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Hairball food: Specially formulated hairball diets contain extra fiber to support digestive health and help push hair through the digestive tract. Both dry and wet hairball diets are available. Hairball foods are complete and balanced and are intended to be used as your cat's regular diet. Adjust your cat’s diet to reduce inflammatory ingredients and consider incorporating probiotics, prebiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids to promote digestive health Every so often, your otherwise fastidious cat will do an alarming and somewhat disgusting thing. She’ll awake from a peaceful nap, rise up on her paws, retch convulsively for a moment or two, and spit up what may appear at first glance to be a damp clump. What the animal has disgorged — in the middle of your kitchen floor or, worse yet, in the middle of your prized Persian rug — is a trichobezoar, a wad of undigested hair that is commonly referred to as a hairball.
This article was written by Steven Asarch, a freelance writer and product expert, for The Spruce. A devout cat dad of two, he has expert experience figuring out which products are perfect for them. With six very fluffy cats I'll vote for katalax everytime. I've had a very poorly cat in the past with a furball he couldn't move. I remember phoning the vet terrified because we had no idea what was wrong and I really though we'd loose him. She told me as a last resort give him a double dose of katalax and if he was no better in a couple of hours to take him in and they'd admit him for exploratory surgery. Within an hour he coughed up the biggest furball I've ever seen then went for something to eat! He was nine at the time and at the end of April celebrated his sixteenth birthday. The key is not to get too distressed and just keep an eye on your cat to ensure they bring up the hairball and then stop gagging. The Laxatone hairball supplement from Tomlyn, that's been a favorite of mine for a long time," says Dr. Keith Harper, veterinarian and owner of Hayward Veterinary Hospital in California. "I've had the most success with the Laxatone over my career."Petrolatum, also known as petroleum jelly, paraffin oil, or white petrolatum, is a highly refined derivative of petroleum. After it’s been fully refined, petroleum jelly appears to be safe for cats and people. One particularly effective treatment is hairball cat food. These kibble-based products contain lots of fibre to help take excess fur through the digestive system. They also contain vitamins and minerals to keep your cat’s fur in good condition and reduce hair loss. Cats are very good at keeping themselves clean. They naturally know how to self-groom, and rarely need bathing. However, during the self-grooming process, they can swallow loose hair – and this leads to a cat hairball. Most cats get hairballs from time to time and it’s usually nothing to worry about. But if you are wondering what is causing them, what are the symptoms you should look out for and how to help a cat with hairballs, here is everything you need to know. Vet's Best Hairball Relief Digestive Aid supplements contain fiber and natural ingredients to support digestion and prevent or eliminate hairballs. Ultimately, you don’t want to have your cat on lubricants and other hairball treatments for the rest of his life. You don’t want him to have hairballs.
They contain a mix of ingredients intended to support healthy digestion, including flaxseed as a source of fiber and a mix of prebiotics and probiotics intended to keep the gut in top shape. A cat that is vomiting or retching, lethargic, or does not want to eat may have an obstruction from a hairball," Whittenburg says. "Defecating does not rule out a hairball, as feces are stored in the colon and intestinal obstructions occur in the small intestine." What should you do if your cat is throwing up hairballs? It’s not uncommon, says Dr. Goldstein, for a cat to regurgitate a hairball once every week or two. Aside from inconvenience to the owner, this is nothing to worry about. However, the wad of matted hair can pose a serious health threat it if grows too large to pass through the narrow sphincters leading either from the esophagus to the stomach or from the stomach to the intestinal tract. Also threatening, he notes, is a hairball that manages to pass into the small intestine and become tightly lodged there. “This is uncommon,” he notes, “but it is very serious when it does occur. Without surgical intervention, it can be fatal.” The veterinarian-formulated remedy also contains omega-3 fatty acids for a shiny coat and healthy skin — the other non-petroleum hairball gel we considered does not. Constant retching (with no sign of a hairball) and lethargy can also be signs of asthma. The vet should be able to discern the underlying cause. Either way, you will have identified a health issue in your cat and will have solved it before it gets worse.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks for Best Hairball Remedies for Cats
When a cat is trying to bring up a hairball, they may start retching, gagging or acting like they are dry heaving and trying to vomit. Sometimes the sound they make is called a ‘cough-gag-retch’. This is because your cat can appear to be coughing from the lungs, gagging with their throat and retching from the stomach. It's important to treat and prevent hairballs so they don't cause a dangerous intestinal obstruction. While small amounts of hair usually pass harmlessly through a cat's digestive tract, too much hair can ball up and become trapped inside the stomach. At that point, the hairball may be "coughed up." While daily brushing reduces the amount of fur your cat swallows when they groom themselves, your vet might also recommend using one of the best hairball remedies for cats. You can buy a specialist cat hairball treatment paste that contains a laxative and lubricant to help them pass through the digestive system. But this is not generally needed. If you do use it, follow the instructions to the letter.
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