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Hair balls?



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 17th 10, 05:45 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
KenK
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Posts: 57
Default Hair balls?

My cat Emily's BMs have greatly improved to perfectly normal since her diet
change to canned Wellness - no more diarrhea, soft ones, or horrible
smells. Hope it lasts. But now she's started getting hairballs (at least
I'm pretty sure it's hairballs) every day. Maybe the Wellness has less
fiber or something than Fancy Feast which I used to feed her. Once in a
while she hacks up a lot of liquid too. Big mess to clean up, almost as bad
as vomit. sigh I'm trying adding a half teaspoon fiber to her food spread
over three meals; that used to help. Read that in one of my cat books. I
groom her every day, as I have all her life (she's a short-hair). The fiber
sure works for me; I've taken two generous doses a day for decades and
hardly ever get hairballs!

Any other hairball treatments you've successfully tried if this doesn't
work? Preferably something I can put in her food; giving her medications is
very difficult to say the least!


--
"When you choose the lesser of two evils, always
remember that it is still an evil." - Max Lerner






  #2  
Old May 17th 10, 07:24 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
---MIKE---
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Posts: 869
Default Hair balls?

Try planting some oat grass for her to nibble on.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')


  #4  
Old May 18th 10, 11:17 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
---MIKE---
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Posts: 869
Default Hair balls?

KenK wrote:

It will take a few weeks to grow. (referring to oat grass)


I am constantly growing oat grass and find it only takes one week. I
water it twice daily and grow it by a window.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')


  #6  
Old May 19th 10, 07:11 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
---MIKE---
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Posts: 869
Default Hair balls?

KenK wrote:

I picked up a package of cat grass (uses
oats) at Walmart this morning and
started it. If she eats it I'll find a source
for whole oats and do my own.


I bought a 50 pound bag of oat seeds for $8.00 at a feed store. I use
lawn soil for the base and cover the seeds with Miracle Grow. The soil
costs more than the seed! I have four pots in various stages at all
times - two of them on the floor for the cats to nibble on.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')


  #7  
Old May 17th 10, 07:43 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Rene
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Posts: 117
Default Hair balls?

Ken,

Sorry to sound gross, but are you seeing hair clumps when you clean up
the vomit? It would look like a clump/lump, usually cigar shaped.
Seems unusual to me that she would get hairballs if you brush her
daily. Doing this daily doesn't sound good--you might call your vet's
office and ask. If she were doing this weekly, I wouldn't worry, but
daily is not normal IMO.

Your comment about more hairballs since starting Wellness is curious.
Since my cats have been on canned Wellness (and some Evo), we've had
fewer hairballs.

You can try and add a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin to her food and
mix that in. (Some cats like pumpkin and will eat it as a treat.) If
she's currently experiencing hairballs, you can give her Petromalt or
other hairball remedy for a few days (don't give near her feeding
time. It will reduce absorption of nutrients.)

Rene


  #8  
Old May 18th 10, 06:45 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
KenK
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Posts: 57
Default Hair balls?

Rene wrote in news:66426a03-532f-4a7e-931b-
:

Sorry to sound gross, but are you seeing hair clumps when you clean up
the vomit? It would look like a clump/lump, usually cigar shaped.


Yes, usually. But smaller - about the size of a cigarette.

Seems unusual to me that she would get hairballs if you brush her
daily. Doing this daily doesn't sound good--you might call your vet's
office and ask. If she were doing this weekly, I wouldn't worry, but
daily is not normal IMO.


We'll see if my other things work. She seems otherwise normal.

Your comment about more hairballs since starting Wellness is curious.
Since my cats have been on canned Wellness (and some Evo), we've had
fewer hairballs.

You can try and add a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin to her food and
mix that in. (Some cats like pumpkin and will eat it as a treat.)


I just tried a tea-spoonfull in her food dish. She wouldn't even taste
it. I'll try mixing it with her food later. (I'll bet she won't eat it!)

That pumpkin was very hard to find. I finally found a large can in the
third store I tried. $3! sigh Better work!

If
she's currently experiencing hairballs, you can give her Petromalt or
other hairball remedy for a few days (don't give near her feeding
time. It will reduce absorption of nutrients.)


We'll see how the pumpkin works first. I suspect the pumpkin is just for
fiber and the unflavored Metamucil clone I've been using is much the same
thing.

Ken




--
"When you choose the lesser of two evils, always
remember that it is still an evil." - Max Lerner






  #9  
Old May 19th 10, 02:25 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Rene S.
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Posts: 741
Default Hair balls?


That pumpkin was very hard to find. I finally found a large can in the
third store I tried. $3! sigh Better work!


I should have mentioned that it might be harder to find. I had heard
that canned pumpkin will not be as plentiful this year, due to rain/
rotting of crops in the fields. :-/
 




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