The Good: Good grip, Durable, Generally effective
The Bad: (Ironically) Expensive.
The Basics: Generally good, the Oster ShedZilla is a bit expensive for the results.
We cannot fight our natures. I am a reviewer and even when I am gifted an item, it makes my way into my reviewing cache. As has been my habit when getting new pets, I have tried to find some products that we bought for them that I might be able to review. So, for example, when our rabbit Daisy came to live with us, one of the new (to us) products that we picked up were Combo Chews (reviewed here!). Well, last night, our family grew again. Over six months after the tragic (though entirely foreseeable) death of our geriatric cocker spaniel, Mitzie - who helped me review a whopping 28 dog foods, treats and pet care products - my wife said she was ready to have another dog and after two frustrating days searching Craigslist, she found a Siberian Husky named Myah Rose who needed a good home and was within a two hour drive for us. So, yesterday, Myah Rose joined our family.
With Myah came many accouterments and as I rush to try some of them with Myah - both to help our new Husky feel more comfortable and to treat our new girl the same way I have spotlighted all our current and former pets - I feel lucky to have a dog coming from such a good home. Myah is an almost-five year-old Siberian Husky who is a little thin at the moment because she just got through her weaning her pups and she came to us with a full kennel and all sorts of food, treats and grooming materials. In an effort to make her feel included and comfortable, I decided to do a little grooming with Myah today and I picked up the Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool to groom her with. This is an impressive heavy-duty de-shedding tool and I was looking at it as a potential replacement for the Miller's Forge Large Shedding Blade for dogs (reviewed here!) which I had found to be less effective than I would like.
The Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool is a dog grooming tool that did not quite live up to my expectations. My car seat tells me that Myah is shedding and has a lot of loose hair, but the ShedZilla does not. After ten minutes of brushing Myah with the tool, I had less than five real tufts of hair that were removed. The result was I was left feeling like the ShedZilla might not be quite the right tool for a dog with a short undercoat and not a whole lot of loose fur. If only the loosest fur is removed by this tool, it is hard to justify the expense.
The Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool is a metal and plastic device that is 6 1/2" long by 3 1/4" wide - at the head - and 1" thick. Ours is gray with blue plastic for the handle and the butt of the handle features a hole to allow one to hang the tool for storage. The metal end of the ShedZilla features steel teeth. The teeth are flattened pieces of metal - twenty-five of them - which are spaced about 1/8" apart. The teeth are shaped, ironically enough, like full cat claws. As a result, they have very thick bases and they taper with a curved end.
Using the Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool is very simple. Simply grab the end of the handle, point the teeth toward your dog's hide and brush your dog. Brushing head to tail yielded about a tuft of hair per side of the dog. Myah is a thirty pound Siberian Husky and I was surprised by how little loose hair was pulled out by the tool, especially considering how much hair I have found around the house already.
But there are some real advantages to the Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool, foremost that it seems very comfortable for the dog. Myah is very twitchy about her tail being touched, leaping up when I accidentally brushed my hand against her tail when she was on our bed last night. But while brushing her with this tool, I was pleasantly surprised that Myah allowed me to brush her tail. Her tail is very bushy and I got my three largest tufts of hair from Myah from her tail.
The teeth seem like they would never wear out, given they are made of stainless steel. If the teeth need to be replaced, all one would need are the replacements, a tiny wrench and an Allen wrench. I was able to figure out intuitively how to replace the teeth, so this is a very easy to use and maintain tool.
Ironically, the major gripe I have with the Oster ShedZilla Clean & Healthy Professional De-Shedding Tool is the expense. Yes, I got mine as part of a package deal with an amazing dog! But not everyone is going to fill their gas tanks halfway and get an amazing dog, the Oster ShedZilla, and more. Online, these retail for about $25, which is a bit steep in my estimation. Miller's Forge products that I have used have had more effective results - at least with Mitzie - for less money.
Ultimately, I recognize the quality of this tool for dog grooming, but give it a very soft "recommend." It is pricy for what it does and there are other tools that seem to do the exact same things at least as efficiently. I am eager to keep dog hair from getting all over and other shedding brushes do more for less than this ShedZilla appears to.
For other dog care products, please visit my reviews of:
Millers Forge Large Slicker Brush
Millers Forge 2-in-1 Adjustable Pet Comb
Vroom Around The Room Dog Laser
7/10
For other dog care products, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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