HUGE hairballs

[Holly and Sunny Bear]

Hairball season is upon us and Sunny Bear has barfed up some huge ones over the last few weeks. This is new for him. I've never seen hairballs from him before in the 5 years I've had him. And this week he had diarrhea for the first time ever as well.
Otherwise he's doing fine. No ketones. Seems to be feeling well.

I've given him a little plain vaseline which he eats readily, twice yesterday. And added powdered egg yolks to his wet food yesterday and today.

My concern is that I just found horrible looking diarrhea (looks like sick cat diarrhea from my days working as a kennel tech for a vet clinic when I was younger) in the living room. Not sure though that it was from him, as we have 3 cats and a chiweenie. They all seem fine so I can't figure out who it came from! Could this be an effect of the powdered egg yolk addition? I added a pinch to each meal yesterday and a larger pinch to his meal today. That and the vaseline were maybe too much for him...?

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

I have had a similar reaction from my kitties to powdered egg yolk, but instead of diarrhea it was vomit. I think it might be really rich. I have heard egg yolk lecithin in the capsules can do the same thing. Hairballs are a gut motility issue. They are supposed to be passed into the poop, not puked up. I use 1/8 tsp slippery elm powder in food as it helps to soothe the stomach, bind to the hair and might help Sunny to solidify the poop and pass the hairball. I'd also get some S. boulardii, a probiotic, to help with the diarrhea.

 

[Holly and Sunny Bear]

Thank you @PerfumedCatMom