Review: Four Paws® Love Glove® Grooming Mitt for Cats

Love Glove:The Good, the bad and the messy

This 8.2-inch by 5.8-inch by 1-inch grooming mitt is made of a polyester mesh and it secures around the wrist using an elastic and Velcro® strap. The inside of the mitt is covered with rows of soft (approximately) 1/8-inch rubbery nubs. Sorry lefties of the world; it’s designed with righthanders in mind.

It’s one-size-fits-all and it flops around on my small hand. But, so what?

It’s a moderately effective grooming tool for the shorthaired kitties. Not so effective for the longer haired cats. But that’s not where the value lies. It’s a bonding tool.

 

The Rainbolt Test Kitties love, love, love the Love Glove—from 17-year-old Tonkinese Nixie to seven-month-old medium haired Fluffy. Not a single kitty in my household walked away from the glove. It gently pulled dead hair out of arthritic Nixie’s coat. She seemed to enjoy the soft massage. Dominant Groucho followed me around the house and pushed other cats out of the way so I could continue to brush him. Super longhaired Maine Coon Sterling enjoyed being stroked with the Love Glove, but it didn’t grab much of her dense hair. Even grumpy longhaired, Kiki, who bites me when I try to brush her, sat still for me to groom her. Amazing!

Although all of my guys loved this product, and the Love Glove will probably be adored by most cats who enjoy physical contact, not all cats will like it. Some kitties actually feel discomfort when being stroked. This isn’t the product for those kitties. However, if you have a shy cat, try a couple of gentle strokes and see how she responds.

Does Love Glove Mess Matter?

One other downside is that it’s a bit messy. Fur does fly. No problem. For the pleasure it brought to My Gang, a few hairs floating into my face was worth it.

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About Dusty Rainbolt

Author Dusty Rainbolt is an award-winning veterinary journalist according to her answering machine. She is an associate certified cat behavior consultant and member of International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, as well as past president of the Cat Writers’ Association. Her books, columns, reviews and articles have been honored with more than 50 writing awards including three-time recipient of Friskies Writer of the Year. Her just-released cat behavior book, Cat Scene Investigator: Solve Your Cat’s Litter Box Mystery, is the consummate guide for dealing with a cat who sidesteps his/her appointed toilet. CSI, which provides science-based methods for determining the medical or behavioral causes of feline inappropriate elimination, teaches cat parents to view their cat’s litter box avoidance through the eyes of a detective to determine the cause and, ultimately, the remedy.