Hairball Help

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AmyB

AmyB

Member Since 2019
My IBD kitty is having yet another one of his flare ups and this time it was triggered by him throwing up a hairball on Saturday. He's a short haired cat, but he's been throwing up hairballs more and more lately and I'm getting concerned because I know cats aren't supposed to throw them up that often, especially not short haired ones. I've been trying to treat his nausea the last few days and thought he was okay today until he starting coughing and hacking and then ended up throwing up his food.

Does anyone have any knowledge/advice concerning dealing with hairballs, especially for cats who already have intestinal issues? Just when I thought I had his IBD more under control he throws this at me...
 
I haven't tried that, but I might start doing it. Right now I'm more concerned because I think he might have a hairball in his stomach because he was fine all day and then threw up a few hours after eating. I just don't know how to tell if it's that or his normal IBD stuff and it has me terrified quite frankly. He's not hiding or anything but he's obviously nauseous and it's hard for me to get Cerenia in him when he's like this.
 
How are you treating his IBD? Any meds?

When he vomits, is there hair in a large part of it, or is it food? Speaking with experience now on my third cat with GI/vomit issues. :rolleyes: I'm wondering if a trip to the vet is in order.
 
I haven’t noticed any hair in it? He usually vomits up food a few hours after he’s eaten and then after that he just vomits up clear liquid. I took him to the vet this morning and they gave him cerenia and some fluids.

And I have budesonide but I wasn’t giving it to him recently. I’m going to just accept it and give it to him all the time now I think and hope it doesn’t mess up his blood sugar bc this is harder to deal with.
 
Sorry I’m not familiar your kitty’s full history, but does he have any food intolerances? What kind of food is he currently eating?

My IBD girl very frequently used to throw up a few hours after eating, like you’re describing. After I got rid of poultry, it cut down on the vomiting a lot which led me to realize she has a poultry intolerance.

My girl also has a lot of trouble during hairball season, usually throwing one up a few times a week, sometimes every day. I’ve heard good things about the egg yolk powder that was recommended by Wendy but haven’t tried it myself yet. I usually just try to brush her as much as I can and grab off any loose fur
 
I too notice vomiting is worse in hairball season. Food changes can also make a difference if you've changed food lately.

It's ECID whether budesonide will impact his BG numbers. It didn't impact Neko's at all, but I have seen some where it does.
 
So I’ve been alternating between chicken and turkey because I’ve noticed with him he’ll be fine on one food for a while and then he gets intolerant of it and I switch him to another one. I honestly don’t know if it’s poultry or what but he’s so picky I can’t get him to eat novel proteins. I was also going to try some of that laxatone gel and see if he’ll eat that to help with the hairballs.
 
Which novel proteins have you tried? There are quite a few options out there (venison, pork, rabbit, duck, lamb, kangaroo to name a few).

I'd try the egg yolk before the laxatone.
 
I've tried mostly rabbit, duck, and pork. My problem is he's just so picky I can barely get him to eat anything as it is. Right now I'm having him eat some tuna and fish because he won't eat the food he's been vomiting all week. He's doing okay right now, I just hope it holds overnight so I can actually get some sleep. He hasn't had a flare up this bad in a while but it's just teaching me a lesson to not get complacent when I think he's doing better. :rolleyes:
 
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