Best Cat Brushes of 2026

When a cat comes in with a dense undercoat or a mat behind the ears, a fine slicker is the wrong first move. The Maxpower Planet rake is built for that job: a dual-sided head with a 9-tooth side for working through stubborn tangles and a wider side for pulling loose undercoat. The teeth are rounded, so the tool is doing some serious work without looking like a garden rake. The 4-ounce body is light enough to keep with the rest of the grooming kit.

We like the narrow 9-tooth side for controlled strokes around the hindquarters and belly, where a wide slicker can feel like too much at once. The wider side covers more ground on the back and flanks, and the non-slip rubber base gives you a sure grip when your hands are already furry. The rounded teeth are the detail that keeps it from feeling like a harsh stripping tool.

The dual-sided design is the practical advantage over a single rake, because you do not have to swap tools when you hit a tangle. It also costs less than most of the brushes here, which makes it an easy add-on if your cat is a heavy shedder. The 4-ounce body is light enough to keep with the rest of the grooming kit.

The Glendan's head swivels through 180 degrees, which sounds like a gimmick until you try to brush under a cat's chin or around a back leg. The rotating head lets the pins stay flat against the body instead of digging in at an angle, and the small head is easier to steer into tight spots than a full-size slicker. The coated tips keep the pins from feeling like tiny needles.

At 3.17 ounces, it is light enough to use with a loose wrist, and the handle gives you a secure grip without much bulk. We like it for the awkward places: the chest, the inside of the hind legs, and the strip along the spine where a cat is most likely to twitch. The control is what makes it useful on a wriggly cat.

The swivel takes some of the pressure off your wrist, and the small head lets you follow a shoulder or a hip without resetting your grip. It is not the fastest way to clear a dense undercoat, but it is easier to work with the cat rather than against it.

For a small cat or a cat that dislikes a wide brush head, the Glendan is the one we reach for. It will not replace a rake on a heavy coat, but the swivel head makes it easier to reach the places a cat guards. That control is worth the extra care it asks for.

The push-button head is the feature that makes the Hertzko a serious everyday brush: press the button, the pins retract, and the fur slides off in one piece. That is the kind of cleanup that makes a daily brush feel less like a chore, especially if you are moving from one cat to the next. The head is wide enough to cover a back and flank in a few strokes, and the angled pins catch loose hair without a lot of pressure.

What we like most is how efficiently it works in a multi-cat household. You can do a quick pass on each cat, clear the head between them, and not spend the whole session fighting a packed brush. The fine pins are not the gentlest here on a cat with thin skin, so we use light strokes around the belly and hind legs and let the tips do the work. The 3.2-ounce body is easy to control for the size of the head.

The handle has a comfortable grip, and the button falls under your thumb without a reach. We did find that the pins can feel scratchy if you press down, which is why a light hand matters more with this brush than with a rubber-tipped slicker. Used gently, it is a fast, familiar shape that most cats will accept.

The SleekEZ is the alternative we keep for cats that tense up at the sight of a pin brush. It is a flat deshedding blade rather than a cushion of wires, so it glides over the coat and lifts loose fur without the scratchy, comb-like feel. The 2-ounce body is easy to control, and there is no button, no retracting head, and no plastic mechanism to stick. That simplicity is the whole appeal.

The blade works on short, medium, and long coats, and it is made in the USA. What we appreciate is how little technique it asks for: a few light strokes pull up a surprising amount of undercoat, and the fur collects on the blade so you can peel it off in a strip. It also earns a second life on carpets and cat trees, which is more useful than it sounds when shedding season hits.

It is not a mat splitter, so a felted knot still needs a rake first. For a sensitive cat that tolerates only a few minutes of grooming, though, the lack of fuss is the point.

The Docrok set is two tools rather than one: a double-sided rake and a double-sided comb. The rake has a wide side for dematting and a dense side for deshedding; the comb repeats that wide-and-dense pairing for finishing and for tighter spots like the legs, head, and tail. If you have a long-haired cat, that division of labor is the reason to look at it.

The stainless steel teeth feel sturdy, and the TPR handle is comfortable enough to use for a full session. We like the comb for the places a slicker cannot reach cleanly, especially around the ruff and behind the legs. The rake does the heavier work, and then the comb smooths the coat and catches the last loose hairs. It feels like a small grooming kit rather than a single brush with a marketing story.

This is the most deliberate grooming set here, and it asks for a little more patience than a single slicker. You have to choose the right side, work in sections, and keep the teeth clear. For a cat that mats easily or a long-haired cat that needs a weekly routine, that extra step is worth it. For a short-haired cat that just needs a quick once-over, it is more tool than you need.

The Depets brush is light in the hand and soft at the tips: 100 grams, a nonslip handle, and stainless steel pins finished with round beads. That combination makes it a pleasant brush to pick up for a few minutes at a time, especially if your cat is still deciding whether grooming is a good idea.

The one-click cleaning button does what it promises: press it and the hair lifts off the pins in a mat. We appreciate that on a brush at this end of the price range, because cleanup is usually where budget tools cut corners. The handle is comfortable enough for longer sessions, and the round beads give the pins a massage-like feel rather than a sharp point.

The Depets is at its best as a finishing brush: after a rake has loosened the undercoat, it smooths the topcoat and picks up the strays. The small head is also useful around the face and paws, where a bigger slicker feels clumsy. That makes it a good second pass in a longer routine.

What we keep coming back to is the size and weight. It is easy to control around the face and paws, and the head is small enough that a cat can watch what is happening without feeling swallowed by the brush. The 100-gram body is light enough to hold while you steady a wriggling cat with the other hand, and the round beads make a quick session feel more like petting than grooming.

The first thing we noticed about the Aumuca is the pin angle: 150° bent needles with rounded rubber tips, rather than the straight, sharp-ended wires on a lot of slickers. That shape is why it earns our top spot for most cats. It lets the pins follow the curve of a cat's flank and underbelly instead of scraping one spot, and the rounded ends give us more confidence around the chest and hindquarters. The one-click shutter is just as useful: press it, the brushed hair lifts away from the needles, and you can keep going without digging at the head with a comb.

The stainless steel pins feel firm enough to reach loose undercoat, but the rubber tips keep the experience from turning into a scratch session. For a cat that tolerates brushing for a few minutes at a time, that matters more than a bigger head. At about 9.6 inches long overall, it has a useful reach without feeling like a dog brush in your hand, and the white body makes it easy to see when the pins need another pass.

Where it stops is heavy mats. The fine pins are made for loose fur and everyday shedding, not for cutting through a felted knot; for that, a rake is the better tool. The button sits at the top of the handle, so it is easy to press mid-session, though we prefer to clear the head over a trash can before the hair builds up. That small rhythm is what makes it a brush we actually keep within reach.