Hairball as an intestinal blockage

[kumitekat]

So, my cats are long and medium haired. I do lots of things to prevent hairballs, and my cats very rarely have one. But I noticed the long haired one passes hair in her stool. Her stool appears as if it is covered with white and grey fuzz.  I kind of think this is a good thing and am not too worried about it, but I have recently been reading about the possibility of a hairball creating an intestinal blockage and causing problems.

Has anybody had this happen? I want to know what signs to look for and if it is rare, or common, or what?

 

[violet]

Info I believe will be helpful to you.

http://consciouscat.net/2010/04/28/some-startling-new-thoughts-on-cats-and-hairballs/

http://consciouscat.net/2012/04/26/when-hairballs-are-more-than-just-hairballs/

 

[ilovemia]

Mia passes lots of hair in her stool too. I've never given her anything for it though.

 

[white shadow]

.....I do lots of things to prevent hairballs...But...Her stool appears as if it is covered with white and grey fuzz...

First off, if this happened to me, I'd be wanting to do much more on the prevention front, specifically by removing much more loose hair (by combing) than I was previously.

Does hair cause intestinal obstruction? It can:

Large hairballs which manage to go down the wrong way, the long way, can result in an inflamed or impacted small intestine. Even small hairballs can be difficult to inch along. Formed hairballs are better thrown up on the carpet rather than risk that long journey. While the digestive tract evolved in concert with cats eating furry prey, that fur was consumed with and attached to food. Shed hair ingested during grooming can ball up in the stomach like a load of shoelaces in a washing machine, accumulate and grow too large to pass through the pyloric sphincter. http://www.felineconstipation.org/whatgoeswrong.html  3/4 down page

If you Google "intestinal blockage in cats" you'll get several reputable site hits (petmd, pets.vetmd, vpi insurance and the Merck Vet Manual) which describe the symptoms and the effects of a 'foreign body' obstruction. A hairball obstruction would eventually produce similar symptoms but not some of the damaging effects of 'foreign objects'.

 

[kumitekat]

Info I believe will be helpful to you.

http://consciouscat.net/2010/04/28/some-startling-new-thoughts-on-cats-and-hairballs/

http://consciouscat.net/2012/04/26/when-hairballs-are-more-than-just-hairballs/

These are great articles, thanks! I have also wondered about everyone saying that brushing is the only way to stop hairballs. (see the first article) I have always thought that it doesn't really make any sense because it wouldn't happen in the wild. I just do it because my cat loves it. If anyone has any articles specifically about hairballs and why they sometimes cause intestinal blockages that would be helpful too. I am pretty much doing the right things according to these articles. I also think that playing with my indoor kitties daily keeps them exercised and helps keep them regular. 

My long haired cat used to have a hairball about once a week, or every other week when she lived with just my boyfriend. Once I moved in, I changed her diet, got her a companion kitty and started regular play times. Now she never has a hairball. It just passes in her stool. According to the first article, above, having a hairball can be a bad sign. So I am elated to find out that we are doing things right! Now I am just worried that because she is passing the hair in her stool instead, what signs do I look for that it might be getting caught in her intestines? And I am looking for any early warning signs. It will be obvious if she becomes lethargic and stops eating and coughing and whatnot.

Or maybe there aren't any early warning signs....

 

[kumitekat]

First off, if this happened to me, I'd be wanting to do much more on the prevention front, specifically by removing much more loose hair (by combing) than I was previously.

Does hair cause intestinal obstruction? It can:

If you Google "intestinal blockage in cats" you'll get several reputable site hits (petmd, pets.vetmd, vpi insurance and the Merck Vet Manual) which describe the symptoms and the effects of a 'foreign body' obstruction. A hairball obstruction would eventually produce similar symptoms but not some of the damaging effects of 'foreign objects'.

I did a Google search already for intestinal blockages. Mostly I found the information to be stuff I was already aware of, like watching for changes in behavior, not eating, etc. These things are all obvious to me. I am concerned that once it gets there it may be too late and wanted to check here to see if anyone had actually experienced this and could offer advice on any early warning signs. And there may not be any early warning signs, but I though it wouldn't hurt to see....

 

[orientalslave]

Brushing doesn't really help as the brush simply goes over the top of the coat.  Combing with a metal comb is the best say to get out all the lose fur.  The other thing that works well is a slicker brush, which is not a brush in the normal sense of the word.

 

[carolina]

Lucky had a hairball blockage.
The signs/symptoms are exactly those of a foreign body blockage - projectile vomiting when eating the slightest thing; she couldn't even eat a treat and she would projectile vomit violently. Projectile vomiting with water. No signs of fever or illness. This lasted for the entire day - on the third meal I ran with her to the vet to get her "unblocked".
They gave her an enema, fluids, lots of laxatone, told me to give her pumpkin while force-feeding (she went off-food, and I had to syringe feed her for a good 4-5 days).

Lucky had a lot of hairball problems when she was eating dry food, even while on a hairball formula. A sign that she was having a flare was her appetite started getting low - that was time for the vaseline to come out.

After changing her diet, she has improved tremendously. I am also giving the egg lecithin. 1/2 capsule of egg lecithin 2x a week has been enough to keep the hairballs at bay here :nod:
Egg lecithin emulsifies the fat that binds the hairball tightly together, so they just easily pass through the digestive system.... It's quite nutritious as well.... and they love it :nod:

Anyways, hope this helps a bit

 

[kumitekat]

Lucky had a hairball blockage.
The signs/symptoms are exactly those of a foreign body blockage - projectile vomiting when eating the slightest thing; she couldn't even eat a treat and she would projectile vomit violently. Projectile vomiting with water. No signs of fever or illness. This lasted for the entire day - on the third meal I ran with her to the vet to get her "unblocked".
They gave her an enema, fluids, lots of laxatone, told me to give her pumpkin while force-feeding (she went off-food, and I had to syringe feed her for a good 4-5 days).
Lucky had a lot of hairball problems when she was eating dry food, even while on a hairball formula. A sign that she was having a flare was her appetite started getting low - that was time for the vaseline to come out.
After changing her diet, she has improved tremendously. I am also giving the egg lecithin. 1/2 capsule of egg lecithin 2x a week has been enough to keep the hairballs at bay here

Egg lecithin emulsifies the fat that binds the hairball tightly together, so they just easily pass through the digestive system.... It's quite nutritious as well.... and they love it

Anyways, hope this helps a bit

Thanks! Yes, this is really great!

 

[mrblanche]

There's one thing in those articles that I disagree with.  The cat's digestive tract is probably set up to handle normal hair, but long hair is a mutation that might not be "normal" enough to be handled normally.
 

 

[violet]

I think I really have to I agree with you on this, but here is my experience anyway. Two of our short haired cats never, ever had a hairball, not even one, in their entire lives. (They also didn't have any digestive problems.)

Bernie was also a short haired cat. He had IBD. He never, ever had any real hair balls but whenever he threw up, there was always hair in there. Just hair. When I asked our vet about this she told me the hair I kept seeing was a sign of an irritated stomach. Made sense. To make a long story short, in spite of treatment, a most careful diet, etc, this poor cat eventually died of lymphoma.

One more story. A dear friend had a terrible time with her baby and his hair balls. One time he had to have surgery to remove one causing a blockage to save his life. (He was also a short haired cat.) In the end this poor kitty also died of lymphoma.

The articles linking hair balls to more serious health problems had not been written in those days yet so we had no idea there could be a connection. We were just on a continuous guilt trip blaming ourselves for not doing "the right thing" to help our babies with their problems.

Fast forward to the present. A few months ago she found a web site telling the story of a kitty who had developed lymphoma on a very healthy raw diet. (The kind of diet, I guess,  cats would have if they were on their own.)  She sent me the link. I still can't find words to express how shocked I was when I read that story. I still keep saying this kind of thing should not happen. It just shouldn't.

Anyway, Iris' story is an incredible one, so I'm including the link for you in case you want to look at it

http://auld-louie.net/?p=63

 

[carolina]

.
 
Fast forward to the present. A few months ago she found a web site telling the story of a kitty who had developed lymphoma on a very healthy raw diet. (The kind of diet, I guess,  cats would have if they were on their own.)  She sent me the link. I still can't find words to express how shocked I was when I read that story. I still keep saying this kind of thing should not happen. It just shouldn't.
 
Anyway, Iris' story is an incredible one, so I'm including the link for you in case you want to look at it
http://auld-louie.net/?p=63

Not so shocking for me actually.....kitty was not with her her entire life, and was vaccinated for Felv 3 times prior, in addition to a very unhealthy diet as well :

We have never had a pet with cancer before, and with our pets being on such an excellent diet (raw food), the question arises, why did Iris get cancer? So, I dug out her old medical records from her previous owner, and saw that she had been vaccinated 3 times (once each year) for the feline leukemia virus. We have only had Iris since August 2007; prior to that she was in two foster homes for a year and then owned by a vet tech before that. So we are seeing the consequences now of her previous poor diet and over-vaccination. When I looked up feline leukemia on the Internet, I learned that the leukemia virus causes lymphoma in cats. So, it is not too much of a stretch to think that the leukemia vaccine could also cause lymphoma in some cats.

 

[violet]

True, something to really think about.

However....... my Bernie and my dear friend's baby had never received any unnecessary vaccinations,  such as vaccination for FeLV, etc. .

People blame vaccinations. And anything and everything that can be blamed. Holistic vets have written a lot about the horrific side effects of vaccinations. All true, very important info.

Still, I always go back to this article when I look for something real to blame

http://www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html

This is the only info that makes any sense to me. Why? Because even conventional vets stop vaccinating for this when cats develop very serious problems from IBD.

At a very young age  this vaccination is mandatory.for cats.  And then they get vaccinated again and again........... Until they reach a certain age when the new protocol kicks in......And for some cats, it's reasonable to believe that, by that time it's too late.     

 

[carolina]

True, something to really think about.
 
However....... my Bernie and my dear friend's baby had never received any unnecessary vaccinations,  such as vaccination for FeLV, etc. .
 
People blame vaccinations. And anything and everything that can be blamed. Holistic vets have written a lot about the horrific side effects of vaccinations. All true, very important info.
 
Still, I always go back to this article when I look for something real to blame
http://www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html
 
This is the only info that makes any sense to me. Why? Because even conventional vets stop vaccinating for this when cats develop very serious problems from IBD.
 
At a very young age  this vaccination is mandatory.for cats.  And then they get vaccinated again and again........... Until they reach a certain age when the new protocol kicks in......And for some cats, it's reasonable to believe that, by that time it's too late.     
 
 
 
 
 

very very sad :disa: