Safe way to remove burrs from fur

Hey there, everyone.

So my one outside cat, Midnight, has been enjoying the spring warmth and I've made it a point to let him out more often. He loves wandering around the stream by the house and rooting through the low lying plant life. Many nights he comes home with burrs stuck in his coat and I do my best to remove them painlessly. Sometimes brushes work well, sometimes I have to cut them out. I really don't want to resort to shaving because I know cat skin is prone to sunburns but sometimes he's so loaded that it's a real ordeal.

Is there a particular brush or product specifically for this? Anyone find any good techniques for removing these nuisances?

 

My brother has a long haired cat (she was a stray) that stays outside and she gets burrs bad too. Everytime I'm at his house, about once a week, I work on them to try and get them out, for as long as she'll let me. I find it hard too, as her hair is so long. The other day, I did have to cut out a mat. There just wasn't anything I could do with it. I was actually talking to my mom about the same thing and we were trying to come up with a way to get them out easier. Avon's Skin So Soft works great on horse manes and tails to get burrs out, and I think it would work. However, I am a bit reluctant to try that as kitty's lick themselves all of the time and I don't know if that would be good for her to get in her mouth. It sure wouldn't taste good, but I don't want it to make her sick. I just carefully try to work her hair out of them as best I can.