4 Cat Massagers That May or May Not Succeed at Actually Massaging Your Cat

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• Not an alternative to skilled veterinary assist.

When it involves issues in life which might be free, it’s protected to say {that a} respectable therapeutic massage is among the rarest freebies of all. If it’s a therapeutic massage you need for your self, or to provide as a present, it’s important to pay—nobody’s giving these items away.

So, how did my two cats, Matilda and Ramona, react after I provided to do exactly that with the 4 pet massagers listed under, particularly designed to assuage away their kitty aches, pains, stress, and pressure?

• The Paw Wave Pet Massager, a battery-operated, hand-held unit with a number of pace settings and attachments
• The Electric Pet Head Massager, a battery-operated, hand-held unit with 4 rotating rubber brush heads
• The Patgoal Pet Thin Face Massager, a small, double-tipped curler device with laborious, plastic rolling nobs at every tip
• The Ninjas Cat Massager Roller Relaxer, a bigger model of the Patgoal manufactured from pliable plastic with rolling, silicone brush heads at every tip

They reacted like cats.

In common, typically the kitties submitted to being massaged by considered one of these unusual, whirring projectiles for a stunning time period. More typically than not, they had been thinking about batting them out of my hand, booping the attachments, chewing on no matter piece might match of their mouth, or ignoring me altogether within the hopes that I’d go away.

Some cat massagers had been tolerated higher than others. Here’s how they stacked up.

The Most Tolerated Cat Massagers

Best Battery-Powered Cat Massager: Paw Wave

Of the 2 battery-powered massagers I attempted on my cats, the Paw Wave eclipsed the Electric Pet Head Massager with its dealing with and flexibility.

Here’s what I appreciated about it, in comparison with the Pet Head:

• The wand fashion deal with: It’s prime heavy (the motor is situated on the tip), however the grasp feels extra pure (like a hair brush or microphone) than the broad, awkwardly-styled deal with of the Electric Pet Head that requires a full palm grip.
• Plenty of pace choices: With 5 totally different speeds and three separate therapeutic massage attachments, there’s sufficient energy within the Paw Wave for a bigger animal (a medium to massive canine, or a husband, even). I wouldn’t go larger than the second pace on a cat—and in the event you’re utilizing one on yours, watch them carefully to see if they really like the feeling. The Paw Wave emits a gradual, percussive pulse that I, making an attempt it on my calf, discovered overpowering on the fourth and fifth speeds.
• Versatile attachments: My senior cat Matilda expressed all of the indicators of contentment—purring, leaning in, elevator butt, eyes half closed, nostril turning pink—with the Paw Wave’s triangular attachment, with three curved, rubber-coated factors that simply and gently moved within the path of her fur down her backbone. My husband (who has since adopted the massager as his personal) likes to make use of the spherical suction cup-like attachment for his neck and shoulders.
• Steady and quiet: Both electrical massagers emit a motorized sound, however the Paw Wave is regular, not like the intermittent whirring of the Electric Pet Head.

It could come as no shock that the Paw Wave, hovering round $100 on the time of this evaluate, is costlier than the Electric Pet Head, which is presently slightly below $40.

Based on my expertise, I wouldn’t suggest the Electric Pet Head to anybody, until you might be actually good at working small motorized instruments together with your palm, have an exceptionally relaxed cat who likes being round sporadic, whirring-sounding units that contact their our bodies, and have $40 to spend on one thing that may seemingly grow to be an costly cat toy in a couple of days. But ask your self: If your cat is that relaxed to start with, does she really want a cat massager?

Another strike for the Pet Head is that the rubber brush attachments could be simply pulled off the pinnacle of the device by a cat with little effort, and they’re mainly bite-sized, so when you’ve got a curious cat who likes to chew on plastic, or likes gnawing or teething issues they understand to be toys, this a critical choking hazard.

In my sincere, hard-earned cat mother opinion, I don’t suppose anybody wants an electrical pet massager for his or her cat. But, in case you are critical about massaging your cat with one, get one you may additionally need to use: the Paw Wave.

Shop the Paw Wave on Amazon

Best Basic Cat Massager: The Ninjas Cat Massager Roller Relaxer

In the world of fundamental cat massagers, of the 2 wand types I attempted, the Ninjas was the clearly superior product. Here’s what I appreciated about it, in comparison with the Patgoal:

• Length: The Ninjas wand was twice so long as the Patgoal, simply over 10 inches in comparison with the Patgoal’s skimpy 4.75 inches. When you’re coping with the unpredictable swiping of paws and claws, you want a good quantity of clearance to be out of the strike zone, and the Ninjas massager appeared designed to ship therapeutic massage at a protected take away.
• Flexibility: The Ninjas cat massager is manufactured from a versatile, pliable plastic, versus the tougher plastic used on the Patgoal. This flexible high quality means that you can apply extra light, even strain, and higher conforms to your cat’s physique, than the unyielding, stiff materials of the Patgoal.
• Silicone brush heads: The smooth, silicone curler heads of the Ninjas wand had been clearly designed for kitty consolation—the Patgoal’s tiny curler heads, with their laborious edges of inflexible plastic, had been far much less inviting to each of my cats than the rubbery nubs of the Ninjas. In reality, the Patgoal’s laborious rollers rub collectively and make a rattling noise in the event you shake the product, and now Ramona acknowledges the Patgoal as a toy—see her batting it round within the picture on the prime.

Ultimately, I’m uncertain that any cat father or mother wants considered one of these low-cost, fundamental cat massagers—cats are actually good at discovering aid on their very own for his or her numerous itches and grooming wants, and so they’re nice communicators about when and the place they need to be petted and for the way lengthy, together with their most popular quantity of petting strain.

If your veterinarian has really useful considered one of these massaging instruments on your cat, or when you’ve got an uncommon member of the species who is perhaps into this, I like to recommend the Ninjas Roller, presently priced round $23—I used to be truly in a position to get a couple of therapeutic massage periods in on Ramona utilizing this one (she appreciated it on her face and round her cheeks). While the Patgoal is cheaper ($3.99), I don’t suggest it past its novelty, and since it doesn’t include a warning, I have to add that it needs to be used at your individual danger—it’s important to get actually near your cat when utilizing it, and I narrowly escaped Ramona’s greedy set of claws yoinking it from my palms so she might play with and chew on it as an alternative.

Shop the Ninjas Cat Massager on Amazon

Cat Massagers: Why, Again?

To inform the reality, I feel all of those merchandise are fairly ridiculous. Beyond being amusing, or a humorous gag reward for the cat one who has all the pieces, do they or can they actually assist your cat?

Your cat could also be totally different, and I might see maybe extra utility for a much bigger, extra muscular canine, however I’ve lived with cats all my life, and I’ll let you know that except for the Paw Wave (which my husband has forbid me from making a gift of), I’m donating the remainder of the massagers to the neighborhood free pile.

If you continue to really need one, save your cash and search for one there—hey, free therapeutic massage.

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