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OT: Cats and Hair Balls


M.L.
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Hello. Does anybody else have a cat that will kind of cough and gag on and off for days until they puke up a huge hairball? I have a pretty long haired cat, and this happens to her at least once a month. She looks so uncomfortable until she coughs up the hairball! Any advise on how to prevent this? I brush her often and she eats a food that supposedly helps the hairball situation. Thank you!

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Yes, I most certainly do. He's 7 years old and it caused a major health crisis in January. He was so ill he didn't eat for almost three days. I have really stepped up the brushing, using a "Furminator" brush, which cost a lot but really seems to get a lot of fur out, along with a couple of stainless steel toothed combs. I'm feeding him a higher quality food, Innova. I'm not sure the problem's solved permanently, but he seems much better and his fur feels silkier.

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I used an anti- hairball shampoo on my cats ( although the bath was not easy to do until they got used to it.) It seemed to help and cut down on hairballs big time. Although you might want to run it by your vet first, mine were bathed frequently because one rolled around in stuff outside and the other would hear a noise and get scared and shat itself. :rolleyes:

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Back when I had a long haired cat, I used to make sure she got something to "push" the hair balls on through her - there are different brands of hairball remedies like Catalax, etc. that are cod liver oil flavored. Plain petroleum jelly works just as well. That and brushing worked pretty well although she would still occasionally cough up a hairball.

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My cat has hairballs so bad he got colitis from them. We rushed him to the emergency vet at 3am a few weeks ago because of blood in his stool. We now feed our cat Science Diet hairball formula. The vet said it is made for hairballs so it has more fiber to keep things moving along so they dont get stuck or vomit as much. They also have him on a thing called Laxadone (a.k.a. CatLax) that looks like molasses (sp?) and we give that every other day for the rest of his life. We also have to brush him. He's a shorthaired cat, and I have never seen so much hair come off a cat once we began brushing him. Its amazing. We bought a new brush that is for undercoat. Looks a bit like a flea comb.

 

Rohan used to puke near every day and it was always so full of hair. Please please get this issue in check so you dont end up with the emergency we did. I know a lot of people are not pro Science Diet, but for my cat I have to say I wouldnt feed anything else. When he was a kitten he near died and SD was the ONLY food he could keep down. Now, its the food that helps his hairballs. Feel free to pm or email me if you have any other questions about him or his meds. I hope that helps you some.

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Thank you so much for all of your replies! I have been doing research on the internet, but it's great to get some other advise, too! I'm really not a cat person at all, so I don't have a lot of knowledge about cats. Thank you very much!

 

I'm going to start by getting a better brush/comb today. I'll also look into another food for her. Right now she eats Nutro with hairball control. I've tried feeding her Felidae, Evo, California Natural and many other premium brands, but she doesn't eat them. I am not pro Science Diet, that's for sure, but I'll take a look at it. I really am afraid she is going to get sick, especially with the size of the hairballs she vomits up.

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With Sammy, once a week I would put about a 1/4 tsp. of plain petroleum jelly, as BC friend mentioned, on his front paw. It was the easiest way to get it in him. Cats will lick ANYTHING to get it off their paws! It wasn't until just a few months before the end that he started throwing up hair balls. Probly cuz he wasn't eating well. Good luck!

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I bought a better brush today, which seems to get a lot more hair off of Amelie than the old one. I also got some of the hairball gel stuff, and of course she wanted nothing to do with it! I didn't think to put it on her paw though. I'll have to try that. I just put it on my finger and stuck the glob of it in her mouth. She wasn't thrilled, but she didn't put up a fight, either. Next time I'll try putting it on her paw. Thanks again!

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LOL that reminds me, I was a complete dork when I first tried putting it on Rohans paw. I put it on the pads thinking it would bother him and he' d take it off. Instead he goes hauling butt through our carpeted house into the kitchen then licks it off. I called my sister in law and I said, that trick doesnt work! He got it everywhere. Then she explained that it goes on the top of the paw lol. :D I felt like the worlds biggest dummy. Anyway, it works good and he still runs through the house shaking his paw, but at least it doesnt get in my carpet lol. :rolleyes:

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LOL that reminds me, I was a complete dork when I first tried putting it on Rohans paw. I put it on the pads thinking it would bother him and he' d take it off. Instead he goes hauling butt through our carpeted house into the kitchen then licks it off. I called my sister in law and I said, that trick doesnt work! He got it everywhere. Then she explained that it goes on the top of the paw lol. :D I felt like the worlds biggest dummy. Anyway, it works good and he still runs through the house shaking his paw, but at least it doesnt get in my carpet lol. :rolleyes:

 

Haha, I did that too. Fortunately my girls didn't go running around the house, tracking sticky ickiness everywhere. Now, though, I just give them the bar (looks like a deoderant stick, lol) and they'll lick until I take it away. Thank goodness for small favors, lol. I can't tell if it works, though, since I don't give it all that often (it's always "missing" lol, and if not, I'm hesitant to give it to Molly because she has a tendancy to have diarrhea often, if not soft squishy poo [the hairball stuff is basically a laxative, lol], though Buffy and Willow are fine with it. Ironically, it's Molly, the fatty who rarely grooms herself, that has the hairballs the most)

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LOL! I just want to say that I should have read the last few posts before I tried putting the stuff on none other than the bottom of Amelie's paw! Needless to say, she also took off through the house, although only on tile. The dogs happily licked the goop from the floor though! Maybe next time I'll get it right!

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