How we got here

If you're here you are probably a little curious about how the brush and, hopefully, the other products we will add here came into being. I will try to be a little amusing.

I'm actually allergic to cats, which caused some conflicts with cats early in life. It wasn't until I started living with Dominic ("Kiki") that I realized it was less about the cat and more about egregious amounts of hand and face washing along with keeping your hands away from your face until they are washed. Key finding there. Also - it helps that Kiki was not "in my face", either. Dominic was 19 in 2023 when he crossed the Rainbow Bridge due to a tumor.

After about 18 months of a catless house, I remember waking up and realizing that, frankly, a catless house was not really all that awesome. In the days that followed, my wife and sister-in-law through our discussions indicated that they had bonded with animals and been responsible for them for a long while and they pointed out that I had never enjoyed that experience - thus, this next pet would be mine, and my first at that.

We live in a rural agricultural area and are familiar with many of the Cat and animal rescues here. We have worked with the wonderful folks at KCFOA to trap, neuter and release a number of cats on our property who migrated to our tarped haystacks. As a result of that, I knew that I really should get a shelter cat to give a great home to one who may appreciate the opportunity. Only question was to think about a kitten or an adult cat.

November of 2024, I found this cat on the Yakima Humane Society website that had been hit by a car, had his jaw rebuilt and they were calling him "Chinagain" because he had a chin again after they patched him up. I thought about it over the weekend and decided that on Monday I would trek to him about 30 minutes away and see if we vibed. Pictured (left on desktop, below on mobile) is what he looked like when I found him. [Huge 'Thank You' to Yakima Humane Society for saving Crash - everyone there was wonderful to work with.] Taking him into a visiting room, he was very calm, despite the bustle of the shelter. It didn't take long before I was hooked. About the same time my wife texted me "how's it going?" I replied with a picture of a box on the floor of the car that had a cat in it. I decided to name him "Crash" and I drove him home, stopping quickly along the way for everything a grown cat may need.

"Crash"

I had no idea what to expect when we opened the box and let Crash out to acclimate to the house starting in the bathroom. I was trying to move slowly and carefully as I opened and closed the door to interact with and feed him for the first hour or so. He did not try to 'dart out' or race around me - I am such a klutz he just walked around me into the house and strolled down the hallway a few times and, picking him up each time, I put him back in the bathroom until he had demonstrated litter-box mastery. Once demonstrated, we let him out into the house and he simply strolled around as if he had always been here, tail held high the whole time. After a few minutes of exploration - he settled into the couch on the ground floor and I expected he would stay there a while before he decided he was ready for company. Much to my delight he came upstairs and joined us in about 3 hours and claimed a spot in front of the wood-stove on the couch. I'm delighted to say he's taken over our chairs during the day as he continues to become more comfortable with us with the passage of time. It was through brushing Crash that I got the idea to make an actual brush.

"Wildflower"

The Cat Distribution System being in full motion for us in late December of 2024, we opened the door one morning to find a tiny, mewing ball of fur who demanded food and water. I had never seen her before and though diminutive in size her personality and hunting prowess are simply immeasurable. Very skittish at first and over a few weeks she came to trust us enough that we were able to snatch her up and get her to the Yakima Humane Society for a spay and neuter clinic in early January of 2025. As we tried to get her into a cage in the house to recover, I accidentally let her jump out of the box and I tried to catch her as gently and slowly as possible. Honestly I have never seen such a fast animal - even recovering from anesthesia she could slip through the smallest of openings. Fortunately she cornered herself in a room and I was able to get her into the safety of a small cage. After a few days of healing up inside, we put her back into her environment where she continues to thrive.

I understand that keeping her inside has a lot of life-value for many cats. I don't debate the statistics or lifespan data. She is, and possibly always will be, an outdoor cat who hunts for most of her own meals, plays in our Garden with absolute reckless abandon, climbs the trees in our fruit orchard to hunt birds and prowls the hay fields for mice and voles. Again - fully aware of the benefits of indoor living for a cat - when and if she chooses to come inside is entirely up to her. In the interim we keep her treated for the environment and give her supplemental food, lots of water and plenty of love and brushing.

Getting to the brush.

As I got settled into being a "Cat Dad" I realized how important brushing your cats actually is. Among many benefits, it is relaxing for me as well as them, it allows me to check their fur for seeds, needles, fleas or ticks, pinworms and a variety of other things that I need to be aware of to keep them healthy. I have two of everything as not to cross-contaminate the indoor and outdoor cat.

I had a couple of different considerations as I looked for brushes;

1. Crash has long, but medium-dense fur

2. Wildflower has medium-long, but highly-dense fur

Through trial and error - I came away with two brushes from an online retailer - pictured (right on desktop, below on mobile) - all trademarks and copyrights to their respective owners.

What I like about them:

The Lil Pals® brush on the right of the picture is wonderful at de-shedding both Crash and Wildflower in relatively short order. The thing which I notice is that because of the bristle density it loads pretty quickly and I need to use one hand to gently hold Wildflowers head as not to tug on her skin too much as I brush through her neck frill area. On Crash it works well and loads well.

The Safari® brush in the center loads more slowly and does not tug as much, which is awesome.

What I liked about both brushes is that they worked well at getting fur off the cats, which is great because they both shed quite a bit. Keeping the dander to a minimum is always a bonus for my allergies and keeps fur-dust-bunnies out of the house. What I wanted in both brushes was something that I could maneuver around them wherever they presented themselves.

It was through this brush-intensive process that I desired a brush that could easily navigate their entire body in almost any position they happen to be: between the ears, under the chin, along the chest, between the arms and into the forbidden belly area.

I learned a bit of Autocad Fusion and we bought a small 3D printer and after a bucketload of prototypes through trial and error, I came up with a design which both cats loved to be brushed by. Further, which did not snag their dense or long fur, did not tug on their skin and has, what I feel is, better brush geometry for navigating around their bodies. Essentially I found that the "human hairbrush handle" sometimes gets in the way when space is limited or the cat is in a comfortable position. The fingertip control on the brush I made allows me to "just brush" them without de-shedding, snagging or any agenda, it's just for the bonding experience.

Being explicit - The Catastrophe Labs brush will only slowly pick up hair that is loose and easily removed. You should always have a complete kit of brushes and accoutrements for your beloved fur friends! Every type of animal has specific needs based on their coat and the environment.