The Real Reason Your Pet Sheds

You love your pet, but you don’t necessarily love all that hair on your couch and clothes. Although shedding is typically an annoyance, it’s actually the best indicator that your pet has healthy skin and hair. Still, you might be wondering why this natural occurrence happens. Before we can understand the question of “why”, we must understand the basic hair structure.

Skin
The skin is a soft outer covering of your pet and has several layers. It’s main functions are to insulate and regulate the body temperature as well as sensation.

Hair
A hair is essentially dead material, but living cells produce it. Hair is made up of the protein called exokeratin. There are different parts of the hair:
Hair Shaft: above the skin’s surface
Hair Root: under the skin’s surface
Bulb: enlarged, hollow portion at the base of the root
Hair Papilla: projection of dermis into center of the bulb
Follicle: skin indentation protecting the root

Growth
Hair grows in cycles. When it reaches a certain length, the growth stops due to genetic profile. The rate of hair growth determines the length and amount of coat on your pet. Growth has different stages:
Anagen: The first phase of new hair growth. Pets who don’t tend to shed heavily have a longer angagen phase and vise versa.
Catagen: This is the transitional phase. Catagen phase starts when the cell creation signals to stop. It stops hair from growing and the outer root sheaths attaches to the hair.
Telogen: The rest period between the catagen and anagen phases.
Exogen: This is the final stage - the shedding stage. This phase occurs when the hair falls out and the follicle moves back into the anagen phase. Some pets have most of the follicles in telogen and may be nearly hairless. For dogs, hair growth rate varies on different parts of the body.

Let Triple S help keep your home free of fur! We offer several cleaning services to restore your carpets, drapes, and upholstery once more! We are a family owned business with over 50 years of experience and are here to help you keep your home looking and feeling Clean, Fresh, & Bright no matter how messy your furry friends might be!

Triple S has three main plant locations:

Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street
Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue
Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue