Does anybody add extra fat to homemade food, be it cooked or raw? Has anybody ever found that fatty foods help prevent hairballs? Or that low-fat diets seem to help hairballs form?
Why I'm Asking. Edwina, who's always been something of a barfer (meaning I think of you, 1 bruce 1 , as well as Akeem, rather regularly!) has been having far more vomiting and hairball problems than ever this summer. Sure, she's getting older (motility declines!), she's pretty fluffy, and this has been a crazy summer weather-wise. But she vomited early in the morning (what a wake-up) multiple times last week, gacking up only liquid. At first I thought it was just hunger but then the lightbulb went on over my head on Friday morning and I gave her about 1cc of Vaseline, which she absolutely loved. That worked great: by Saturday morning there was lots of poop-covered hair in the litter box. She didn't barf again until today. She vomited up a small puddle this morning and barfed up a small hairball in the early afternoon despite regular brushing over the past week.
Is There a Hairball-Fat Connection? After today's hairball, I started thinking about what's different this summer. It's not just the hotter weather that might mean more shedding. We also switched one commercial meal a day to relatively hefty portion of Alnutrin, which means the cats now eat two homemade meals a day. Crucially: the vast majority of those meals are relatively low in fat. The meal that we took out of the rotation was turkey Primal: 23% fat, guaranteed analysis, so the cats' diet has seen a sizeable decrease in fat. By contrast, plain chicken breast has only 2g of fat per 112g of chicken! Yes, I make food with other meats but turkey is pretty lean and even much of the fattier pork I buy doesn't have tons of fat. Basically, the vast majority of the meat I'm using is far, far less than 23% fat by weight. So I wonder if fat in food helps a cat pass the fur.
Any Suggestions for Good Fat(s) to Add? I'd rather not keep feeding Vaseline (though Dr. Jean Hofve says she fed it to her cat every day for years!). More than an extra teaspoon of egg yolk a day makes Edwina gassy. And I'd rather not use a lot of pumpkin or other fiber (see above Hofve link) for a long time, either. I've looked casually at lard ingredients, wonder about schmaltz, and shake my head at camel hump fat, but am thinking about asking about extra fat (preferably not beef suet) at butcher counters. And I will definitely more really fatty pork chops! I guess ideally the fat would be rendered so it can melt/liquefy in the gut.
Anyway, I know I tend to go on and on so will stop there. Any suggestions, ideas, or tales of similar experiences would be most welcome! Thank you, cat colleagues!
Why I'm Asking. Edwina, who's always been something of a barfer (meaning I think of you, 1 bruce 1 , as well as Akeem, rather regularly!) has been having far more vomiting and hairball problems than ever this summer. Sure, she's getting older (motility declines!), she's pretty fluffy, and this has been a crazy summer weather-wise. But she vomited early in the morning (what a wake-up) multiple times last week, gacking up only liquid. At first I thought it was just hunger but then the lightbulb went on over my head on Friday morning and I gave her about 1cc of Vaseline, which she absolutely loved. That worked great: by Saturday morning there was lots of poop-covered hair in the litter box. She didn't barf again until today. She vomited up a small puddle this morning and barfed up a small hairball in the early afternoon despite regular brushing over the past week.
Is There a Hairball-Fat Connection? After today's hairball, I started thinking about what's different this summer. It's not just the hotter weather that might mean more shedding. We also switched one commercial meal a day to relatively hefty portion of Alnutrin, which means the cats now eat two homemade meals a day. Crucially: the vast majority of those meals are relatively low in fat. The meal that we took out of the rotation was turkey Primal: 23% fat, guaranteed analysis, so the cats' diet has seen a sizeable decrease in fat. By contrast, plain chicken breast has only 2g of fat per 112g of chicken! Yes, I make food with other meats but turkey is pretty lean and even much of the fattier pork I buy doesn't have tons of fat. Basically, the vast majority of the meat I'm using is far, far less than 23% fat by weight. So I wonder if fat in food helps a cat pass the fur.
Any Suggestions for Good Fat(s) to Add? I'd rather not keep feeding Vaseline (though Dr. Jean Hofve says she fed it to her cat every day for years!). More than an extra teaspoon of egg yolk a day makes Edwina gassy. And I'd rather not use a lot of pumpkin or other fiber (see above Hofve link) for a long time, either. I've looked casually at lard ingredients, wonder about schmaltz, and shake my head at camel hump fat, but am thinking about asking about extra fat (preferably not beef suet) at butcher counters. And I will definitely more really fatty pork chops! I guess ideally the fat would be rendered so it can melt/liquefy in the gut.
Anyway, I know I tend to go on and on so will stop there. Any suggestions, ideas, or tales of similar experiences would be most welcome! Thank you, cat colleagues!