"PawsForThought" wrote in message
...
From: Laura R.

) said,
From: Laura R.

PawsForThought ) said,
Another product that works well is Catlube, made without
petroleum-based ingredients:

www.vetsbest.com/cats.html#catlube


You have used this? I'm curious as to why you use clarified butter
instead of this.

Thanks,

Laura

I used the Catlube with my last cat and it worked well. She seemed to
like
it
better than the petroleum based remedies.
You can also make your own slippery elm by adding 1 tsp slippery elm
powder
to
1/2 cup cold water. Stir well to mix it. Then bring slowly to a simmer,
stirring periodically until it thickens. Then cool and store in a
glass
jar;
it keeps 5 to 7 days in the fridge. Feed 1 tsp of the liquid 5 to 10
mins
before the meal, but it can also be mixed in with the food if the cat
won't
eat
it plain.

My present cats haven't had hairballs fortunately. I have the ghee in
the
house and had read that it worked to keep the digestive tract
lubricated so
I
gave my cats some and they love it. I just put some on my finger and
they
lick
it off. It's not much though. Ghee (butter with all the milk solids
removed)
is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine and it's quite interesting:
http://www.indiaoz.com.au/health/ayu...ood_ghee.shtml


Excellent; thanks for the info. I've seen slippery elm bark listed as
useful for a number of digestive ailments but hadn't seen it listed
for treatment of hairballs before.

Slippery Elm is very soothing for inflammation or irritation in the
digestive
tract. It's used for diahrrea, ulcers and vomiting. It also contains
minerals
and vitamins and most cats will accept it. You can even sprinkle the
powder
into food to sooth the stomach and intestines. I haven't used it
specifically
for hairballs but I do know some people who have and say it helps. I
don't
know if it helps move the hair along so much as probably just very
soothing. I
wish I'd known about it with my last cat who vomited hairballs frequently.

As far as the ghee, I'd never heard of it being used for hairballs,
either. Do you really think that it is the ghee that is helping your
cats WRT hairballs, or is it just grooming and that they're naturally
not hairball-prone? Or perhaps the lack of hairballs is related to
the diet you feed your cats? I know that ghee is compositionally
different than butter, but I wonder how much of its lubricant
capabilities survive the digestive process. Perhaps the clarification
process decreases its absorptive qualities? If so, I wonder why it
isn't more frequently recommended. Do you know if, like some
unsaturated fats, it may affect nutrient absorption?

Laura

Ghee is actually a saturated fat and it enhances fat soluable nutrient
absorption like A, D, E and K. I don't think many vets are familiar with
ghee,
probably only holistic ones. My cats are on a homemade raw diet and I
think
that probably is a big reason they don't have hairballs. From my
understanding
of ghee, it can actually aid in the digestive process. One thing I do
notice
is that when I give ghee to my cats, they seem to have a better appetite.
In
Ayervedic medicine they believe that ghee enhances the assimilation of
nutrients, and is good for nerve tissue, reproductive secretions. This
system
of medicine has been around for 5,000 years and is quite interesting.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

try mixing a teaspoon of bran (from health shop) this prevents fur balls
occurring, as Lauren says any cat fed on the above diets or BARF wont get
fur balls anyway.... I have one cat fed on dry food (wont even sniff the raw
food) and the other fed on BARF raw meaty bones diet as he was fed on that
from a 3 week old kitten.