OK, Sateycat gets an actual hairball about once a year, but he vomits up food (only food, no hair or bile) quite a bit, and I've read that this could be due to hairballs also. So after I woke up to the longest pile of kitty-food-puke on my floor the other day I decided to start a regimen of hairball remedy.
Now, in the past Satey would eat a full dose off my finger, so I figured I'd have no problem, right? Wrong. He refuses to take the stuff from me. I tried to wipe it onto the roof of his mouth, but he spit it out. So I tried what I'd read in another thread, and put the dose on a saucer. He sniffed at it but refused to eat it. So I took the dose and wiped it onto some of his food. This is the first time I have ever seen my cat refuse to eat his food! I held out for as long as I could, and when he didn't eat it, I washed out his bowl and got him fresh food. Then I waited for him to settle down to nosh, when I got a dose of the hairball remedy and wiped it on his front paws. He took off running, shaking the crap all over my walls and furniture, jumped onto my bed (making a mess in the process), but refused to lick it off his paws! I tried one more time, smearing the stuff a little better, then set him in the bathroom. After 10 minutes I went to check on him, and he still hadn't licked it off.
The stuff I have is just some Hartz Hairball Remedy from the grocery store, so I was wondering if there was a more palatable hairball remedy out there that you've had no problem giving to your cat. Perhaps there are even home remedies such as olive oil or something that I may be able to give him with a syringe. Or maybe I should be looking into other reasons for the vomiting, and nix the hairball theory altogether?
Thanks for any advice you may have for me!
Now, in the past Satey would eat a full dose off my finger, so I figured I'd have no problem, right? Wrong. He refuses to take the stuff from me. I tried to wipe it onto the roof of his mouth, but he spit it out. So I tried what I'd read in another thread, and put the dose on a saucer. He sniffed at it but refused to eat it. So I took the dose and wiped it onto some of his food. This is the first time I have ever seen my cat refuse to eat his food! I held out for as long as I could, and when he didn't eat it, I washed out his bowl and got him fresh food. Then I waited for him to settle down to nosh, when I got a dose of the hairball remedy and wiped it on his front paws. He took off running, shaking the crap all over my walls and furniture, jumped onto my bed (making a mess in the process), but refused to lick it off his paws! I tried one more time, smearing the stuff a little better, then set him in the bathroom. After 10 minutes I went to check on him, and he still hadn't licked it off.
The stuff I have is just some Hartz Hairball Remedy from the grocery store, so I was wondering if there was a more palatable hairball remedy out there that you've had no problem giving to your cat. Perhaps there are even home remedies such as olive oil or something that I may be able to give him with a syringe. Or maybe I should be looking into other reasons for the vomiting, and nix the hairball theory altogether?
Thanks for any advice you may have for me!