their bodies to stay cooler and prevents overheating during hotter months. But sometimes pet owners may look at the abundance of pet hair on their furniture and their clothing and wonder if their pet is experiencing normal or excessive shedding.

Normal or Excessive Shedding

It's good to become familiar with your pet's shedding cycles. Pet owners can recognize what constitutes a normal healthy coat and shedding patterns for a pet depending not only on the season and temperature, but also the breed. Some breeds of dogs and cats are heavy shedders year round, such as Shepherds and Labs and some domestic cats. Some breeds such as double-coated dogs and Persian cats may appear to be shedding an excessive amount of fur as the temperatures rise; however this is normal for them because they have more winter fur. If you are familiar with what is normal for your pet, you will notice abnormal conditions such as excessive shedding, dull-looking coat, bald patches and dry flaking skin.

If you notice abnormal conditions check with your vet to rule out the possibility of health problems, disease, parasite infestations, and skin allergies, and treat these conditions.

How to Improve the Condition of the Skin and Fur

In the absence of health problems, you can improve the condition of your pet's coat and skin, and reduce excessive shedding by improving your pet's diet and nutrition. Seek your vet's advice and provide your pet with a diet that is nutritious, well-balanced, and free of fillers and preservatives. Ask your vet about supplements. Sometimes vets will recommend adding a small amount of olive oil to your pet's diet to increase the health of their skin and coat. Be patient because it takes at least three weeks to see improvements to the coat and skin after starting a consistent improved diet program for your pet.

Stress can also cause fur loss. Reduce your pet's stress with additional exercise, affection, attention and play time.
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Grooming for Shedding

Additional grooming will help reduce the amount of fur on clothes and furniture, reduce the number of hairballs for cats, and improve the condition of the fur for dogs and cats. Normally, brushing your pet once per week may be enough, but during seasonal shedding, more frequent brushing is necessary to