It’s time to hang up the winter overcoat

Most cats tend to molt towards the end of winter, shedding their thick coats and leaving hair allround the house - then, to add insult to injury, they probably cough up a hairball or two.

While most modern cats clearly prefer to spend the winter snuggled up by the fire, they still develop a thicker coat in the cooler months and discard it as summer approaches.

While this is perfectly normal feline behaviour, your cat is more likely to have a healthier skin and coat - and shed less fur - if you feed him a diet that’s high in animal protein and omega oils.

As well as providing a balanced diet, there are other practical things you can do to lessen the problem of a molting cat. Daily brushing removes excess fur and stimulates the natural oils of the coat.

Try the Glamourpuss molting comb and shedding brush, which will remove loose and molting hair, distributing the natural oils and leaving a shiny, healthy coat. The brush reduces matting by removing the dead hair from the undercoat.

Grooming can also help if your cat is inclined to suffer from hairballs, but if this doesn’t quite do the trick, consider putting him on a hairball control diet. These contain extra fibre particles that are designed to remove up to 100 percent of the hair. Diet usually successfully resolves hairball problems, but if more help is needed, Aristopet Cat Laxative paste can be used daily. If hairballs persist, a visit to the vet is needed to see if other gut issues may be interfering with the treatment.

Cats molt at the end of winter, shedding their thick coats and leaving hair allround the house.

Daily brushing removes excess fur and stimulates the natural oils of the coat.