The Furminator is designed to remove pet hair and reduce shedding. So are the Shed­Ender and a number of wire pet brushes. But the Furminator, sold at PetSmart and online, costs more: We paid about $34 for a medium-size model, compared with $10 or less for the others.

To see whether one device removes more hair more easily than another, we tried them on 25 dogs and cats at a shelter and other locations around Yonkers, N.Y. We used either the Furminator or the ShedEnder on the right side of each animal, a plain wire brush (Four Paws Ultimate Touch Gentle Slicker) on the left. Our staffers brushed a side of each animal for 1 minute, then removed all fur collected by the device, put it in a plastic bag, and weighed the samples.

To assess how easy the devices are to use, we also had 23 people take each home for a week and use it on their pets at least three times.

What we found. When it came to the amount of fur removed, no device was best in show: All removed about the same amount. As for ease of use, there were purrs for the Furminator. (“It worked great!” a panelist said. “Also left my cat’s fur silky.”) But there were a few growls for the ShedEnder and the wire brush. Panelists found brushing harder with the ShedEnder, which strokes in one direction, than with the Furminator and wire brush. (They thought their pets enjoyed the Furminator and wire brush more, too.) And owners and staff members alike found the densely packed spines of the wire brush hard to clean.

CR’s take. The Furminator’s price is fairly steep, but if you want an effective, easy-to-clean device to cut down on a pet’s shedding, it’s worth considering. Besides, we get a kick out of its name.