Pet Some Vaseline On Your Cats Paw
If you take a look at the commercial products that are available for dealing with hairballs, you will see that the vast majority of them contain petroleum jelly. This is what you will find in Vaseline, making it a good solution if you do not have time to pop to the pet store or you want something to deal with the problem immediately. All you need to do is put a very small amount of Vaseline on your cats paw. Your cat should voluntarily lick this off, and this will help to prevent hairballs in the future.
Aside from the suggestions that have been mentioned, grooming your cat regularly can go a long way to prevent hairballs / reducing the frequency of them. After all, the more fur you get rid of, the less fur that is likely to end up in your cats stomach. Not only this, but you can also get specific hairball laxatives and products on the market today. Therefore, if you have tried the home remedies that have been mentioned and your cat is still experiencing a large number of hairballs, you may want to look into purchasing a specialist product that targets this issue.
So there you have it: nine effective home remedies for cat hairballs. If you follow one of the suggestions that have been mentioned above, you should be able to get rid of the hairball with ease. Not only is this vital for your own sake, but more importantly, it is a necessity for your cats health. The last thing you want to do is run the risk of them suffering an intestinal blockage.
Add Oil To Their Food
Adding a little bit of oil to your cats food when you see them struggling with a hairball can help ease the passage of the hair through their digestive system so that it is passed naturally.
In single doses, you should stick to one teaspoon or less. Small amounts of oil will help loosen up their stools enough that passing the hair should be relatively painless. Choose a high-quality oil that has had minimal processing.
If your cat has regular hairball issues, we recommend starting small and working your way up to about a teaspoon a week. To begin, you can use an eyedropper for just a few drops every other day. The gradual increase will help your cats gut adjust and allow you to stop quickly if you notice any harmful effects.
As always, we advise talking to your vet before making any significant dietary changes. Theyll be happy to give you suggestions of which oils may be best for your cat, and where you can purchase them.
Prevention: Your Long Term Strategy For How To Get Rid Of Hairballs
In tandem with your efforts to figure out how to get rid of cat hairballs, you will also want to take proactive measures to;prevent cat hairballs from forming in your cats stomach again or at least;reduce the severity of it .
Logically speaking, cats ingest a trace amount of fur practically every time that they lick themselves. If you multiply that by the number of times per day a cat licks itself, then your cat could very well end up ingesting enough fur to start clinging together and forming a solid mass a mass that is unable to be propelled easily through the cats digestive tract. If this mass gets large enough, then it can actually form an obstruction in your cats digestive tract.
This can lead to a myriad of health problems for your cat, the most common and the most notable of which is your cats increased tendency to vomit on a frequent basis Most of the time, these hairballs are expelled from the body as a result of their vomiting but that may not always be the case. In some cases, hairball masses can be extremely resilient and stubborn.
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Why Do Cats Have Problems To Expel Hair
Although popularly hairballs in cats have been considered something natural and even funny, it seems increasingly clear that they are not normal.;A completely healthy cat without problems to expel hair that swallows should never spit hair balls.
If it happens something is not right.;It is believed that it is a;problem of functioning of the digestive system, specifically in the intestine which does not move as it should to complete the digestions and expel feces.
Why are cat hairballs more common today than in the past?;Probably because of the type of diet of domestic cats.;Commercial feed has a high percentage of cereals, which far from being necessary in their diet, increase the hardness and dryness of the food bolus, hindering digestion.;Cats are carnivorous animals and do not need cereals or your body is prepared to digest them.;The same thing happens with dogs.
An excess of cereals in the diet of cats, such as rice can cause stiffness in the intestinal tract and cause inflammatory bowel disease.
My Cat Has Hair Balls Should I Worry Or Is This Normal
You are deep asleep, but there is this funny noise that wakes you up. The sound is like someone is choking.
Well, you have a head cinema in your head, and you get up to look at where the noise comes from. As you just about to reach the stairs, you feel something warm and slimy on your foot. Yes, you stepped into something wet, warm and slimy. Oh no, you know you stepped into cat puke in the middle of the night.
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How Often Do Cats Eliminate Hairballs
Cats can eliminate hairballs as often as once a week, or once a couple of weeks. But for some cats, it can happen as rarely as a few times a year. If it does not happen at all, you have nothing to worry about. But if it happens more often than once a week, then you should take your cat in to see the vet.
Simple Natural Home Remedies For Cat Hairballs
Did you know that the average indoor cat spends nearly 60% of their day grooming themselves? Its no wonder then that so many cats have problems with hairballs in their life.
Hacking up a hairball or passing one internally can be incredibly uncomfortable for your cat. And if a hairball problem goes unattended it can lead to dangerous blockages in your cats stomach or digestive tract. Any sign of blockage should precipitate an immediate vet call, as they can quickly become fatal.
Signs that your cat may have a gastrointestinal blockage:
- Swollen, hard belly
- Dry heaving
- Excessive coughing
Thankfully, there are many things you can do to help keep your cat from getting hairballs in the first place, and quite a few to help ease their discomfort should they develop one.
In this article, we will explore seven completely natural and safe remedies for cat hairballs. With a mixture of knowledge, prevention, and tactics to aid their digestion, you and your kitty can kiss hairball problems goodbye!
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How To Prevent Hairballs
If you have a long-haired breed such as a Norwegian forest cat or a Himalayan, we would recommend brushing them every day. Pet stores sell a huge variety of great brushes, in all kinds of different designs. If your cat wont let you groom it, try to remove as much excess hair as you can when youre stroking and petting them.
Possible Causes Of Hairballs In Dogs
Now that we have a clear idea of what hairballs in dogs are, let us look at why dogs have this condition. Here is a list of the possible causes of hairballs in dogs.
- Self-grooming
Dogs also groom themselves, although not as frequent as cats. When they do, they lick dirt, debris, and loose fur from their coat. This can turn into hairballs. This is often seen in dogs with long coats and breeds that are heavy shedders. The incidence of hairball formation is dependent on the functional status of their digestive tract. If it is functioning normally, then the strands of fur can pass through the gut with relative ease. However, it is still possible that hairballs can develop if there are too many strands of hair present in the gut.
- Skin Irritation
Dry and irritated skin almost always leads to hair loss in the affected area. The dog will try to lick or bite on the irritated skin in an attempt to soothe the irritation. It is unfortunate that by doing so, the dog can also ingest some of the loose hair. Skin irritation can be a sign of flea or tick infestation. Bacterial and fungal infections can also bring about skin irritation. Allergic reactions and food allergies can also lead to irritated and itchy skin.
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- Poor Nutrition
- Eating Prey
- Nursing Puppies
- Anxiety and Boredom
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Home Remedies For Cat Hairballs
There is nothing nice about a hairball! Not only are they unpleasant for the person who has the task of cleaning them up, but they are awful for your cat too. They can cause serious health problems for cats because they can lead to blockages in their intestine. This is why you need to make a conscious effort to keep hairballs to a minimum. But how do you go about it? Read on to discover nine effective home remedies for cat hairballs.
Melt Some Butter And Drizzle It Over Your Cats Food Or Drizzle Some Olive Oil Over Their Food
Both options have the same impact, as they ease digestion, helping the hairball to pass naturally. Adding around a teaspoon of olive oil or melted butter to your cats food around once a week should be enough to assist with their digestion. However, one thing you should never do is force olive oil into your cats mouth. You need to make sure your cat licks the oil naturally. If you dont, you could send it into your cats lungs. Not only will this approach help your cat to pass the hairball, but it will also reduce any stomach pains they are experiencing because of the hair. You can use other oils, including saffron oil, corn oil, and mineral oil.
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Preventing Hairballs In Dogs
If you know the possible causes of hairballs in dogs, then it should be easy to prevent it. Here are some of the proven ways you can prevent hairballs in your dog.
- Regular Grooming
Since the major culprit in hairball formation in dogs is the ingestion of fur, regular and frequent grooming can help solve the problem. You will have to brush and comb your dogs coat with an appropriate grooming tool. For best results, you can use a deshedding tool to help remove any loose fur that your pet may have. This will help reduce the amount of hair that your dog can ingest.
It is also helpful to have your pet get a regular trim. Longer hair can form hairballs a lot easier than shorter hair. Moreover, shorter hair can pass through the gut in a more efficient manner. Regular trimming every 3 to 4 months should help your pet keep its hair short.
- Proper Nutrition
Giving your pet dog food that is rich in proteins and omega-3 fatty acids can help strengthen its hair. This can help prevent excessive hair loss. If your dog is as fastidious as a cat in self-grooming, it will not be ingesting too much hair. Its coat will be strong enough to withstand the threat of being uprooted.
- Digestive Aid
Adding a homemade hairball remedy like canned pumpkin or fish oil supplement in your pets dog food can help lubricate its intestines. You can also add a teaspoon of olive oil into its food once a week to help pass the accumulated hair inside its intestines.
- Hydration
Why Wont My Cat Pass A Hairball
If your cat cant pass a hairball properly, its most likely constipated. The cat wont only have difficulty expelling the hairball from its system but will also struggle to remove food. Unfortunately, this could quickly turn into a problem.
If your cat cant vomit the hairball, it could become too large to come out of the cats system through its poop. Constipation commonly affects:
- Older cats, as the movement of their digestive tract slows down
- Cats with a painful condition, such as arthritis. This makes pooping uncomfortable
- Cats with not enough fiber in their diets
Impaired digestive motility is another reason your cat struggles to pass a hairball. This causes food and hair to move too slowly through the gastrointestinal tract. Causes of this include:
- Abdomen injury
- Gastrointestinal disease
- Neurological conditions
You might notice that your cat attempts to vomit the hairball, but nothing comes out. In this case, you should take your cat to the vet so they can check for any of these health conditions.
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So Hairballs Are Normal
Well yes and no. An occasional hairball is often perfectly normal we all have our bad hair days, after all. But regular hairballs, and certainly daily hairballs, may be a sign of an underlying problem.Conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or stomach or intestinal cancer will affect the movement of things from food to fur through the digestive tract, and may result in excessive hairball production.A flea infestation, allergies, or another problem causing your cat itchiness will lead to increased grooming behavior and are therefore likely to cause an increase in hairball production.If your cat is producing more than one hairball per week, its time for a trip to your veterinarian. While this frequency of hairballs may just be a byproduct of your cats particularly fastidious grooming nature, it may also be a subtle indication of an underlying medical problem. For your cats benefit, and for your own peace of mind, its best to find out which it is sooner, rather than later.
Remedy #: Natural Lubricative
A teaspoon of fish, safflower, or flax oil added to your cats food can coat a hairball, allowing it to pass through your kittys system.
Another option is a hairball prevention jelly containing slippery elm, marshmallow, or papaya. These are usually given once or twice a week. Tomlyn Hairball remedy is a lubricant that comes as either a gel
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How Do I Know If My Cat Has Hairballs
The truth is not easy.;Cats can disguise very well when they are bad, so;to detect if your cat has hairballs you must be very observant.;If you see that your cat vomits hairballs, it means that it is not expelling well with the feces.;You will start to find lots of wet hair at home .
The fact that they vomit is much more common in dogs, they even do it with relative frequency;to purge themselves and it is not necessarily a sign of illness.;But cat vomiting does not tend to occur, so if you do be careful!;If he vomits hairballs sometime, nothing happens. If it is frequent, even weekly it is almost certain that there will be a serious problem;behind it.
Can I only know if my cat has hairballs when I vomit them?;No, there are other;signs that may indicate the presence of hairballs;in cats:
- Sickness
- Apathy
- Strange behaviors, bad mood
Of course these symptoms not only indicate hairball cat, it may be something else.;Therefore as;soon as you suspect that your cat is sick, go to the vet.
Why Hairballs Should Never Be Ignored
Cats throwing up hairballs is not considered to be a serious ailment by people owning them. After all, a cat puking hairballs is a natural phenomenon, right?
You couldnt be more wrong. A cat throwing up hairballs is a cat in distress, and she ought to be getting care and assistance. If the swallowed hair are not eliminated as fecal matter, the cat tries to regurgitate. In case she fails to do so, it indicates that the hairball is too large, and has to be surgically removed.
In the meanwhile, your beloved pet will show symptoms of distress, like constant attempts at retching, refusal to eat, and constipation.
If a hairball is not eliminated or surgically removed, it may get stuck in the cats throat or intestines, resulting in death.
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When Can Cat Hairballs Become Dangerous
In and of themselves, hairballs are harmless. However, if your cat is wandering around the house and repeatedly retching with no sign of a hairball , then take them to the vet immediately. It could be a sign that the hairball has moved from their stomach to their intestine. This is a serious condition that should be addressed by a vet immediately.
You should take your cat to the vets if they have any of these cat hairball symptoms:
- Prolonged gagging, vomiting, retching without producing a hairball
- A drop in appetite
- A swollen or sensitive stomach
How Often Do Cats Have Hairballs
Some cat owners think that their pet brings up a hairball every day, but this isnt true. Cats should only get hairballs occasionally, usually less than once a month. Most hairs swallowed from grooming will pass through the digestive system and out into the litter box without a problem.
However, if your cat has hairballs frequently, its worth taking them to see a vet. Numerous cat hairballs could be a symptom of a problem in the gastrointestinal tract in this case, it is best to check this out as soon as possible.
Numerous hairballs in cats can also be a symptom that your cat is over-grooming. Cats tend to over-groom when they are stressed a bit like us biting our fingernails and thus will consume more hair, leading to more hairballs. If you think your cat may be stressed, take them to the vet.
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