Best Cat Brushes (2026)
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A cat spends a large chunk of its waking hours grooming and still cannot do anything about undercoat volume: the loose fur either ends up in your home, in a hairball, or in a brush. Brushing is also the only reliable early warning system for mats, skin trouble, and lumps you would otherwise miss. The catch is that the best brush depends on the coat and the cat. Here are the cat brushes worth buying in 2026, matched to shedding levels, long coats, and cats with strong opinions.
At a glance
Our Top Picks
Best overall cat brush for shedding
Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker, Best Overall
The Hertzko earns the default spot by doing the whole job well. Fine bent wire bristles reach through the topcoat to lift loose undercoat, tangles, and dander without scratching skin, and they work on short and long coats alike. The killer feature is the button: press it and the bristles retract, so the collected fur lifts off in one satisfying pad instead of a plucking session. Comfortable grip, light pressure needed, easy to keep clean. If you buy one brush, buy this one.
Check price on Amazon →Best for serious shedding, in careful doses
FURminator Undercoat deShedding Tool for Cats, Best for Heavy Shedding
Nothing pulls loose undercoat like a FURminator: the closely spaced steel teeth reach through the topcoat and remove astonishing amounts of dead fur, and the FURejector button clears the tool with one press. It comes in short hair and long hair versions and two sizes, so match it to your cat. The honest caveat: blade style tools this efficient can break and thin healthy topcoat if overused. Light pressure, short sessions, about once a week, and never on mats or irritated skin.
Check price on Amazon →Best for brush averse and short haired cats
KONG Cat ZoomGroom, Best for Cats That Hate Brushing
The ZoomGroom does not look like a brush, which is precisely why it works. It is a soft rubber paddle with flexible fingers that feels like petting with a massage, and loose hair clings to the rubber as you stroke. Cats that flee wire bristles frequently line up for this thing. It doubles as a bath scrubber, helps with hairball reduction on short coats, and costs about as much as a bag of treats. Not enough on its own for long coats, but a perfect gateway brush.
Check price on Amazon →Best slicker for thin skinned and delicate cats
Aumuca Cat Brush, Best for Sensitive Skin
Aumuca takes the self cleaning slicker formula and softens it: the stainless steel pins are thicker gauge so they flex less and poke less, the bent tips are capped with rounded ends, and the whole pad is gentle enough for kittens, seniors, and cats that flinch at a standard slicker. The retract button releases collected fur in one pad, and the handle has a secure rubberized grip. It removes a little less per stroke than a sharp slicker and that trade is the entire point.
Check price on Amazon →Best comb for long coats and mat checks
Safari Cat Shedding Comb, Best for Long Haired Cats
Every long haired cat needs a steel comb, and this Safari by Coastal is the well known inexpensive one to own. Two lengths of rounded stainless steel teeth work together: long teeth reach the undercoat while short teeth pick up what lifts to the surface. Because a comb cannot glide over a hidden tangle the way a brush can, it is your honest mat detector for the armpits, britches, and behind the ears. The contoured wooden handle is comfortable for daily use on Persians and Maine Coons.
Check price on Amazon →How to choose a cat brush by coat type
Coat type decides the toolkit. Get this match right and everything else is just scheduling.
- Short haired cats: a rubber brush like the ZoomGroom or a slicker once or twice a week covers it. Shedding is the main enemy, mats rarely are.
- Long haired cats: slicker plus steel comb, several times a week. The slicker handles volume, but only the comb run to the skin proves there are no forming mats. Persians, Maine Coons, and Ragdolls mat in the soft zones first: armpits, belly, britches, and behind the ears.
- Heavy shedders and double coats: add a deshedding tool during spring and fall coat blows, on top of regular brushing rather than instead of it.
- Kittens, seniors, and sensitive cats: soft tipped tools like the Aumuca or the ZoomGroom, short sessions, and more treats than seems reasonable.
Deshedding tools: powerful, so use them gently
A slicker collects hair that is already loose. A deshedding tool like the FURminator actively rakes loose undercoat out from beneath the topcoat, which is why the pile of fur it produces is so dramatic. Used weekly with a feather light touch, it is the best tool there is for a shedding heavy cat. Used daily, pressed hard, or dragged over the same spot repeatedly, its fine steel teeth can snap healthy topcoat hairs and leave the coat looking thinned and choppy. Treat it like espresso: correct dose, great result, and more is not better. Never use one over a mat, always work a mat out first with a comb, and skip any area with irritated skin.
Brushing a cat that hates brushing
Brush hatred is almost always learned, which means it can be unlearned. Start with the softest tool you own, let the cat sniff it, and do three strokes on the cheek or back, then treat and quit while you are ahead. Keep early sessions under two minutes and only brush spots the cat already likes touched. Watch the tail: flicking, skin rippling, or ears rotating back mean stop now, before the swat. Over a few weeks, most cats will accept a real routine, and plenty become the cat that comes running at the sound of the brush drawer. For coats that got away from you, a professional groomer with cat experience can reset a matted coat safely; our cat grooming guide for groomers shows what that side of the table looks like.
Owners with clipper happy shedders may also want the heavier duty professional version of this list: see our pro guide to the best slicker brushes and deshedding tools, which covers salon grade options for serious coat work.
The brush is half the routine
A good brush plus a bad schedule still equals mats, so put brushing on the calendar the way you would a nail trim. If a professional groomer sees your cat regularly, tell them what tools your cat tolerates, because that context makes every appointment go smoother. Groomers who run their salon on GroomBoard keep those preferences and coat notes attached to each pet, so nobody rediscovers the hard way that Biscuit only tolerates the rubber brush. If you groom professionally and want that kind of client memory built in, it is free to try.