it makes for a rough grooming experience for my 3 pups. Over all: I give this device a 6-7 and it IS MY GO TO for all my matts. I have yet to find a better tool. This does make my tangled life easier. Thank you for a great product!! I hope this is helpful to someone.

My older cat doesn’t clean herself very thoroughly anymore so she gets a lot of small dense mats in her hair, even with us brushing her every day. When using this brush, I can tell that it probably works very well on most dogs, and other cats as well, but it is too big and too harsh for an elderly cat on the smaller side (8lbs in her prime and 4.5 as an oldie). Especially with small dense mats, this is too large to easily work on each clump without poking at and irritating the surrounding area. Cats have very stretchy and sensitive skin, so with a cat whose fur is not as dense and fluffy as it used to be, and whose skin is even more thin and sensitive, it’s hard not to pull too hard or poke her with the tips. Even though they are rounded for safety and don’t scratch her, it’s still a small metal tip with a somewhat pointy shape which gets irritating over time rubbing over the same spot. Perhaps if the brush was smaller, it would be easier to stay isolated on one knot at a time. I am still able to use this very gently by just barely brushing over each layer of the knot and it still works a little better that way than any other brush I have partly due to its smaller size and sideways design. But it takes a long time for each spot this way and she doesn’t exactly want to let me brush her and mess with her fur for 45 minutes at a time on one spot. Especially not on a less comfortable area like under her chest and belly, which is wear she gets the worst knots. The shape and size work really well compared to other brushes for the most part, but because it’s sideways, it only really works from one angle. I wish there was some way to flip around the blades or switch them to the other end of the handle. The blades are not so sharp that they slice right through the matted fur. They still require a bit of tugging. Nothing too extreme, but still too rough if you have an older or more sensitive animal. Overall this brush has a few flaws, but I don’t think it is a bad product. In my opinion however, it’s not as versatile or quite as efficient as the description leads you to believe.

We have a Maine coon cat with very long hair that is very fine and mats horribly. This tool works great to get out the undercoat and to tear apart mats

Let me start out by saying that I have purchased other Hertzko products and liked them. Generally speaking, I think they make a decent quality product, have a good reputation in the field of pet grooming, and I know they're not some fly-by-night private label seller. That said, I should have done more research before ordering this product because I can't figure out how to correctly and safely use it on my long-haired, often-matting kitty. I am left-handed, and have come to realize that this product may just not work for left-handed people. If that is indeed the case, then I think this company should have included the fact that it's for right-handed people only in its title or description. I watched the 2 videos of this product on the Amazon product page (not sure if they were made by the company itself?) and they were completely unhelpful to me because the person in the videos is grooming a pet that obviously has no mats or tangles. I already own quite an arsenal of cat combs and brushes, but was specifically looking for one that would help me de-mat my kitty in tight places like under her armpits. There were no instructions included on the back of the bulletproof packaging, nor was there an instruction booklet included inside of it. Thus far, I haven't found any helpful videos, photos, diagrams or written instructions, and therefore remain clueless as to how to use this product. I won't risk hurting my kitty with trial-and-error learning. Unless I can find some user-friendly directions, this product will end up in the trash, and I will no longer order any products made by this company. :(

I have been using comb for about 5 years now. It is well made and still in excellent condition. Blade still sharp, no rusting, nothing has broken. Removes matted hair as easily as possible. Have successfully removed mats from Maltese, Morkie, and Malshi (Maltese/Shih Tzu mix) hair. Just hold hair close with one hand as close to skin as possible, to keep from pulling, and use the comb to remove the mat. Blade easily removes matts without damaging or cutting surrounding hair. Would recommend for long hair breeds.