Is hairball control cat food safe?

sparkymema

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My cat has been groom excessively lately, and I think it's because of spring coming around. I checked for flees which he had none since he's an indoor only cat. I just have been noticing that he vomits bile while I'm asleep, 25% of the time when I look at his puke there's a hairball, and that is what is making me want to get some hairball control cat food. I just wanted to make sure that it's safe because I would also be feeding it to my other two cats which don't have hairball problems at the moment, and I know certain foods like this have side effects.

If it is safe what kind should I get? The only pet food store around here other than the vet is chuck and dons which I really do like.
 

LTS3

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Hairball food just has extra fiber in it. It doesn't harm cats at all. Instead of hairball food, which is pretty unhealthy, try hairball gel or a more natural way to eliminate hairballs such as raw egg yolk or egg yolk lecithin powder.

 

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Brushing your cat everyday will cut back on hairball problems. It's also good for their skin and coat.
 

LTS3

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Those hairball chews are fine. If your cat decides that they're yucky, you can try a different brand of hairball chew or gel.
 

Lazy Orange House Cat

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Hairball diets have extra fibre which is supposed to help pull the fur through the cat's system and out the other end, the way its supposed to go. The one exception to this, and this was many years ago now, was, I believe, Nutrience, which contained a component of pineapple which was supposed to disolove the hairball or some such thing. Might have been Nutram, but I think it was Nutrience.
Brushing your cat regularly and then administering a hairball remedy, like Tomlyn, for example, will help. After you brush the cat, you'll notice that they will usually go and groom themselves, thus consuming any fur that was loosened but not removed, which is why administering hairball remedy after brushing is ideal.
 

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My cat has been groom excessively lately, and I think it's because of spring coming around. I checked for flees which he had none since he's an indoor only cat. I just have been noticing that he vomits bile while I'm asleep, 25% of the time when I look at his puke there's a hairball, and that is what is making me want to get some hairball control cat food. I just wanted to make sure that it's safe because I would also be feeding it to my other two cats which don't have hairball problems at the moment, and I know certain foods like this have side effects.

If it is safe what kind should I get? The only pet food store around here other than the vet is chuck and dons which I really do like.
There are timers for canned food. It will help with his nightly throw up. After brushing, wipe with a warm cloth. There are also laxatives that have omega 3s. Get some tiki sticks or churu tubes, almost 90% water. Extra water bowls or a fountain
 

noani

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I give mine malt paste - they can lick it out of the tube and it helps tremendously. They love it like crazy so it's their special bedtime treat. I don't give it every day though, I also use another type by the same brand.

They also make little treats called grassbits. They also have malt tabs but I only use them occasionally.

One of mine tends to get hairballs more than the other. His fur is thicker and more dense. I brush them almost daily. Sometimes if I slack or during shedding season he still gets episodes of retching. A bit of extra malt paste and some malt tabs and gras bits sort him out overnight without fail.

They are made in Germany by gimcat, and I know they are available in Europe. Not sure about where you are but you could look into them.

Mine won't go near any of the natural remedies (egg yolk, mixing fibre rich things in, etc). I don't feed much kibble (very little) but I use ND Prime pumpkin for sterilised cats. The one with less hairballs eats more kibble than the other (he is much more energetic so sometimes he gets a bit of kibble for a lunchtime snack). That might be helping too.
 

daftcat75

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Digestive enzymes can also help with hairballs. I like Optagest. It's a flavorless powder so it's pretty easy to mix with food. I got a pretty dramatic reminder last week just how much the Optagest was helping Betty White when I took her off them to try a probiotic: biggest hairball I've seen from a cat and it wrecked her tummy all day. 😿 Not going to skip the digestive enzymes anymore.
 

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sparkymema sparkymema does your cat possibly have bilious vomiting syndrome? One of my cats is prone to this and, as a separate issue, also has weather-related hairballs. But they're separate issues and may need separate treatments.

Vomiting with Bile in Cats | PetMD

Treating Bilious Vomiting Syndrome in Cats | Vomiting in an Empty Stomach in Cats | PetMD

There are several options for managing hairballs as others have mentioned here. One that I'll mention is to temporarily use hairball control foods until springtime shedding improves (maybe it doesn't even need to be 100% of his diet, just a little could help). This is what we've resorted to after trying several healthier options that didn't work very well. However, I DEFINITELY recommend trying everyone else's suggestions before switching to a hairball food! But we've tried routines of brushing, hairball gels, herbal supplements and fiber tablets. They reduced hairballs, but not by enough and my cat still felt blah for a day or two after each one.

We're currently using Hill's Adult Hairball Control Light, and while the ingredients are rubbish, we haven't had a single hairball since starting it. I'm okay with this option for right now because 1) his hairballs are only an issue twice a year, for a few weeks at a time and 2) it's only 15% of his diet. He eats 85% wet food and 15% dry food, so we swapped all of his usual dry for the hairball control food. I expect another week or two of this (I'll watch for his shedding to decrease) and then we'll switch back to his regular dry food.
 

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I just wrote a post on another thread and mentioned Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets, which have really been helping our cat who seems to have a similar problem to yours sparkymema sparkymema . Edwina has hair problems plus the bilious vomiting syndrome that Astragal14 Astragal14 mentions. The slippery elm bark (which she also gets separately, in very small amounts of "gruel" several times a day) and marshmallow root in the tablets probably help limit the acid/bilious vomiting and nausea by soothing and calming her stomach. She also gets brushed a lot. Plus we add egg yolk and small amounts of pumpkin to some of her meals. Some of the cats' (commercial raw) foods already have fiber in them. It has taken us a long time to find a combination of things that work. I'm just crossing my fingers that the current combination will continue to help!

Here's the post on the other thread thread: Need advice! Limited ingredient suggestions

The ingredients in the tablets work for her but of course every cat is different. (The ingredients in the chews wouldn't work for Edwina since there's potato, which... makes her barf!)

Good luck! It can take a fair bit of time to figure out a successful way to handle all this. Beyond diet and supplements, there's also the option of motility drugs, something our vet has offered. I'd like to avoid that unless/until I absolutely need to use them to help Edwina pass the fur.
 

daftcat75

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I just wrote a post on another thread and mentioned Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets, which have really been helping our cat who seems to have a similar problem to yours sparkymema sparkymema . Edwina has hair problems plus the bilious vomiting syndrome that Astragal14 Astragal14 mentions. The slippery elm bark (which she also gets separately, in very small amounts of "gruel" several times a day) and marshmallow root in the tablets probably help limit the acid/bilious vomiting and nausea by soothing and calming her stomach. She also gets brushed a lot. Plus we add egg yolk and small amounts of pumpkin to some of her meals. Some of the cats' (commercial raw) foods already have fiber in them. It has taken us a long time to find a combination of things that work. I'm just crossing my fingers that the current combination will continue to help!

Here's the post on the other thread thread: Need advice! Limited ingredient suggestions

The ingredients in the tablets work for her but of course every cat is different. (The ingredients in the chews wouldn't work for Edwina since there's potato, which... makes her barf!)

Good luck! It can take a fair bit of time to figure out a successful way to handle all this. Beyond diet and supplements, there's also the option of motility drugs, something our vet has offered. I'd like to avoid that unless/until I absolutely need to use them to help Edwina pass the fur.
How do you administer the slippery elm gruel and how do you know when to give it? Do you give it proactively more or less on a schedule or are there nausea symptoms you clue in on? I can’t tell anymore if Betty still has nausea or just a stomach that’s quick to fill and slow to empty. She’s going in for an ultrasound on Monday. I suspect an endoscopy and perhaps even a barium study may be in her future. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔
 

lisahe

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How do you administer the slippery elm gruel and how do you know when to give it? Do you give it proactively more or less on a schedule or are there nausea symptoms you clue in on? I can’t tell anymore if Betty still has nausea or just a stomach that’s quick to fill and slow to empty. She’s going in for an ultrasound on Monday. I suspect an endoscopy and perhaps even a barium study may be in her future. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔
I basically follow the advice in this post from Dr. Jean Hofve: Slippery Elm | Little Big Cat
I make the syrup/gruel with 1/2 C water and 1/2 tsp of SEB powder and cook as the recipe suggests.

The hardest part is what you ask: How to know when to use it? I use it on a schedule (currently three or four times a day 1/2 tsp for some 1 tsp for others, topping it with plenty freeze-dried chicken, feeding it before meals) in part because even after all these years, it's still difficult to know if Edwina's hungry or not feeling right. I've reduced the SEB because her symptoms seem to have gone away. I'm planning to reduce more in the coming days; we'll see how that goes. (It makes me nervous to even try, particularly since she enjoys the SEB! She didn't initially like the anti-hairball tablets but now that she'll eat them on her food, I feel like I can cut back more on the SEB syrup since there's SEB in the tablets.) What's complicated is that her behavior can be different, depending on what's bothering her. As you know, many things can bother her, though the hair problems are the most mysterious... she's also been insecure about her food ever since we adopted her, which stresses her.

The easiest part of SEB is that if the cat eats it (Edwina loves it), you'll know immediately if it helps. I started her on it over a weekend: I'd wanted to bring Edwina to the vet but they were booked up with real emergencies on their short day. Edwina wasn't so sick that she needed the emergency vet so I went to buy SEB and started using it. And she ate a small meal shortly after her first SEB snack. I'd known of SEB for years because our previous cat who had IBD but had never tried it.

Good luck with the SEB if you try it and here's wishing all the best for the appointment on Monday.
 

Astragal14

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How do you administer the slippery elm gruel and how do you know when to give it? Do you give it proactively more or less on a schedule or are there nausea symptoms you clue in on? I can’t tell anymore if Betty still has nausea or just a stomach that’s quick to fill and slow to empty. She’s going in for an ultrasound on Monday. I suspect an endoscopy and perhaps even a barium study may be in her future. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔
Do not give slippery elm 2 hours before or 2 hours after any other medication or supplement, as it will inhibit absorption. It can be given with other supplements that share it's demulcent or emollient properties, such as psyllium fiber or marshmallow root.

We use Animal Essentials Slippery Elm, I am way to nervous about making my own. This specific brand was recommended to us by a veterinary nutritionist. We've been using it for years and absolutely love it!
Slippery Elm

As for when/how often to administer it... we mix it into his wet food daily because one of my cats has IBD and is also prone to bilious vomiting syndrome. Slippery elm helps with each of those conditions. It will help Betty if her nausea is caused by BVS/stomach acid; she'll likely need something else if it's not. We add other supplements that specifically target nausea when our IBD kitty seems nauseated and make sure to avoid the slippery elm by 2 hours. We give him Animal Essentials Daily Digestion for mild cases and try to give him Animal Essentials Colon Rescue for moderate cases, but he really really hates both the powder and liquid form of Colon Rescue.

Daily Digestion
Colon Rescue (liquid version)

Another thing we do to help with nausea caused by stomach acid is to give our cat freeze dried chicken hearts. The size makes him chew a lot, which creates saliva that helps soothe stomach acid. He likes the ones from Small Batch Pets, Vital Essentials and Stella & Chewy's, but quality has varied wildly during the pandemic so we always have at least two brands on hand.
 

lisahe

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I'm glad you mentioned the possible absorption issue with SEB, Astragal14 Astragal14 , I forgot all about that since it's not an issue for Edwina.

That reminds me, though, that apparently some cats get constipated if they ingest too much SEB. (It's sort of like pumpkin: it can work both ways.) If you do try SEB, daftcat75 daftcat75 , you might want to watch for that.

I was nervous, too, about making SEB syrup/gruel... but I had to do it and mixing up a new batch is just part of the weekly routine. (Though it's easy to make, that's another reason I'd like to just switch Edwina over to just the tablets...)

Astragal14, I forgot to mention ages ago that I did buy chicken hearts! I bought Purpose's on Chewy and they're kind of disgusting because of all the fat. I'm sure that's why the cats love them so much, though. I don't actually use them as a night snack (some of them are absolutely huge!) but I chop them up and use them as a topper or mix them into certain foods the cats aren't enthusiastic about. Thank you for the recommendation!
 
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sparkymema

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I always forget to post updates. He is doing much better now, I ended up going with some hairball control food which they pointed their noses up at and took forever to eat. I just sprinkle a small handful into their liked food every morning and no more hairballs so far.
 
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