What to do about hairballs?

[EveAndHerThieves]

I'm at wits end with Kira. He's a ragdoll Siamese looking cat with very fine and thin fur. Since transitioning to an indoor cat I've discovered he hacks up way more hairballs than I thought. I'm getting tired of cleaning them out of the carpet and off my brand new shoes. Brushing him only gets a very, very small amount of fur. I have eight different types of brushes I've tried with the same results. Hairball goo didn't work. He hates the four kinds I tried. Trying to get it down anyway results in his fur getting sticky and needing a bath. Right now he's also on a hairball formula cat food - Iams I think? I work a lot so giving him wet food is tricky. He's a fairly lazy cat, being a timid rescue. I know he gets plenty of food and water, though.

Is there anything else I can do for his hairballs? A different brand of food maybe? Can hairballs cause long term problems? He's been hacking them up off and on for eight years now. I just didn't realize how bad it was until he became indoor!

I'm not sure who is more frustrated - me when I discover my work shoes have been barfed on when I'm late for work, or him for having to struggle for two minutes at a time to hack it out.

 

[Tagrendy]

When brushing, move the brush against the direction of natural hair growth, usually people do the opposite. It will get a lot more hair out, especially on his back.

Is hairball goo same as pastes? Those usually have a good taste and cats love licking it. I used it once long ago, I think you give a centimeter or 2 each time before food enters his body. If he is on free feeding that might be tricky, but if I remember correctly that was supposed to create a protective wall in the stomach to get the hair to easily go through? Not sure, but it worked.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you aren't brushing him daily, you might want to start - just to help some, even if it doesn't yield much. Also, you can try things like butter/margarine - a dab every other day or so - or, even a couple of drops of olive oil in his water every couple of days. The olive oil would probably be better in canned food, but if you don't feed him any, that is not an option.

I don't know anything about trimming a cat's fur, so I won't even go there - but, there are some members who get their cats trimmed on a fairly regular basis.

 

[LTS3]

There are suggestions here: https://www.foodfurlife.com/hairballs-are-not-normal.html#/

A raw egg yolk (only the yolk, no egg white) can be helpful. Or egg yolk lecithin powder if a cat won't eat raw egg yolk.

 

[Bacon]

The hairball food never worked for my cat. Greenies hairball control has worked really well so far, and has been the only thing she will eat. Follow the directions on the back. I feed my girl like 10 - 15 treats a day, depending on how much she will eat. The goo works well, but I have to force her to eat it by putting it on her paws and she gets messy with that sometimes.

 

[Talien]

If you're feeding him canned food at least once a day try adding a few drops of olive oil and it will help him pass the hairballs instead of vomiting them. It's best to use first cold pressed extra virgin oil though, as it is as free of contaminants as you can get. It's more expensive than regular olive oil but it beats having him throw up because there was something in it that didn't agree with him.

 

[jeannem]

Try brushing them.
j

 

[stephanietx]

Move to an all wet diet, add in a little bit of plain canned pumpkin to keep things moving. Cut out all dry food.

 

[klunick]

I use Greenies treats for hairballs to avoid my two getting any. You can give up to 18 treats per 10 lbs a day. I don't give that many though. Maybe 10 treats twice a month.