Very Frequent Hairballs

[decible]

I have a long haired Ragdoll cat and he yacks up a hairball or some form of vomit just about every three days or so. Id like to brush him, but he's one of these funny animals that runs at the sight of anything out of the norm. So he sees the brush and he dashes under the bed like greased lightning. Ive tried being slow and patient with him but he just won't have anything to do with the brush. Ive even tried different brushes, thinking maybe it was the shape or color that he didn't like.

I do feed him Iams' "mature cat with hairball formula" food, but since he yacks this often I don't imagine that it's doing any good.

I've read on a few places that I can use petroleum jelly to help the junk pass through his system and get digested, rather than coming out the front end, but again ... Houston, we have a problem. He's a MEGA picky eater. Won't eat a lot of the stuff that most cats love, like tuna and such, so the likelihood of him lapping up some medicated jelly stuff is pretty nill. I can totally see him sniffing it and then turning his nose up at it. He likes chicken and liver flavored stuff and that's about it. And those flavors sometimes won't even do, depending on the brand. Very, very picky.

I'm at a loss here. I'm getting tired of cleaning up his up-chuck on such a regular basis and I feel bad for him because it has to suck for him to go through that so often.

If anyone has some useful suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

- Dustin

 

[arlyn]

I feed Nutro Natural Indoor complete care formula.
My NFC was a frequent hairball yaker, now, only about once every month, sometimes twice.
I'd never feed them petroleum jelly, if nothing else, get some Laxatone (sp?) from the petstore and wipe a glob on the back of one paw.

 

[coaster]

Don't write off the hairball remedy until you've tried it. I use the malt flavor and for my cats it's their very favorite treat. They'd rather have their hairball "goop" than food.

I put a glop on a finger and give that once a week for prevention.

Most hairball remedies have petroleum jelly in the formula. In fact, it's the active ingredient. Petroleum jelly is completely inert in the G-I tract. Its molecular structure is too large to be absorbed. The way it works is that it is absorbed into the hair, making it more "slippery" and easy to pass. Also it coats the lining on the G-I tract, making the hairball easier to move through. But for this reason, you should NOT give it before feeding, because it interferes with nutrient absorbtion. Give a couple hours before a mealtime. I believe Laxatone uses mineral oil (another petroleum product) instead of petroleum jelly, but the mode of action is the same.

 

[coaster]

I wanted to add that hairball goop as a preventative isn't enough for a long-haired cat. You're going to have to get your cat used to being brushed, or you'll still have problems with hairballs.

 

[scamperfarms]

we swipe some jelly on paws twice a month. and brush everday..I agree with a long haired cat hes gonna have to get used to it.

 

[decible]

I went out and got some Petromalt today. Here's how it went down. I noticed him out (which is sort of rare during the day). I approached him like nothing was up; like I just wanted to pet him (he's very suspicious by nature). Once he was looking away I stealthily whipped some on his front paw. He didn't notice at first but when he did ... OH MAN was he miffed! He shot off like a flash and howled like an old tom-cat for about ten minutes under the bed. He's pouting under my bed even now. I just can't see putting him through that on a regular basis. He's going to hate me if I do.

As for the brush, the store owner suggested that I try one of the glove kind, so I got one. It's the most low-key one they had, so as to not spook him. We'll see if it works tonight. He is most friendly starting around 10pm and lasting until around 7am. Other than that he likes to be left alone. A strange critter, to be sure, but I love him all the same and I hope this stuff works for him.

A picture of the culprit:
http://www.subtleradiance.com/wip/Sky.jpg

I have to be like a ninja assassin with my camera to get pictures like that or all I'd get is a white streak across the picture, where he darted away during shutter time

 

[wellingtoncats]

We've had probably ten hairballs between our cats, and we've had quite a few over fifteen years. We have furlax, I think it's called. But we brush on a regular basis.

 

[decible]

oh yeah! Another thing the pet shop dude said was that I can drizzle canola or flack seed oil in his food and that will help with the shedding. From what he was telling me, a lot of these food companies take much of the good oils out of their food during the dehydration process, so its nice and crunchy. This is basically just a way to put those oils back in. I have no idea of it's true or not, but that's what the guy said and it kinda made sense.

 

[arlyn]

Well he a gorgeous guy.

Good luck with your various methods, hopefully you'll find a combination that works for him

 

[mzjazz2u]

you can also use canned pumpkin. Just a teaspoon (heaping if your cat will eat it) a day works great for a lot of things including hairballs and bowels. Most cats seem to like it. I mix it in with their canned cat food. They all share one 6 oz can a day.

Your boy is a very pretty boy!

 

[daidreamer]

Originally Posted by ScamperFarms

we swipe some jelly on paws twice a month. and brush everday..I agree with a long haired cat hes gonna have to get used to it.

It works well for us too..