{{ HAIRBALLS }}

Do your cats have many? Do you feed them special hairball med or use
some cat food that is suppose to help? The hairball meds......I've tried
SEVERAL different ones, and none of my cats liked it and refused to lick
it off the tube like they say they do.

In article ,
Gloria wrote:
Do your cats have many? Do you feed them special hairball med or use
some cat food that is suppose to help? The hairball meds......I've tried
SEVERAL different ones, and none of my cats liked it and refused to lick
it off the tube like they say they do.


Bubba the Maine Coon (RIP) liked Petromalt. Of course, he liked pretty
much anything that would fit in his mouth. Rascal the Maine Coon doesn't
care for it, but she likes Whiskas Temptations and gets a few a day and shows
no hint of hairball issues. She doesn't seem to shed as much as he, though.

"Gloria" wrote in message
...
Do your cats have many? Do you feed them special hairball med or use
some cat food that is suppose to help? The hairball meds......I've tried
SEVERAL different ones, and none of my cats liked it and refused to lick
it off the tube like they say they do.


Put it on their chin or paw, little bits at a time.

When I had Ike I tried putting some of it on his leg. He shook his leg
and the stuff went right in my eye.


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

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
When I had Ike I tried putting some of it on his leg. He shook his leg
and the stuff went right in my eye.

They know how to get you.

On May 8, 9:57*am, (Gloria) wrote:
Do your cats have many? Do you feed them special hairball med or use
some cat food that is suppose to help? The hairball meds......I've tried
SEVERAL different ones, and none of my cats liked it and refused to lick
it off the tube like they say they do.

I've found that feeding (grain free) wet food drastically cut down on
the number of hairballs I have in the house. Brushing once/week with
the Furminator has helped a great deal too. For the occasional
hairball, I use 8 in 1 brand malt-flavored hairball remedy.

Don't bother with the "special" food. Most of it just has more fiber
and/or carbs, which cats don't need nutritionally anyway.

Rene

wrote

I've found that feeding (grain free) wet food drastically cut down on
the number of hairballs I have in the house.

Yes. It helps them pass them.

"Gloria" wrote in message
...
Do your cats have many? Do you feed them special hairball med or use
some cat food that is suppose to help? The hairball meds......I've tried
SEVERAL different ones, and none of my cats liked it and refused to lick
it off the tube like they say they do.


You may need to rely on several techniques. First, switch exclusively to a
high-quality *grain free* wet cat food. You will sometimes read that dry
food is good for their teeth, but this is a myth. That does about as much
good as telling a child to eat pretzels because "it would be good for their
teeth." Cats do not chew as we do; they "crunch," and cats that are fed
carbs have a much higher rate of developing diabetes. All of this means: Do
not buy one of those dry foods that claim to be "hairball eliminators."

A change from dry food to grain-free wet food will probably result in far
fewer hairballs but may not completely eliminate them, so we're back to your
original question. I have never had a cat that would lick the hairball med
from the tube, despite advertisements to the contrary. On the other hand, a
couple of mine would lick some from my fingers. You also may be able to put
some on the paw or side of the mouth, but cats do often find ways to throw
that off or get it on furniture. Some people get a large syringe (*without*
the needle, of course) from their vets and use that to force feed. Be
careful not to use too much at a time because you don't want to cause a gag
reflex. The method that works best for me is to mix it with something
savory that my cats really like, such as tuna juice. It has to be
completely mixed in, or the cats may simply eat "around" it and leave the
hairball med in the bowl. Of course, there are a variety of brands and
flavors available, and it's worth trying several of them.

MaryL

Putting the hairball med on the paws or chin never works for
me......they shake their paw, chin, then it goes all over the floor, or
all over me, LOL

A vet told my parents to give the cat a little "mineral oil" once a week
(I don't remember how much, a tsp or 1/2 tsp?)......anyway he said if
you do that the cat will never have hairballs again......we did that,
and my persian lived 22 years. The first vet who saw him.....told us
that he had hairballs so bad, that he should be "put to sleep", I was
about 6 yrs old then, and started to cry, so my dad took him to this
other vet, who saved his life, with the mineral oil. Today most vets
won't recommend using mineral oil????? What do you think of it? By the
way the vet that wanted to put my cat "to sleep", the cat out-lived that
vet by about 20 yrs. :-)