Hairball Advice Please

[worriedsomuch]

My cat Grace was diagnosed with allergies over the summer, and ever since then she has become an excessive groomer. She even licked a patch of her stomach nearly bald. It was red and irritated too. She's been to the vet and she has been on steroids to try to help the allergies. When she's on them, she seems much better and will leave the spot alone. I am working with the vet to figure out what she is allergic to, although he thinks they are seasonal. I am also considering a cortisone shot for her. She has never been one to have hairballs. She'd experience the occasional cough (maybe like once a month, if that) and I'd give her a hairball treat and she was fine. Now since she has the grooming issues, she coughs once a week, probably. This is definitely a hairball cough too. I have a cat with asthma so I know the difference.

On Friday, she had a small fit of coughing and I didn't even give her anything as she was fine. However, yesterday, she had another one in the morning so I gave her the hairball treats. I started to get the vibe she didn't feel well and that she definitely had a hairball bothering her. She was eating okay, but not cleaning the plate like usual. Later in the afternoon, I caught her gulping and I know that is a big sign of hairball or nausea. Finally around 6:00 PM, she was resting on the bed, and she was licking her lips a lot. I started to have a sinking feeling since I know this is a sign of nausea too. She does sometimes lick her lips randomly so I was praying it was nothing. However, she stood up and let out another small cough. When I went back in the room, less than ten minutes later, there was a huge hairball she'd thrown up on my bed. There was a small one and then a much larger one with it. She threw up a tiny bit of food along with it, but it was basically hair. Needless to say I was beside myself. My other cat was an OCD groomer, frequently had bald spots all his life but nothing was ever found to be wrong with him. He threw up hairballs at least biweekly most of his life, until the end of his life when he was throwing up hairballs at least 3-5 times per week. He had intestinal lymphoma and I regret that I could have prevented it in some way.

I know now that frequent hairballs are not normal. However, should I be hitting the panic button with Grace just yet? I've read the article, the one that scares me to death and feel very frightened that she could be headed towards disease. I don't feed raw diet or anything either, probably just what is considered the "bad" cat food. It is what she likes though and I try not to give too much dry food either. Like I said, this was unusual for her. She is 5.5 years old and this is probably her third or fourth hairball she's ever had. It's just not what she does. However, she was never grooming herself like this before either. The vet will be calling me back later as I've already called him. She did seem to feel ill yesterday so I didn't feed her as much, wanting to settle her stomach. She was ravenous to eat this morning as a result. Her behavior is normal too, playing and jumping around. Any advice appreciated.

 

[ldg]

There's preventative steps you can take to stop the hairballs. :nod:

It's discussed in this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266178/...using-egg-yolk-lecithin-to-dissolve-hairballs

 

[worriedsomuch]

I checked out the thread and thank-you for linking it. I saw that you said you mix the wet food with a raw egg. Is this acceptable to prevent hairballs? Or is the egg lecithin necessary as well? I talked to the vet yesterday and he didn't seem too keen on doing anything about the hairball situation just yet or about supplements given my cat's allergies. He seemed to be a bit exasperated that I was so concerned about one hairball. As I said, she isn't one to get them a lot but I do want to prevent them in case it becomes an issue with her increased grooming. I do have another question. I know licking of the lips, gulping, drooling are all signs of nausea. I lost my other cat and he did this in addition to vomiting hairballs (until he vomited everything and wouldn't eat at all) and then unfortunately passed away. I'm just so traumatized by this that every time Grace licks her lips at all, I think it's a harbinger of doom and she's nauseous. She's eating fine and everything but this morning before I fed her, she did experience a few seconds of just licking her lips and swallowing. I also was surprised she didn't want any of my crumbs that she often likes to eat off the table. Do you think she's nauseous? If there is something wrong, I want to be sure I'm finding it out sooner, rather than later.

 

[ldg]

Well, it's hard to say. A little bit of nausea here and there isn't all that uncommon... it could be a hairball, it could be kitty is hungry and there's a little bit of bile build-up in her tummy...

But yes, lip-licking/smacking/drooling, sitting hunched up, often with head down... these can all be signs of nausea.

Do you know what she's allergic to?

For many cats, brushing with a furminator every few days, and feeding only timed meals can resolve the hairball problem. But if they need more than that, it really depends on the cat. You can definitely try the egg yolk. It doesn't have to be raw, it can be from a boiled egg, that won't impact it's function for this.

Eggs can be an allergy trigger... but again, they aren't always. I'd probably try it, and just keep a very close eye on her.

What form does her allergies take? Itching/scratching? For some reason, many cats "allergic" to chicken turn out not to be allergic to raw chicken - sometimes it needs to be either organic or at least vegetarian-fed chicken. I suspect that this has to do with the processing, or other ingredients in the food that we just don't know what it is. :dk: My point is that feeding just plain yolk that isn't processed is probably not the same kind of allergy risk (though I really don't know).

Anyway, sorry! In answer to your question, a TCS member in the UK had a kitty with bad hairball problems, and they don't have egg yolk lecithin available as a supplement there. So she used only egg yolks. At first her cat needed 3 a week to stop the hairball problem. I don't think she needs to give that much all the time. It is best to start small, add more (though I wouldn't feed more than 3 a week) as necessary, and then scale back when things settle down.

The supplement egg yolk lecithin primarily helps with keeping fat digested, breaking up existing hairballs and helping prevent them by not allowing fat to get bound up with their hair, which is what forms the hairball. The egg yolk does the same thing - just not in as "concentrated" a format - but it provides improved GI motility. So for some kitties, the egg yolk(s) alone will be all that's needed.

 

[worriedsomuch]

Sorry I never replied to say thank you for all the wonderful advice! Purraise to you! I'm not sure what my cat is allergic to. The vet thinks it's potentially seasonal but we are considering the food trial first. However, the hypo allergenic food is so expensive. At the vet office, a small bag was around 50 dollars and the cans were around 3 dollars each. Hopefully I can find it somewhere else for a cheaper amount. Her allergies take the form of itching, ear infections, and excessive grooming.

She has not had a hairball since the last time that I know of so I didn't try the egg yet. However, last night, my other cat who is almost 10 seems to be the one who threw one up. She's not an excessive groomer and has hairballs around once a month. She was once a feral and she spends a large amount of time under the bed. She's timid but has her affectionate moments. I did wonder if Grace had thrown up the hairball when I found it because it was gray and she is gray. However, my other cat is a deep brown/black color but she has sort of a grayish undercoat. Her hair is VERY thick, medium length. I found the hairball under the bed and I can narrow it down to her or Grace but I'm leaning towards her. I had some company over yesterday, and coupled with the trick or treaters, she was VERY nervous. She ended up retreating to under the couch. She also didn't want to come out and eat her dinner with the people around, which is normal for her. However, once everyone had gone and people stopped knocking at the door, she scurried out from under the couch and she was awfully nauseous. I was so frightened for her! She was smacking her lips and gulping continuously. I thought she had ingested something at first. Do you think this was a hunger type nausea? She had thrown up some food (with the hairball if it was her) and she hadn't eaten at her scheduled time. I gave her food twice after this and she was fine, no vomit this morning, also no look of nausea from her. This behavior greatly concerns me though because of my other cat with lymphoma. He had bouts of nausea and it would always pass after eating, but I wonder if it was the beginnings of his illness. I guess all I can do is keep a close eye on her but it's all been very stressful.

 

[worriedsomuch]

I forgot to add something. I would have edited this in but I can't??? She also was pawing at her mouth briefly which was why I thought she'd ingested something, like something guests had left around. Her teeth seemed fine, from what I understand, although it's awful hard to check her because she is so timid. Can that be a sign of nausea too? She wasn't drooling so I don't think she was wiping drool off or anything like that. Could she have had a nervous stomach?