Hello (with Hairball question)

[Jiolo]

I hope you don't actually have to have a diabetic cat to join this forum.
But after lurking at a few other cat forums, this one seems to be one of the more active forums with a good amount of useful information.

I am a pet parent to one very spoiled young DSH kitty. She is 18 months old, not diabetic but just getting over a mild bout of URI. She is on a mixed dry/wet diet (after reading several other websites, I will eventually be switching to canned diet once that bag of dry is gone). At a recent vet visit regarding the mild URI symptoms, I had mentioned that she had vomitted a hairball roughly once a month starting in March. She had recommended switching to a dry hairball food and/or using Laxatone. The hairball diet would go against my plan of switching to a completely wet diet and my kitty is not the best at taking meds. Plus, aren't those hairball pastes just loaded with syrup and stuff, which is bad for cats?

Any tips on managing hairballs? I did order a Furminator online and I will plan on brushing a few times a week (or however often she feels like it).

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

nothing wrong with the hairball meds - basically it's grease to send the hair through their system. it's got enough sugar in it that it's not so great for diabetic cats, but i've used it on my non-diabetic cats without problem. you're not giving it that often.

no experience with any of these, but i've heard people here suggest butter and vaseline *ack* - don't know if cats like it or not. i'd just get the laxatone for the moment, and start combing daily. you don't need to wait for the furminator!

combing is your best, least-invasive tactic, of course. i use a people rat-tail comb and it gets all those loose hairs out. also would give you advance notice if any fleas were trying to move into the neighborhood! :lol:

 

[squeem3]

Plus, aren't those hairball pastes just loaded with syrup and stuff, which is bad for cats?

Any tips on managing hairballs?

Here's a recent thread with suggestions on hairball treatments for diabetics: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51535

There are some hairball treatments that are sugar-free. A little dab of Vaseline is always an option.

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

Changing to the all wet food diet will help a lot, and the hairball malt / goo is pretty good. Combing to remove excess fur will also help a lot. Be careful with the Furminator - it has a blade and can cut kitty if used to close to the skin.

 

[Mindy & Max]

All wet food works better for hairballs than the 'hairball' formula of dry food. I know this from experience! Max is hairball heavy--the chaos of life with two little kids keeps me from brushing regularly. But he has significantly fewer hairballs with wet-food only than he ever had with the dry food.

I think Laxatone also has a 'natural' version of it's hairball treatment gel that doesn't have sugar in it. Some have warned that the artificial sweetener (sorbitol, maybe?) is not good for cats in large amounts, but we only use that gel when there seems to be an abundance of hairballs--mainly in spring and fall. One treatment with that stuff and a good brushing and for the most part, it all clears up for at least a week or two. Sadly, I usually need the next hairball reminder to remember to brush the cats again.

Also, the Zoom Groom, made by Kong, works REALLY well for brushing the cats. Even on cats that don't like to get brushed (my Truman hates brushes, but likes this one). There aren't any pokey things to irritate the skin, so much less dandruff with this one too. Even better--I can let my 4yo brush Max with this brush w/o worrying he'll get poked in the eye since the 'prongs' are silicone and they bend.