More cat advice needed

Anonymous

I have an indoor cat (3 y.o.) who eats everything off of the floor that she sees...bits of dust, thread, whatever. She also has a very thick coat and though I brush her fairly regularly, I'm sure that she ingests a good bit of the fur. She's a somewhat picky eater (go figure!) and I'm wondering how I can easily help prevent hairballs in her. She's been coughing off & on lately and sometimes vomits, but so far nothing serious. How do the rest of you prevent hairballs?

Marin

PookieBear

I use a hairball rememdy that I buy from Petsmart.
It is malt flavored and my 2 kitties love it! They would eat the whole thing if you let them. I have one long haired and one short haired kitty. The long haired one, no matter how much hairball remedy stuff he gets, still vomits up hairballs occassionally. I have treats also that are supposed to help. My short haired kitty seems to have never had hairball issues. It's odd that he doesn't because he is always licking & grooming the other kitty.
It's just one of those things that happens with some of them no matter what you do. I'm always afraid he will choke for some reason, but I know that will not happen. It just sounds so horrible when he's doing it.
Good luck to you and your kitty!

AlaskaDeb

Just another tip on the hairball stuff in a tube...if you put a smear of it on the cat's front paw, she will lick it all off to clean her foot...ta-dah...medicine consumed It always works with my cat. I find if I get her to eat a 1/2 an inch "squeeze" of the stuff twice a week things are just fine. If i forget for a while I am back to finding nasty little surprises on the floor...

Good luck

Emelee26

Petromalt works well - my cats love it!!!
They come running and meow when I take it out..of course I also yell mani/pedi and they come running hehe
I guess they are well behaved
There are also treats made from Pounce that has hairball gel inside - they are in a purple container - the cat doesn't even know it's good for them

Harley44

Marin,

I use Vetbasis Hairball Gel. It's in a tube, and they sell it at Petsmart. It is PETROLEUM FREE, because I researched this, and it is believed that if you use petroleum based products, they sort of build up a lining in the cat's stomach, and they won't absorb as much of the nutrients from their food. My first cat, Axel LOVED petroleum jelly, and if I opened the lid to the jar, he'd come running! He'd lick it off my fingers. I don't know if it had anything to do with his cancer diagnosis at 11 yrs. old, but probably not.

My two cats, Spike & Thor, hated the petroleum jelly, so I have been using the Vetbasis gel, and even though they don't love it as much, I just started something recently that seems to work for getting them to eat it. I put a little baby food - sweet potato flavor in their dish, and put a dollop of the hairball gel on top. They lick it off, and they seem to love it!

Funny, but Thor is Norwegian Forest cat, with long hair, and Spike is a short haired tuxedo cat, and Thor doesn't get hairballs, but Spike does, and he is the one we find with gobs of Thor's hair in his mouth!

It works for us, but some people think that we are crazy!

Good Luck! Let us know how it goes! Cats are the best!

HARLEY

Sierra

Hi..

My cat has a real coat of fur
and I brush her nearly EVERY DAY
YOU should see the comb.. enought to make
a hat..

She hates the meds, Tonic-Lax
so I have to corral her in
the bathroom, and put it on her paw

My other cat used to sit and wait
on the toilet for the meds, go figure

Best on this and you have to watch them
eating things off the floor.. once my
cat took a shoelace out of my desert boot
and ate it.. (my other cat).. boy ..
it came right through, and I had to pull it
out under direction of the vet
She was fine, but very lucky

I use brush and comb

Harley44

Sierra,

Yes, we have to brush Thor, my Norwegian Forest cat, EVERY DAY!! Now that we live here in NC, where it is so much warmer, he even has started getting mats in his coat (near the hind region, where he can't get to as easily ), and my dh has to try to comb them out very carefully! Thor just HATES it!

cats.... you gotta love 'em!
HARLEY

P.S. Thor gets constipated, not hairballs, so that is the reason I put his hairball gel on sweet potatoes... he likes it, so I figure if it'll make them eat it... why not?
Also, as to the eating string issue, my other cat, Spike, a DSH tuxedo cat, when we first got him from the shelter, a friend gave him a toy mouse, with a brabbit-suede tail, and we left it on the floor of the bedroom where we kept him at first, til we finished pet-sitting another cat for a friend, and he ate the tail! We NEVER found it! He never threw it up, and we never found it in the litter box! But, someone told us that it's very digestible, so I guess we just got lucky!

Sierra

Yes
Smt )
that hind region is a tough one
I am fortunate she lets me near there
to comb

I never leave toys with my kittie when
away from the house and also take the
tail off the mouse ) except for the catnip
candy bar

This morning I had to give her a wee wash
as well (


best to all

PookieBear

My cat once ate a piece of dental floss. I only knew he did because I saw it coming out of his butt as he walked away from me. Luckily it was almost out anyway so I was able to gently pull it out. Icky!

Harley44

Sierra,

We don't leave toys out anymore, either... And, the ones with strings hanging off them, we either supervise their playtime, or we cut them off.

best wishes,
HARLEY

Anonymous

Thanks so much for the hairball prevention suggestions...I'll have to see if Her Highness will consent to any of them !

On the topic of their eating inedibles, I had a cat once who tried to swallow one of those twistees. It got entwined in her teeth at the back of her throat and was choking her. The poor thing was terrified as we tried to gently extract it. I've never left a twistee around since!

Marin

mags

Marin, if you can't stop the cat getting hair balls then you could always use cat grass to get rid of them. Maybe you don't want your cat being sick though lol. If I see mine eating grass I always presume they need to get rid of a hair ball.
Hugs
Mags

tawyna1

i had bought some stuff in a tube for hairballs can't remember the name but they loved it and it helped. i think smt42163 said the name of it good stuff and it works