What’s that old adage? Never work with children or animals. Throwing caution and sensibility to the winds, in this review I am going to be working with animals and the Pawswing AutoComb Pro.
As readers of DRN would know my household includes two cats, Tapioca the shiny coat snow mink Bengal boy, and a domestic short hair rescue Mochi girl. Both have featured regularly on DRN, either in the writing or more likely, photobombing my product shots.
Like most pets, they groom, they shed hair and we end up having to clean up tufts of hair constantly. Tapioca being short hair and in the snow mink colouring, you really don’t see much of his fur against floorboards. But Mochi … goodness if that’s wool I could sell her fur by the bag. The snow white fur is everywhere. Pick her up for a cuddle and there’ll be fur all over you. Now I get why the Brits invented houndstooth pattern for their clothes.
DRN reached out to Pawswing to see if the AutoComb will help with this.
What is the Pawswing AutoComb?
As the name suggests, the AutoComb is a pet grooming device. But instead of spinning, vibrating, or doing anything particularly “auto,” it’s basically a brush with an adjustable opening and some clever marketing.
Inside the aperture is a “mouth” of what Pawswing calls “Bionic Cat Tongue” brush heads, designed to mimic the way cats groom themselves. There is no motor or electronics, so calling it “almost unpowered” feels generous. Think of it more as a static mechanical grooming tunnel your cat walks through.
According to Pawswing, their “Bionic Cat Tongue Comb V1” has the lowest combing resistance coefficient when compared to traditional combs, pin brushes, and rubber brushes.
Sounds impressive, right? “Resistance coefficient” is one of those phrases that makes things sound more scientific than they really are. Pawswing defines it as the ratio of combing resistance to applied pressure, symbolised by a lowercase omega (ω). Higher numbers mean more resistance (read: more friction), lower numbers mean smoother grooming and supposedly, a happier cat.
With no disrespect to Pawswing, that is just great marketing speak. A coefficient is any number or numerical value that is multiplied to a variable.
The problem is, this “coefficient” depends on multiple real-world variables. Like the size of your cat, how much of their fur actually contacts the brushes, and how wide the aperture is set. These all affect the actual grooming performance.
If your cat only lightly brushes against the comb heads, the device might barely do anything. Shrink the aperture to increase contact, you might get more grooming action but that could also make your cat uncomfortable or avoid the device altogether.
So we set out to see how two very different cats reacts to this new device, and if it really makes a difference to our lives.
Getting Started
The AutoComb Pro comes essentially flat packed and some assembly is required. There are thirteen steps in total and I highly recommend two people for this. Don’t worry, unlike a huge Swedish conglomerate well known for their flatpacks, there are no Allen keys or any other tools required.
The four sides of the AutoComb are stiff felt walls. Pawswing says it is a felt material that is material that is recyclable and non-toxic. It is probably wrapped over some kind of coated plastiboard for structural strength.
There are no sharp corners anywhere. The walls joints, the corners are all well rounded. It feels generally sturdy but you would not want to put your full weight into it. There are lots of cut outs on the side walls for air flow, for you to peek in, or for the cats to stick their paws out at you.
The top part of the AutoComb has a cut out for the treats dispenser, as well as a flap that can be opened so you can easily reach in to extract a cat or to clean up. There is a simple swivel lock to keep the flap closed.
The closed end of the AutoComb is a plastic frame with a darkened window. You can just see into the box from there, but generally gives the cat some privacy inside.
The business end of the AutoComb is made of two pieces, the Grooming Disc Base and the Grooming Disc. The Grooming Disc is inserted into the base, and houses the six Bionic Cat Tongue Combs modules in a hexagonal arrangement. The top of the Disc Base is a pair of cute cat ears that double as a handle. You unlock the frame via the two levers on either side, pull up the disc and then from the inside you can adjust the size of the aperture.
Pawswing has markings in there to help you train your cat to use the AutoComb, with the recommended plan to adjust the opening smaller each day until it gets dialled into the smallest aperture supported,
The treats dispenser is the only powered part of the AutoComb, and is rechargeable by USB-C.
The assembly takes a few minutes, ten or more minutes if you are going slow and I would recommend that. Pawswing includes a large clear instruction sheet to guide you through the process. You basically have to insert the bayonet fasteners into the receptable opening on the other panel and it locks into place.
Take your time and make sure things are aligned before putting pressure on it. Even with care, I managed to break one of the bayonet clips. Luckily it does not affect anything.
There is a fairly sizeable step in front and inside the AutoComb to help the cat step up to the opening and guide them through the grooming entrance.
Training and Usage
It took me a little while to get started with the AutoComb. Like any change you need to invest time and effort, be guided by the pets and not rush the process. I had to make sure that for the initial days I was on hand to observe the cats reaction.
My biggest fear was that Mochi is going to see it has her new litter. Lately she has had a spate of little “accidents” or not accidents. The first thing we did was to put some treats inside the box just so she learns this is where you can get to eat. Thankfully it seems after a good few weeks now, she has not tried any funny business in the AutoComb.
As I mentioned at the start, I have two cats. Tapioca is a F5 Bengal and is considered as completely domestic. That said he still has his hunting traits, very curious and is very athletic. Whilst he is always quite alert, change does not really bother him and neither does strange new sounds. He just tends to take it in stride and adapt very quickly.
In comparison Mochi is a bit timid. It always takes her a little while to get used to new sounds in particular. The sounds of the treat dispenser was something that she was very cautious about for a while, and as we tried to adjust the aperture the first few times, she was reluctant to go inside to grab the treats.
We backed out and reset the opening to the initial widest setting and just allowed her to go in and out for the treats. A few more days of just free roaming, Mochi got used to the sound of the dispenser and associated it with the treat. Over the course of eight days we reduced the aperture to the smallest setting and it has not been an issue again.
The dispenser is set to drop treats once an hour and both cats are kind of taking turns going for it. Sometimes. Sometimes they open their eyes from their sleep, look in the general direction of the AutoComb and go back to sleep.
But throughout the day, both cats would go in to check if there are treats waiting for them. As the AutoComb is next to my desk, I can hear them scramble past the tongue combs – running the gauntlet as I like to call it. The AutoComb has been set up in it’s final smallest opening for over a week now and both cats seems pretty comfortable.
Despite the quite narrow looking opening when it is on it’s smallest setting, each of the six tongue comb modules individually retracts back quite easily to accommodate the different sizes of the cats.
Extending out from the tongue comb are plastic tabs which serves to turn the bionic tongue rollers to groom the cat as they enter and exit the AutoComb.
On the inside of each comb is a fur storage compartment where you can just easily remove the collected fur.
The Treat Dispenser
To lure the cats into the AutoComb, the Treat Dispenser is your friend.
It can hold up to 270ml of snacks, and will dispense it on schedule depending on what you want. For us it is set to one treat per hour between 10:30am to 10:30pm.
There is a button on the side of the module to turn it on and off, and it has a cute little animation that comes up for a “Drop Now” function.
To be honest, the basic operation of the dispenser is so simple that my almost 7 year old daughter has worked it out before I even started testing it. The only set up needed is to set the time, and your schedule (if you wish).
Pawswing rates the battery life of the treat dispenser at 30 days before needing a recharge. I have not have it running for a full 30 days yet but for almost three weeks, it has not shown any signs of flagging.
At the bottom of the Treat Dispenser, pointing into the AutoComb is a sensor to collect statistics. Out of the box, there is a plastic tape over the sensor. Remember to remove that.
The App
The AutoComb does not really come with an app per se. Instead you can scan a QR code from the little screen to view the entry data statistics on your browser.
It does require you to login – either with Apple, Facebook or Google. There is no option to create an independent account via email address. Personally I am not a fan of unified login features, but understanding that this “app” is super lightweight, Pawswing has opt not to create separate authentication databases.
Gripes
Only a few. It’s a bit petty but it is worth noting that when a the big boofer (Tapioca) squeezes through the entry, the retracting comb modules can be a little noisy. I wouldn’t call it annoying as it just kind of registers in my brain and tells me one of the cats is going for a groom.
More importantly, the treat dispenser module I think needs a little redesign. One of my cats, most likely Tapioca, has figured out that he can take the lid off despite the little spring loaded locking tab.
He has also managed to trigger the Drop Now function on the dispenser and helped himself to some treats. Perhaps a little screen lock function here would not go astray with a clever feline around.
Sadly I did not capture the video of him doing it as I was away from my desk at the time, but got to give the cats A for effort here.
The app does not work with all browers. By default I use Brave on my phone and it won’t show any data. But using Chrome instead works just fine.
Lastly, the drop plan settings gets reset whenever you go into it and accidentally touch something. For example when I went in to look at the settings, I accidentally changed the start time, which then affected the stop time and the drop interval.
Other Information
The AutoComb Pro is pretty generously sized, measuring in at 50.3 x 45.2 x 61.7 cm in size. The external step extends out another 19 cm so you are looking at maximum footprint of 80cm depth. You are going to need to find a space to accommodate that.
There are some consumables with the AutoComb.
Pawswing recommends that the brushes to be replaced every six months for households with between one and three cats. And every three months for households with more than three cats.
The replacement comb comes in sets of three, so you will need to get two sets to fully replace the six on the AutoComb Pro.
The desiccant is also a consumable. The colour will change from a vivid orange to a grey as it oxidises and become less efficient. Replacement modules comes in packs of six.
In the Box
- Bottom Panel
- Right side Panel
- Left side Panel
- Top Panel
- Front Panel
- Rear Panel
- Grooming Disc
- Grooming Disc Base
- Internal Step
- External Step
- Treat Dispenser
- Dessiccant
- USB-C charging cable
- Replacement Comb module
- Cat Hair Storage Bag (handy for keeping track of how much hair being groomed and for if you want a personalised plush)
Conclusions
The Pawswing AutoComb is a dedicated purpose device, aimed to help your cats with the grooming regime and reduce the amount of fur shedded around your house. Perhaps Mochi does not shed as much as we thought, and that being a white cat with floor boards means we see it more clearly.
Certainly the AutoComb was collecting fur as the cats entered and exited the grooming tunnel. I can see the results in the collectors behind the brushes. That said I am also seeing a general reduction overall of fur tufts around the place.
I do not think you can completely escape from manual grooming but it can certainly help reduce the frequency. This is important for me as neither Tapioca or Mochi enjoy being brushed, but they have been happy to run the gauntlet to get treats and being groomed at the same time.
I think the biggest draw back is the cost. The start up cost still requires you to replace the consumables over the lifespan of the usage.
The Pawswing AutoComb Pro comes with a RRP of A$515.25, and every three to six months you need to replace the combs at A$62.86 for just three combs when you need six all up. Additionally the desiccant replacements are A$46.99 for six.
At time of publish, all of these have been discounted. The AutoComb Pro is down to A$360.20, replacement combs to A$62.64 and dessicant to A$39.16.
I think if you have a couple of shedders, then the Pawswing AutoComb Pro is something worth considering to reduce the manual load required – both in grooming the pets and also to clean up the tufts around the house on a daily basis.
DRN would like to thank Pawswing for providing the review unit, and for the patience whilst I work with animals.
