Any advice on hairballs?

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Tinky started coughing up her first hairball the other week. I went and got her the Pounce treats with hairball gel in the middle, and gave them to her for a couple days. Still last night she was coughing more. Has anyone used a hairball medicine that they found worked good. I hate to see her coughing like that. Thanks.

[C.C.'s Mom]

My cats never ever throw up hair balls. Or if they do it, than somewhere outside where I don't know about.
I give both of them dried food mixed with hairball treatment that I get from the vet.

My vet-friend told me that every cat that grooms herself, throws them up. It's normal, they have to leave the body.

You can of course make sure that you brush your cat with gloves that attract any loose hair. My cats love it and jump on my lap in the evening when I get the gloves out. They hardly shed and I never have cat hair on my clothes eiter (instead I have dog hair all over the place )

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I used to use the stuff you can get at PetSmart. It comes in a tube like toothpaste, but I don't remember the name of it. It worked good for Tubby. Peanut, even though she has longer hair, has never really had a problem with hairballs like Tubby. Tubby would eat it right out of the tube. Peanut wouldn't so the directions said to squeeze some out onto their paws, then they have to lick off. However, Peanut would flip her foot (kind of like it was wet) and the stuff would go flying, usually ending up on the wallpaper instead of in her stomach.

Unfortunately I've had to stop giving it to Tubby because with his kidney problems it was making him throw up more instead of less, but I would still recommend it. Science Diet now also makes food with hairball remedy right in the food. By the time I tried that, Tubby was already having kidney problems and all it did was make him constipated, but Peanut had no problem with it, so that might be an option also.

Good luck because I know I hate it too when they start coughing and hacking like that. Makes you feel so useless.

[Former User]

No hairballs here, ever. And we don't even give special food for them. The other day we bought cat grass though, and now we try to make it grow...stress on try. Casper and Kitty are pretty anxious for it already

[K & L]

We've used Laxatone and it worked quite well. Plus the cats loved licking it off our fingers.

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Thanks for the info everyone, and cute stories. Ci Ci's mom what kind of gloves do you use to groom your cats? I use a brush on Tinky and she doesn't seem to like it, she watches it and gives it this crazy look and eventually gets up.

[Randi]

You can get some dry food called Hairball Control, I think it's Hills. I haven't tried it, but it's supposed to work.

And ..... as C.C.'s mom suggest, use a brush at least a couple of times a week, cats usually love to be brushed. Do it for about 5-10 minutes every time, long firm strokes. I have a rubber brush which works very well. Fister even tries to bite it. (that means he likes it) You can also try to make it wet before using it. I'm not sure whether it's meant to be used for dogs, but you can also use it for cats.

My cat Fister never throws up hairballs, I have only once seem him throw up and that was liquid.

Good luck!

[Randi]

Casper & Kitty! Patience!! LOL! I have also just put cat grass in a pot 4 days ago and I can already see it coming up, so I bet you'll see yours (C & C's) in a couple of days!

By the way, do you know when to cut down an Olive tree? I should probably cut mine to get it a bit thicker!

[purrley]

Sara - hairball remedy put out by Hartz works real well for my kitties. You put it on the top of their paws and they lick it off. Brushing is really the best hairball remedy of all. It's good for the kitty and its good quality time for you and her

[Former User]

LOL Randi, we have the patience yes, Casper and Kitty no!

No idea when to cut olive tree...sorry, hope someone else knows.

[lizbud]

I've used the stuff from a tube(don't remember the name)
that you put on their paws and they lick it off.Seemed so
hit and miss really b/c sometimes they would resist &
even run when they saw me open the tube.They needed
something b/c there were hairballs almost everyday.
I started using Purina Special Care dry cat food about
1 -2 yrs ago and they all love it, whala ..no more hairballs,
or at least hardly ever. Actually my kitties have three
different kinds of dry food to choose from, but Purina HB
will always be one of them.

[C.C.'s Mom]

Originally posted by Randi
By the way, do you know when to cut down an Olive tree? I should probably cut mine to get it a bit thicker!

It's in German, but you might be able to read it. Ask me if you need a translation.

***
Du kannst zu lang gewordene Triebe problemlos einkürzen. Nehme eine sehr scharfe Schere und lasse 3 oder 4 Blattpaare stehen.Du solltest das im zeitigen Frühjahr machen, nach etwa 4 Wochen sollten dann an der Stelle der letzten Blätter je Blatt ein neuer Zweig wachsen. Wenn Du nach einiger Zeit den Dreh raus hast, kannst Du die weitere Entwicklung der Baumkrone durch den Schnitt recht gut beeinflussen.
***

[yumyum6970]

We use science diet hairball dry food for dutchess and her hairballs...she always seems to get them on fridays before
we leave for work. it helps some.

http://pepeirce.tripod.com/thekittycorner

[AvaJoy]

Lily is an upchucker, usually the very next day after I have cleaned the rug . . . I feed her Science Diet Senior Hairball formula (dry food), AND mix Laxatone in her wet food; she will not partake unless it is mixed into her food. I also give her a Pounce Hairball treat once a week. Despite all of this, she still deposits a hairball now and then. I also brush her regularly, so . . . I give up on ever totally eliminating the problem! Only resolution I can think of is giving her the lion clip, a la Spencer!

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Thank you everyone for your advice . Today I went out to PetSmart to look at some products. I found the stuff in a toothpaste tube, the nice gentleman who helped me said to take it to the vet (they have a vet office inside the Petsmart) and told me to get their advice on that product. Would you believe I stood at the counter (alone, no other customers) for ten minutes with a vet talking on the phone (a very loud personal call) and an assistant staring at him and no one ever asked to help me ?!?! I am glad to know how those people are, I feel sorry for the animals they treat. Needless to say, I left and did not purchase that product. Untill I can make it to my vet to buy something else we will have to stick with the Pounce treats. But again thanks for ya'lls advice, I guess I just needed to vent.