Grooming effort is the most lopsided rating in the cat catalogue. Thirty of the 56 rated breeds — more than half — sit at the lowest level, and only three sit at the highest. If you were expecting a difficult majority, the records say the opposite: the ordinary case is a cat that needs almost nothing done to it.
The three that do need work
The British Longhair, Himalayan and Chantilly carry the top grooming rating. All three are long-coated, which is the whole explanation, and it is the one place in this data where a trait and a physical description line up cleanly.
Grooming is not shedding
These are separate columns and they do not move together. The British Longhair needs the most grooming of any breed here and sits at the *lowest* shedding rating — a coat that demands brushing and then keeps hold of what it has. Ten breeds share that lowest shedding rating, among them the Sphynx, Devon Rex and Cornish Rex, whose coats are barely there to begin with.
So decide which problem you are actually solving. Brushing time and hair on the furniture are different costs, and a breed can be cheap on one and expensive on the other.
What the middle looks like
Thirty-five of the 56 sit at the middle shedding rating, which is a polite way of saying most cats shed and the records do not distinguish between them. The scale is useful at its ends and not much use in between. Every figure is on the breeds page with its source.
Which cat breeds need the least grooming?
Thirty of the 56 rated breeds carry the lowest grooming rating, so the low-maintenance group is the majority rather than a select few. The breeds page lists them all.
Which cat breeds shed least?
Ten carry the lowest shedding rating, including the Sphynx, Devon Rex, Cornish Rex and Selkirk Rex. Note that this is a different list from the low-grooming one.
Does a long coat mean more shedding?
Not according to these records. The British Longhair has the highest grooming rating and the lowest shedding rating at the same time, which is why the two columns are kept separate.