Last Updated on April 9, 2020

If you’re worried that metal cat deshedding tools will hurt your cat, the Eazee deshedding tool could be an effective alternative.

The Eazee deshedder is an effective, safe tool for cats with thick, heavy undercoats who need a brush with oomph to help them stay cool and shed less.

The Eazee deshedding tool was created by Eddy Cathaud, a French serial entrepreneur.

After establishing a chain of French pet stores, Mr. Cathaud started hearing a consistent complaint from customers. They were worried that metal deshedding tools might not be safe for their pets. After hearing several customers voice concerns about these metal-edged tools, Mr. Cathaud saw an opportunity for improvement and began developing a “better deshedder”.

The Eazee brush hit the worldwide market in 2016 and its unique design has been granted two international patents.

The Eazee brush looks like a large, brightly-colored plastic shaving razor with a white head. It’s marketed as a gentler, safer alternative to metal deshedding tools.

What is a cat deshedding tool?

Most cats have three different layers in their coats. Starting at the skin and moving out towards the surface of the coat, cats have down hairs, awn hairs, and guard hairs.

While the outer guard hairs and awn hairs protect your cat from the elements and give them their distinctive coat patterns, the undercoat is made of soft, fuzzy hairs that keep your cat warm. When your cat blows their coat in the spring, most of the shedding comes from their undercoat.

Cats originating from cold climates, such as Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats, have particularly plush undercoats to keep them warm. Cats with heavy undercoats may experience uncomfortable tangles and mats. Any cat with a thick, heavy undercoat can benefit from a deshedding brush to cut back on hairballs, minimize matting, and to help them to stay cool.

Other breeds and individuals have very light undercoats or have no undercoat at all. Cats without much of an undercoat don’t necessarily need a deshedding brush.

Click here to learn about the different types of cat brushes and which ones we think are the best.

How is it different from the FURminator?

It’s hard to talk about the Eazee brush without comparing it to the FURminator.

The FURminator is probably the best-known deshedding brush on the market. It’s a brightly-colored grooming device that looks like an electric hair clipper. You probably associate it with pictures of cats and dogs sitting next to animal-sized piles of their own fur.

The FURminator will probably draw out more hair from your cat’s undercoat than any other brush on the market, but its extraordinary effectiveness comes with some controversy.

Some people insist that the FURminator has stainless steel blades that cut through their cat’s fur. You’ll find stories from people who say that the FURminator gave their cat bald patches. Others say that it cut their cat’s skin.

From what we’ve gathered through reading customer reviews and articles about the FURminator, this deshedding tool doesn’t work like a razor and doesn’t have cutting edges. One commenter on Whole Dog Journal said that after disassembling the deshedding tool, there were clearly no blades.

Nevertheless, its metal tines may be too aggressive for sensitive cats. If you concentrate on a single area too long, you could extract too much hair and irritate your cat’s skin. 

The Eazee brush aims to correct the shortcomings of the FURminator and other metal deshedding tools. Instead of a stainless steel comb, the Eazee brush has flexible plastic teeth with rounded tips that are gentle on your cat’s coat and skin.

Our Review of the Eazee Cat Deshedding Tool 

Disclosure: “Wildernesscat received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. Although the product was gratis, all opinions in this review remain our own and we were in no way influenced by the company.”

We first discovered the Eazee cat deshedding tool while at the SuperZoo trade show in June of 2018.

Having just written an article on the best cat brushes and acutely aware of the problems associated with metal deshedders, we were excited by the premise of a gentler deshedding tool.

We were curious to learn if this “better deshedder” could provide a dramatic grooming experience without causing any damage. After taking a look at the sample products on display, we agreed to review the product after the show.

The Eazee Cat Deshedding Tool comes in six different vibrant colors.

The Eazee cat deshedding tool has a brightly-colored plastic handle and is available in green, blue, yellow, red, purple, and pink colors. We chose pink.

The handle is contoured with a finger-friendly grip. Apparently, this handle allows you to get the perfect angle for removing loose hair from your cat’s undercoat.

It’s appropriate for both long and short-haired cats.

The Eazee cat deshedding tool is appropriate for short, medium, long, curly, thick, and thin hair.

When the comb is installed in the brush, you can extend or retract it to accommodate short or long coats. This sets it apart from the FURminator, which comes in both small and large sizes and demands separate purchases for multiple coat types.

We were only able to test the Eazee deshedding tool on short-haired cats, but have read positive reviews from people who used it on their long-haired pets.

You get plenty of options right out of the box.

When you pull the Eazee cat deshedding tool out of the box, it will be fully assembled and equipped with a white comb. This comb is made from a flexible plastic for gentle grooming. One side of the comb is made for thick coats and has widely-spaced tines, while the other side has more densely-packed tines for thin coats.

If you’d rather give your cat a more intense grooming, you can use the other comb included in the box. The second comb is black in color and made from a more rigid plastic than the white comb. Like the softer comb, this one features two sides for thin and thick coats.

There’s a bit of a learning curve to installing and removing the combs. To remove the comb, you’ll need to push the slider all the way forward, then slide the comb to the side. To insert the comb, slide it in from the side and push down until you feel it snap into place.

Remember to clean the adhesive gum off of the second comb—otherwise, you’ll deal with gunk in the slot and it will be difficult to slide the comb back and forth.

It’s easy to remove hair from the comb.

The comb is anti-static, so hair doesn’t stick to it and instead can easily be pushed away by retracting the comb and allowing the hair to drop into the trash, onto the floor, or wherever else you want to put it.

Although many brushes claim to prevent hairy messes, we’ve yet to find a grooming tool that actually captures all the loose hair for easy cleanup. When using the Eazee deshedding tool, there was plenty of hair collecting on the cats and surrounding area.

If you’d like to go beyond deshedding, you’ll appreciate that the Eazee handle is compatible with the company’s wide range of accessories.

Since the success of the original grooming tool, Eazee has introduced a range of grooming heads for almost every purpose. These interchangeable heads attach to your original handle. This is great for people who would otherwise be frustrated by a drawer full of bulky cat brushes and combs.

At an average price of $9.99- $12.99, these additional heads cost roughly the same amount as additional tools.

Eazee’s current range of grooming heads:

• Pin Brush PRO Medium
• Intense Massage Brush PRO
• Comb PRO14 Large
• Duo Bristle Brush PRO Medium
• Slicker Brush PRO Medium
• Comb PRO31 Short/Long
• Comb PRO38 Medium
• Dust & Flea Comb PRO70
• Double Rake PRO33 Medium
• Dematting Tool PRO9 Medium
• Soft Massage Brush PRO
• Intense Massage Brush PRO

What did the cats think of the Eazee cat deshedding tool?

We first tried out the Eazee deshedding tool on Forest, our quirky brown tabby. She’s previously only been brushed with a HandsOn glove and pin brushes, so I was curious about how she’d react to a deshedding tool.

Using the gentle white attachment, I started running the deshedding tool down her coat.

Before using the Eazee brush, I knew that Forest had a coat as soft as a plush blanket from Costco, but I had no idea how thick the undercoat was. The Eazee brush removed an extraordinary amount of hair from her undercoat. It was light and fuzzy and a uniform grey color. The “better deshedder” was doing its magic and scooping out loose hairs from the mysterious undercoat.

But while I was excited to excavate a pile of fur the size of a grapefruit, Forest became frustrated.

After a few minutes, she started wriggling and mewing to escape. This was a distinct difference from her reaction to the rubber nubs of a grooming glove, which she accepts purringly.

Second grooming subject was Wessie. He loved being brushed with the Eazee deshedding tool, purring and pressing his head against the comb. But because his undercoat is relatively thin, we didn’t get any impressive hair removal, even when using the more aggressive black comb.

If your cat has a thin undercoat, you probably don’t need a deshedding tool like this, but it can do a lot for cats with heavy undercoats.

In Conclusion: Is the Eazee deshedding tool for cats a good choice?

The Eazee deshedder is an effective tool for cats with thick, heavy undercoats who need a brush with oomph to help them stay cool and shed less.

Our cat reviewers had mixed opinions on the comfort factor of this deshedding tool, so we can’t guarantee that it will be comfortable for every cat, but it does appear to be gentler and safer than metal deshedders like the FURminator—while doing a comparable job of cleaning up the undercoat.

But frankly, what really stood out to me was the great value of this tool.

The Eazee deshedding tool for cats gives you a huge bang for your buck. One purchase gives you reversible combs for thick and thin hair, height adjustment for long or short coats, and the choice of a gentler and more aggressive comb. Plus the handle is compatible with a range of attachments.

Other deshedding tools give you fewer options for the same price or more.

Where can you buy the Eazee deshedding tool for cats?

You can buy the Eazee deshedding tool in various pet specialty retail stores, directly on the Eazee by Foolee website, or on Amazon.

At the time of this writing, the deshedding tool is on sale on Amazon for just $19.99 instead of the standard $29.99.

It’s a screaming deal and if you purchase the Eazee deshedding tool through our Amazon links, we’ll get a small commission. It doesn’t change the price on your end, but it means a lot to us. Thank you!