The tedious part of grooming a moulting pet is not the brushing, it is the picking. Half a minute of work fills a slicker head with undercoat, and you then spend the same again pulling matted fluff out of fine wire pins with your fingers. A self-cleaning head removes that step entirely: press the button, the pins withdraw beneath the plate, and the whole pad of collected hair lifts away in one piece and goes straight in the bin.

The pins are fine and bent, with bead tips designed to slide through the coat without catching skin, and they reach past the topcoat to lift the loose undercoat, small mats and tangles that cause most of the shedding around a house. The handle is shaped for a comfortable everyday grip, the head is styled as a pair of cat ears, and it comes in blue, pink or grey. It suits both long and short-haired cats and dogs.

• Fine bent pins with bead tips
• One-click button retracts the pins to release collected hair
• Lifts loose undercoat, tangles and small mats
• Suits long-haired and short-haired cats and dogs
• Comfortable grip for regular use
• Blue, pink or grey; cat-ear shaped head

On technique and limits. Slickers work in light, short passes with the coat held at the base; pressed hard and dragged, fine pins can scratch skin and leave a sore patch, and a pet who flinches at grooming usually met a brush used too firmly. This is also a maintenance tool, not a rescue one. A coat with tight mats close to the skin needs those cutting out or a groomer, not more brushing.

Who it's for: Owners of moulting cats and dogs who brush often and want the collected hair off the brush in one press.