Oh gosh, Cindy! Poor Geoffrey! Maybe rubysmama 's suggestion will be workable for you both. *PRAYERS* for that to happen! Furballs are no fun at all -- not for him, not for you.No, Geoffrey HATES to be brushed! It is a fight each time I try.. and then he vomits, the next day.. It seems while I am brushing, it causes more loose fur, he washes himself; it becomes a furball..
I can guarantee it..
I have tried so many brushes, combs, gloves... I mean it. i have drawerful of them.. The best I can do, is to try to do a tiny but every 2 days or so.. anything below his waist is off limits... The tail is the worst.
daftcat75 Your theory sounds so compelling... I am sure you are on to something.. I am not that deep into all of this..
When I adopted Geoffrey, I was a member of the Humane Society which sponsored him. I got to know him during my shifts, falling in love with him immediately. When he lifted up his left paw to touch me.. I was hopelessly in love.....
He was given up because the owner/guy had to move and could not keep him. I do not know what food his previous owner fed him..
He was given Friskies and Costco Dry food, for a week or so, while at the foster's..
Then he was transferred to the Humane Society where he got different food... He was subjected to a ton of changes.. in a very sensitive cat.. The last day, I caught him hiding in a pillowcase...
At the HS, he was given different food.. PetSmart Brand, Authority..
I noticed the day before I took him home, he vomited. I had to get my house ready for him.. so it took some time..
I took some food from the HS to get him going, and not mess up his stomach.. I slowly added Wellness because I thought it was a good food.
He started vomiting, almost immediately.. I even called the foster/rescuer to see what food he was eating.. I got the Friskies, but the vomiting did not stop..
This is when I decided to try a novel protein. Previously, I had Artie, who had IBD/Megacolon...
I immediately went back to the rabbit food, which I had great success with..
Geoffrey's vomiting slowed down, never fully stoping, but improved a lot...until I moved into this apartment.. He is a very very frighted, insecure cat. He felt comfortable in her. Actually, he loved it more than I did, at first. His vomiting stopped, almost immediately.. He stopped hiding.. he learned how to become a cat... I mean it..
We went a year without any vomiting issues.. Then, last summer it started again.. That is when I tried all the brushes, gloves and combs. Even took him to a specialist. Internal med Vet said he was fine.. on his blood tests and what he could see.. not sick enough for an endoscopy.. and is, fingers crossed not an IBD kitty... This is the same Internal Med Vet, I had with Artie, so he knows me... He said that Geoffrey, at this point is just a 'vomiter' suggested fur ball food... and more brushing..
My gut feeling is that Geoffrey either does have it now--mild case or will eventually come down with IBD.. just a gut feeling.. that is why I am not wanting to tempt fate by feeding him chicken, which is the number one allergen in cats... The fur ball food does contains chicken. I do not want to overdo it.. My gut feelings..
It does seem that he vomits more when I brush him.. I keep track of it on his own calendar.
At one point it was 3 times a week... cut back on brushing, it went to 5 times a month.. Now it is shedding season.. He sheds so much, and is always grooming himself.. I swear it is almost an OCD habit. He is kind of a psycho cat.. so, it would not surprise me..
He is so sensitive.. so frightened of any noses.. I live on the beach, and the spring?summer traffic/noise bothers him so much.. He hides under my bedspread..
It is quieter in there. If anyone comes into my apartment, he runs and hides either under the bed or under the bedspread..
He is a good cat.. does not really bite, or scratch.. Very Vocal.. Kind of mischievous.. at his ripe old age of 5 years old.. he was 2-3 when I adopted him.. I think he was an apartment "hidden" cat.. He was afraid of daylight.. hiding from it.. weird.. but he has blossomed in this new apartment.
He was so frightened, he was on Prozac for a year.. yes, he was that frightened.. kept meep all night,, so I could not get any sleep at all.. and hid during the day.. I had to close off all access to under my bed.. My room was a mess, with cardboard, books, everything I could find, to block off access.. I gave him hiding spots.. but if he went under my bed, he would not even come out for food.. perhaps a brief nibble, and briefly to use the litter box.. But I could not clean up the vomit, if he hid under the bed.. so I had to close it off.. i did nt have an extra room for him. Locking him in The bathroom was tooo cruel for me..
It took a lot of time and a ton of work, to get him to where he is today.. and I the he has really learned how to 'cat'.. because I was so patient with him, giving him so much freedom. I think he was locked in a closet, or bathroom at his former owners... hence a hidden cat..
He loves looking out the windows.. and Playing.. that is how I got him out.. Wand toys.. And talk.. OMG>>> Somedays, If eel like telling him to shut up!!! Yes, he knows that word.. and not from me.. I used it one time, his ears went back, he immediately stopped talking and ran under the bed... I felt so bad.. Sometimes he jumps backwards when I do certain movements, or things.. It is as if he is remembering his prior life; like PTSD... and was reprimanded for things.. He gets very frightened when that happens.. But I go over to him tell him I love him, and he seems to come out of it.. very quickly.....
He loves loves to cuddle... on top of the bed..
that is Geoffrey's life story...