Cats and Hairballs

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I feed my cats hairball preventative food. They've never had a real problem with hairballs until about a month ago. All of a sudden, they were yakking hairballs.

I bought these treats called Greenies/Tuna/Hairball Prevention. They haven't had a single episode of hairball problems since. I hope these continue to work.

I do brush them but not as often as I should.

Question for those of you with cats...what works for your cats? I read something about putting a little coconut oil on their food.

Edit to add: I only give them two each per day. Pkg says a heck of a lot more. I just wasn't willing to do that.
 

medtran49

Well-known member
Gold Site Supporter
We use a laxative made for cats. It's a paste/gel that comes in a tube. I have to squirt it in their mouths because they ate both finicky, though supposedly some cats will lick it off their food or your fingers. I think Laxatone is 1 brand. You can get it at any pet supply. I mainly have to give it to 1 cat because he is prone to constipation, as he won't eat wet food and drinks very little.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
This was the first year that my cat had hairball issues. I bought Iams Hairball dry food to mix with my cat's Science Diet food, bought a glove to remove hair when patting, and a cat comb.

The hairballs have stopped, but I think it's because he stopped shedding so much. I might try the Greenies if it happens again - he loves those.

Now his problem is biting the hair off the base of his tail. It's not fleas. Vet thinks it might be an allergic reaction to food, so I stopped the Iams. I heard that cats food allergies might be caused by beef or chicken, so I'm going to try tuna and salmon flavored foods.

Lee
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
We use a laxative made for cats. It's a paste/gel that comes in a tube. I have to squirt it in their mouths because they ate both finicky, though supposedly some cats will lick it off their food or your fingers. I think Laxatone is 1 brand. You can get it at any pet supply. I mainly have to give it to 1 cat because he is prone to constipation, as he won't eat wet food and drinks very little.

I'll look into the laxatone more later. I just did a quick look, and it's much less expensive that greenies. I guess that's my main problem with Greenies, they're just too expensive.

This was the first year that my cat had hairball issues. I bought Iams Hairball dry food to mix with my cat's Science Diet food, bought a glove to remove hair when patting, and a cat comb.

The hairballs have stopped, but I think it's because he stopped shedding so much. I might try the Greenies if it happens again - he loves those.

Now his problem is biting the hair off the base of his tail. It's not fleas. Vet thinks it might be an allergic reaction to food, so I stopped the Iams. I heard that cats food allergies might be caused by beef or chicken, so I'm going to try tuna and salmon flavored foods.

Lee

I sure hope it's not allergies. I had a cat that had to have allergy shots. I couldn't even bring myself to give him a shot. My husband had to do it. He bit his hair so bad that he stained my ottoman. It wasn't pretty. I still loved him.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I sure hope it's not allergies. I had a cat that had to have allergy shots.

Did you ever discover what he was allergic to? Did the shots work? How often did you have to inject?

I don't mind giving shots, as I gave them to my diabetic cat for 6 years after he was diagnosed.

Lee
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Did you ever discover what he was allergic to? Did the shots work? How often did you have to inject?

I don't mind giving shots, as I gave them to my diabetic cat for 6 years after he was diagnosed.

Lee

This was a long time ago. The shots worked. After everything cleared up, we may have given him a couple more rounds but it wasn't any kind of long term treatment. After that one problem, it just disappeared and he was a happy little camper again.

I don't remember if the injections were, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. They weren't daily. If the vet told us what he was allergic to, I don't remember. I'm pretty sure it wasn't food. His affected area was on his back leg.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Another update...still giving my cats Greenies and still not a single problem with hairballs. I only give them two a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
 
Top