Ewww...my cat just herfed up two hairballs (about the size of garlic cloves - truly, I thought that's what they looked like at first) accompanied by a lot of his dinner
. I guess kitty had been working on the hairballs for a while since they were so compact. In the 5 months he's been with me (seems like he's been here forever
), this is the first sign of any trouble.
Since the ready-made stuff is made w/petrolatum, is it ok to give the cat a little bit of petroleum jelly (if he'll lick it up), or is that too highly concentrated?
A friend with a hairball prone cat uses one of the products that comes in a tube, as per the vet's recommendation. But, I actually saw an ASPCA site that recommended butter (wonder if margarine would have enough of the oily, fatty stuff??)...but another site said no to that. I remember reading here about possibly trying fish oil.
I'm leery about lubricating kitty's bowels too much aranoid2 as he had a bit of an issue with loose stools when I first got him. Things have been great in that department for some time now.
I'm hoping this is a rare occurrence so I'll try a periodic treatment for now instead of changing his food.
What are your non-conventional, but totally safe ways to deal with hairballs?
Thanks!
Since the ready-made stuff is made w/petrolatum, is it ok to give the cat a little bit of petroleum jelly (if he'll lick it up), or is that too highly concentrated?
A friend with a hairball prone cat uses one of the products that comes in a tube, as per the vet's recommendation. But, I actually saw an ASPCA site that recommended butter (wonder if margarine would have enough of the oily, fatty stuff??)...but another site said no to that. I remember reading here about possibly trying fish oil.
I'm leery about lubricating kitty's bowels too much aranoid2 as he had a bit of an issue with loose stools when I first got him. Things have been great in that department for some time now.
I'm hoping this is a rare occurrence so I'll try a periodic treatment for now instead of changing his food.
What are your non-conventional, but totally safe ways to deal with hairballs?
Thanks!