Let's say "NO" to Vaseline

[carolina]

Wow, wow, wow! It is so interesting to see these threads coming back after so many years.... And so many changes!
Well, I do use egg lecithin and SEB. I am afraid for my very furry 4 Long hair cats, that's not enough during hairball season..... So.... I DO use Vaseline. And that's the solution my vet and I found together for Bugsy, who can't have Laxatone (gives him bad diarrhea).
Frankly, IMHO, between the two of them I rather give Vaseline any day. I do not like all the extra junk in Laxatone.
The only reason the other cats get it is because they will eat on their own, and Vaseline needs to be syringe fed. That becomes an issue for Mac, and also I rely on sitters- Bugsy is pretty easy, The others are not.
I have had pretty significant hairball problems- Bugsy and Lucky are known to get blocked and when that happens they will not get any nutrition. They throw up everything they eat....
Had I had a choice of going without it I would.... But Even after daily egg lecithin and SEB every other day, came this spring Lucky and Bugsy still got into hairball trouble....
Here is the thing: their digestion is NOT normal. Bugsy has IBD and Lucky always had issues, although she wasn't diagnosed.
For a "normal" cat SEB and lecithin seems to be an excellent answer.

 

[otto]

Jennie of course takes pumpkin too, along with the egg yolk lecithin, for Queen Eva the half capsule of egg yolk lecithin every other day seems to be enough, but she is the only one of my cats who started on a good diet since she was 8 weeks old. Jennie was 2 when she came to me and who knows what she was eating before that, and then she ate what I thought was good canned foods until I found out how bad carrageenan is.

Mazy has very serious problems with hair balls. She takes one capsule of egg yolk lecithin a day (spit between two meals) and I've increased her raw egg yolk to 1/2 of a large yolk (.35 oz) four times a week to help with motility. She is getting SEB 2-3 times a week. Time will tell if this regimen is going to be enough for her. Her digestion was ruined from 6 1/2 years on a horrible "prescription" food and I don't know if it will ever be right, but on we go.

While I don't doubt your ability Carolina, I would not recommend most people use a syringe to administer petroleum products. Aspiration is a real possibility and once that stuff gets in the lungs, it stays there. Pneumonia is the result.

Most laxatone products contain corn syrup, so any cat sensitive to corn should not have them. Read the labels! I once asked my vet about using vaseline (when I was still using petroleum hairball remedies) because I wanted to get away from the "other ingredients" but she spoke against it, saying vaseline products are not meant for consumption, whereas the petroleum products used in hairball remedies are. Everyone has to do what works best for them, however I will continue to warn people away from using petroleum products of any kind in their cats. The stuff is just toxic.

 

[carolina]

Jennie of course takes pumpkin too, along with the egg yolk lecithin, for Queen Eva the half capsule of egg yolk lecithin every other day seems to be enough, but she is the only one of my cats who started on a good diet since she was 8 weeks old.

Mazy has very serious problems with hair balls. She takes one capsule of egg yolk lecithin a day (spit between two meals) and I've increased her raw egg yolk to 1/2 of a large yolk (.35 oz) four times a week to help with motility. She is getting SEB 2-3 times a week. Time will tell if this regimen is going to be enough for her. Her digestion was ruined and I don't know if it will ever be right, but on we go.

While I don't doubt your ability Carolina, I would not recommend most people use a syringe to administer petroleum products. Aspiration is a real possibility and once that stuff gets in the lungs, it stays there. Pneumonia is the result.

Most laxatone products contain corn syrup, so any cat sensitive to corn should not have them. Everyone has to do what works best for them, however I will continue to warn people away from using petroleum products of any kind in their cats. The stuff is just toxic.

Point taken Gail. I have complete control of Bugsy and know VERY well how to syringe Vaseline on his mouth he lets me place on the roof of his mouth, and licks it off). However I do think it is best for me only to do it, not the sitters.

 

[feralvr]

Wow, wow, wow! It is so interesting to see these threads coming back after so many years.... And so many changes!
Well, I do use egg lecithin and SEB. I am afraid for my very furry 4 Long hair cats, that's not enough during hairball season..... So.... I DO use Vaseline. And that's the solution my vet and I found together for Bugsy, who can't have Laxatone (gives him bad diarrhea).
Frankly, IMHO, between the two of them I rather give Vaseline any day. I do not like all the extra junk in Laxatone.
The only reason the other cats get it is because they will eat on their own, and Vaseline needs to be syringe fed. That becomes an issue for Mac, and also I rely on sitters- Bugsy is pretty easy, The others are not.
.

Funny thing.... Dr. Mark recommended Vaseline as well when I was using him before we moved. I remember you telling me about using Vaseline for my kitties. Pipsqueak LOVES Vaseline and would readily lick right off my finger. I have not had to use Vaseline this year though. I have absolutely no hairball problems with my cats. I did give them all a shorter haircut in February. I used to be a groomer and my kitties and my dogs are used to me going after them with the clippers. Heck, even Henry (JRT) sports a Mohawk. :lol3: Anyway, no one has puked up any hair this season. YIKES, had better add in some of these :cross: :cross: :cross: ara2:

 

[franksmom]

Just realized the Live Clean non-petroleum jelly I mentioned above is not available in the US, but here is one of many I found on amazon (). The ingredients seem fine so it might be worth asking your vet if you can use something like this instead or trying the homemade recipe I posted above. 

 

[carolina]

I'm using this Slippery Elm Bark (SEB) product for Mazy cat


All three of them get egg yolk lecithin in varying doses.

This is the same SEB I feed also :nod:

 

[otto]

This is the same SEB I feed also :nod:

Yep, I chose it on your recommendation.

 

[carolina]

Ok...... another update to the ever-changing hairball "treatment-of-choice" in my house.
After a few weeks using petroleum based meds - Vaseline for Lucky and Bugsy, Laxatone for Hope and Mac, in addition to Egg Lecithin and SEB, there was a significant improvement and I decided to drop the petroleum to see what happens.
To do so, I doubled the Egg Lecithin - they are now getting 2 capsules a day - one in the am, and one in the late night meal - in addition the SEB several times a week.

So far so good - no hacking, no hairballs, no throwing up. Hopefully they will keep it up :cross:

My intention is to go back to 1 cap./ day of egg lecithing after September.

I will keep this thread updated!

 

[ldg]

Yep, that's what I'm doing for the three boys that seem to have the worst issues: 1 capsule of egg yolk lecithin in the morning, and one at the late night meal.

 

[carolina]

Well....... Seems that it is too much and too little...... Too much Egg Lecithin is giving them ALL the runs

full-of-crap.gif

• carolina
• May 21, 2013

, and by too little I mean that I am afraid it is not working on its own for their big hairball issues. Lucky threw up a big one today...... along with her entire breakfast.

vomit.gif

• carolina
• May 21, 2013

So....... I will adjust it accordingly.... I didn't give it tonight, might not give it tomorrow. Will go back to once a day before I figure out what to do

 

[carolina]

Lucky has been having problems for the last few days - she is dealing with a kind of a blockage..... has thrown up several meals. Today she goes back to Vaseline, unfortunately. She stopped throwing up last night when I put her on Reglan - has been on it ever since. I always have it on hands.
Hope still has diarrhea from too much Egg lecithin, but is getting better. I have diagel arriving tomorrow. My last ones went to Bugsy and Lucky......

Both of them are seeing Dr. E tomorrow.

Can I say I HATE HAIRBALLS? :wife:

 

[bop2here]

I turn 70 years old tomorrow July 20. About 35 years ago I was having bad stomach pains, and many days I would leave work early because I was too sick to work. I went to see the Dr. he said I had an inflamed stomach which could lead to an ulcer. I was put on several prescription meds. that did not work. One day I was about to leave the job, and a elderly lady that work with me, asked why do you leave work so much. I explained to her what was with my stomach, and she began to tell me about her husband who once had a bleeding ulcer, and started swallowing a tablespoon of Vaseline every day and he was healed. At first I thought she was crazy, but at that time in my life I was in so much pain I would try anything so I tried it and it worked. I was a heavy drinker so I stuck with the vaseline for about fifteen years with no side effects.I thought it might clog my arteries but at this age i have no plack in my arteries. So is there something  in vaseline that wasn't there 35 years ago.

 

[sarah ann]

 I think vaseline is safe if used with caution. I wouldn't want to feed it every day or for prolonged periods.

I have horses and if they colic, you treat them with mineral oil. If it comes between saving the animals life and tubing them full of mineral oil, most people will pick the mineral oil. Considering the amount of sand where I live, using mineral oil with psyllium helps prevent their intestines from getting clogged up with sand. Again, possibly saving their life.  Cancer isn't very common in horses though.

Otto- I am sorry you lost you cat to cancer.  Unfortunately motility problems are a symptom of cancer (or even pre-cancer). I would not assume it was just due to the mineral oil alone.

Another reason for vomiting that can be confused with hairballs in feline asthma. I have one cat with asthma. After a year of prednisolone, I decided it was easier to clean the house really well every week and I only use the prednisolone if she has a flare up (very rare). 

Intestinal obstruction is extremely painful. Again, it is better to feed laxatone if you have too.

I don't worry about hairballs. I clip everyone during the summer. I've seen too many animals die from over heating in this environment to put my own animals at risk.

 

[ldg]

Vaseline can be a "life-saver" in a hairball crisis, certainly. :nod: But given that the active ingredient in just about every hairball product out there is white petroleum jelly, I think the main take-away from this discussion is that there are effective species-appropriate methods to prevent hairballs in the first place.... and hairballs, for the most part, are indicative of a gastrointestinal issue that should be managed anyway, as cats with healthy GI systems (no motility problems) don't get hairballs.

 

[aehsud]

I can understand where you guys are finding the material to get all up in arms with this so let me tell you a true story. I had a cat with long fur who would have two to five hairballs per day because she was constantly cleaning herself. We went to our vet and she recommended very expensive hairball products, all a kind of flavored jelly that you squeezed out onto your finger and allowed your cat to lick it off. That was it.

We have Petroleum Jelly at our house that we use on our hands and ankles when our skin dries up. Our cat started licking it off us and chasing us around to try and get it. This scared us because we were afraid it would hurt her. then we happened to check the ingredients on the 70 dollar tube of hairball remedy. The first ingredient, petroleum jelly. The second and only other ingredient was artificial salmon flavoring. So we called up our vet and asked her what she thought. Reluctantly, she confirmed that the only reason that they don't just recommend petroleum jelly to cat owners is that then the owners could go bye their own and that would cause them to lose the money that the expensive products bring in. Also some cats don't like the taste of regular Jelly so the add the flavoring to convince the cats to eat it.

In humans you could compare this to trying to get a little kid to eat their broccoli by adding cheese to it. And then marketing cheese broccoli at 15 times the price of regular broccoli and stopping recommending regular broccoli because some kids don't like it like that.

So anyways, My point is that petroleum jelly is NOT lethal or even detrimental to a cats health (unless of course you feed them astronomical amounts and in that case they are not sick because of the jelly itself anyways.) In fact it is good to feed to cats with hairball problems and can save a lot of pain that would come if the cat had to have surgery to remove a hairball. 

 

[samus]

Petroleum jelly is a petroleum byproduct. Any petroleum byproduct can have contaminants that weren't fully purified out. A recent study by a German consumer protection group found all cosmetics they tested that included mineral oil also had potentially cancer causing mineral oil based aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAHs). I would assume the same for petroleum jelly. That being said, if my cat had a life threatening blockage and my vet wanted to use a petroleum jelly product, I'd probably agree. Use on a regular basis would be more worrisome to me.

Here's a summary of the study:

http://chrisduggleby.com/articles/g...cinogenic-aromatic-hydrocarbons-in-cosmetics/

 

[gary wilkes]

Using references to benzene poisoning from gasoline, kerosene or other petroleum products is not relevant to a cat ingesting a small amount of Vaseline. Consider that warfarin, a rat poison, keeps hundreds of thousands of people alive in the form of Coumadin to prevent heart attacks. If you are going to make a point, make it a logical point and don't cite irrelevant references. It damages your credibility.

 

[angeldrr]

​My cat reacted just the opposite to this product.  After the first dose, upon taking off the cover to the tube, he ran.  He hated it and worse yet, it didn't resolve his problem.  I gave 1 ml of Mineral Oil instead and it worked.  What's more he didn't mind it in his mouth like the other.

 

[Gina51]

There are so many other natural remedies for things like hairballs - why can't we just come together on this?

Vaseline is a petroleum product. It's good for a lot of things, BUT, not for ingesting.

I googled Vaseline, "petroleum products ingesting"

here's just some of the findings:

Poisoning by Petroleum Products in Cats | PetMD
http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/...carbon_toxicos
If your cat ingested the petroleum products recently, a stomach lavage (wash) will also be performed. Causing the cat to vomit is usually not wise under ...


Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook - Google Books Result
by Debra Eldredge, Delbert G. Carlson, Liisa D ... - 2007 - Pets - 626 pages
Never use a product made for dogs on a cat. PETROLEUM PRODUCTS Gasoline ... Ingesting these compounds will cause gastrointestinal upset and may burn the ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=047009530X...

Petroleum Product Poisoning: Introduction - The Merck Veterinary ...
Both dogs and cats may ingest petroleum products during grooming if their fur becomes contaminated. Dogs may ingest these products directly when they are ...
www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/htm/bc/212600.htm - Cached - Similar

So, how about it, Members - let's not offer Vaseline as a remedy for hairballs (or anything else) any longer - please.