# Cat owners - need hairball help!!



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Our cat eats Pro Plan kibble, but we have given him Whiskas in the past without any problems. He's the same way about wet food as your cats, so we don't bother. I think it helps his teeth anyway just eating kibble, because he has shiny whites still at 4.  

And our other cat (Buttons) lived 20 years on Friskies cat food. He did have more hairballs as he got up in age, but we thought that had to do with his other health issues (thyroid). Plus he was a long haired cat.


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## firedancer722 (Apr 12, 2010)

Megora said:


> Our cat eats Pro Plan kibble, but we have given him Whiskas in the past without any problems. He's the same way about wet food as your cats, so we don't bother. I think it helps his teeth anyway just eating kibble, because he has shiny whites still at 4.
> 
> And our other cat (Buttons) lived 20 years on Friskies cat food. He did have more hairballs as he got up in age, but we thought that had to do with his other health issues (thyroid). Plus he was a long haired cat.


I looked at the Pro Plan hairball formula kibble yesterday only because I had a $3 off coupon... I wonder what it was about the Nutro that kept Bodhi from getting hairballs. They just ended up passed in the litter box when he ate that food. I think I might try mixing in some hairball formula Iams and cross my fingers that it doesn't give Siddha the runs. :uhoh:


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## acupofteha (Jun 28, 2010)

firedancer722 said:


> Hi wonderful cat owners!
> 
> Just remember... it needs to be something relatively inexpensive, but I don't want to feed Friskies / Whiskas, etc. Edited to add: I've tried wet foods, they both lick the gravy and leave the 'meat'... and the pate style, they won't touch. They used to eat Fancy Feast, but now they don't even want that other than the gravy. *** sigh ***
> 
> ...



I have used the paste too.. and No it doesn't seem to work for my cat either.. He has tummy issues too so what I do is mix Royal Cain digestive (about $24for the smaller bag) comfort with oven baked food(about $15 for smaller bag). I mix the two and it lasts us about 2 month maybe longer He still has the odd hair ball not near as often as he did before i mixed his food. I also give him soft food, which is suppose to help them not have as many hair balls as well as help them from not getting other issues (Males are prone to stones).

My cat is picky with his soft food to and was only eating the gravy, so what I do now is mix it up with water, so that the whole thing is gravy, you can do that with the pate too.. I feed meow mix (I think thats the name) and get 24 containers for under 10 and only feed half a container a night.

Also Have you tried the Presidents choice brand of cat food. I have been looking into this as well. 
PC Nutrition First Weight & Hairball Control Adult Cat Food-Chicken & Brown Rice - PC - Products


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## ruby55 (Mar 24, 2009)

I've always used over the counter hairball remedies. They always seemed to work, both on short or long hairs; young or old. If your cat doesn't like the taste, smear some on the top of his feet. He'll lick it off, even if he doesn't like the taste.


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## firedancer722 (Apr 12, 2010)

Thanks for your suggestions! I don't think we have President's Choice here in the US. Not sure about that though. I'll look and see. I looked at the Royal Canin "Intense Hairball" food but MY GOODNESS is it expensive!!! It was like $25 for a 6 lb bag! There's just no way I can afford that right now. :no: I'm barely affording the Iams food. 

The urinary issues for males concerns me too... since I do have two boys and one who is getting older. The Nutro was certified for UTI health. Neither have shown any signs of urinary issues, but I don't want to predispose them to problems with the food I'm feeding. I need to look and what other brands are good for that. 

Finding good cat food is just as difficult as dog food, it seems!! :doh:


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

My vet said a lot of "hairball" foods are just marketing and don't always work as described. So we don't feed a hairball food. We feed a brand that a local petstore (Kahoots) manufacturers. Our vet actually recommended the food to us and it improved their coats and stools a lot. After reviewing the ingredients I was happy with it, and it's relatively low priced too (I think about $28 for an 18 lb bag). I also have urinary issues with one of the cats and when I evaluated the Kahoots brand when we switched them, it was good for cats with urinary issues (low ash and magnesium, if I remember correctly).

For hairballs we use Petromalt or Laxotone. They hate it too but you have to hold them down and get it into their mouth. It's all very dramatic with them, but they get over it. I usually put the goo on my finger first so that I can "wipe" it onto the roof of their mouth. Sounds weird but it works! I've found that when it gets really bad with the hairballs I need to give it to them every day for a week and then 1x/week and then just whenever I notice someone has puked. 

It's so gross, I feel for you. We actually had to buy a Spot Bot carpet cleaner due to our puke situation last year. It happened again this year too when it started to get hot, but I caught it pretty quick with Petromalt and it's calmed down, thank goodness!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

What type of grooming tool are you using? Having the right tools can get the hair off of the cat but NOT into him and not on your floor/furniture. How are the cats for grooming?


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## firedancer722 (Apr 12, 2010)

RedDogs said:


> What type of grooming tool are you using? Having the right tools can get the hair off of the cat but NOT into him and not on your floor/furniture. How are the cats for grooming?


it's almost identical to this one... a "slicker" brush, it's called. Bodhi (the puker and long-haired kitty) almost always LOVES to be brushed.  Siddha hates it but he doesn't get hairballs so I don't worry about him as much - he has short hair.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

I have a medium/long haired cat who gets hairballs. he doesn't like the hairball remedies I've tried so I just glob a fingerfull of vaseline in the top of his mouth a once a day for 3 days and then once a week or so for maintenance.

I brush him with a slicker too, but he still gets hairballs. Mostly in the summer it seems. And yes, he looooves being brushed and gets brushed frequently. (shrug)


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Beautiful cat, Copper's Mom<:


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I have found the blob of vaseline on the nose works great (and is much cheaper than the hairball remedy that is sold. The ingredient that helps the hairballs slide out the back end instead of being thrown up is........petroleum jelly---which is vaseline!!)

By the way, I did some cat food research recently and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul (dry) was raved about for having high quality ingredients and very low cost. 
My one cat can only eat the very expensive Evo dry kibble, but I am thinking of trying him on the Chicken Soup food to see if he can tolerate it (he throws up everything else I have tried except the Evo)


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

We too have a medium-haired cat. Hairball remedies did nothing. The best thing is a good brush (try a comb in addition to a slicker) and moisture in food. Oscar used to get hairballs all the time. When we switched to 80% wet-food (Go! Natural) he got them less than once every few months. He didn't like wet food at first either but we mixed his kibble into the wet food and didn't give him any other choice. Hunger eventually won and he now he looooves his wet food.

In addition, you will find that Iams and Whiskas and Fancy Feast invest a lot of energy into making their food taste good with flavour additives and salt. Cats often don't want to eat anything else after having been on these foods. There was an interesting study on this but I can't remember where I read it...cats and dogs will almost always prefer those foods to anything else. 

Also, is your cat indoor only? Regulating the temperature helps with hairballs as it keeps them from growing a big winter coat and then shedding it. 

Good luck! Hope you find something that helps.


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## firedancer722 (Apr 12, 2010)

THank you all for the tips!! I may try the vaseline thing and also try mixing more water in with the wet food in hopes he'll eat more of it. I'm also going to try increasing his brushing to every day instead of every 3-4 days. That shouldn't be too difficult. He is an inside only cat (both are) but he still gets a big "mane" around his neck every winter. He is a Maine **** after all. LOL


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## Chuck's Dad (Jan 24, 2009)

Hopping in here a little late but I hope this helps.

A friend of mine has a main **** as well that was having some really tough times with hairballs, a little more than the usual cat.
He took it to the University of Penn where the cat was diagnosed with some sort of disorder. (Pica, I think)

The vet told him to try the vaseline doses noted above. 
Not too sure of the amounts though or preferred treatment, so you might wants to call a vet and just ask.

Unfortunatly in the end he needed to start shaving him. Sounds weird but it turns out it was the only way he could give him a good enjoyable life.


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