Hairballs
A question for cat connoisseurs…
Windigo is obsessive about cleaning not just his own fur, but also Aos’s. He will clean himself and Aos to the point of throwing up some pretty scary solid hairballs. Some of you might remember last year he got a bowel obstruction (which was passed after a couple days at the vet) it turned out to be a hair blockage of his own making.
Now the weather is warming again and he is starting the obsessive licking cycle again, the hairballs are also just beginning to start again. I brush him, but honestly no hair comes off with the cat brush. Is he pulling his fur out? He doesn’t seem to be going bald anywhere, maybe his tongue is more efficient then my brush. I use a natural hairball formula which seems to work okay when he gets it once or twice a day.
Has anyone else experience this problem with one of their cats? Could I be doing anything else? I really do not want this to turn into another $500 vet bill.
Someone I know at work sugguested that I get some cat grass from Petco, she said it would aid their digestion. Do you think it would help? Windigo and Aos are indoor cats, so they don’t any roughage from the great outdoors. (I am not against letting cats outdoors by the way, we just happen to live 20 feet from 29th Avenue which is a main road in Spokane.) Aos doesn’t get the hairballs Windigo does, however that is probably because he lets Windigo clean him instead of doing it himself…
February 13th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Cat grass helps the hairballs…in that it helps them out. At least that’s how it seemed to work when we got it for the kitties.
So it might help in the sense that cleaning up a ton of hairballs is better than the $500 vet bill..
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February 13th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
well, I don’t know about the cat grass, my mom has never had a problem with hairballs, but I would suggest calling the vet to ask them what they think might help? and it probably wouldn’t cost you anything for a call like that! :3
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February 14th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Yes, get some catgrass, it helps. That’s why cats eat it.
I would consider getting another brush just to see if it helps.
And I would suggest looking into the cats’ diet. We feed our cat a high quality food that isn’t carried in the grocery stores up here. Her fur is much better for it. It could be that the cat has dry skin or something like that that makes it very itchy from the shedding and that causes the licking.
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February 15th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I didn’t think of a skin problem aspect, time to investigate some kitty skin/fur! Thanks for the advice!
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February 14th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I would guess that since his problem seems more season, it’s NOT this, but I thought I might ask, just in case: does he seem nauseated? swallowing and/or gagging quite a bit and then obsessively grooming? This is what Claire was like with her Inflammatory Bowel Disease… I guess the obsessive grooming helped keep her mind of her upset tummy. Also, she would “barber”– obsessively chew at the fur on her “wrists”, right behind her pads. We always know she’s having a flare-up if she starts swallowing, gagging and grooming.
Being that it’s seasonal, though, I’d guess it’s something else. Moose doesn’t groom excessively in the spring, but he *does* start pulling his fur out. I think the warmer weather drive him nuts with that thick undercoat he has. Sounds like Aos might be the same way?
Hope you figure out what’s going on!
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February 15th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
It is seasonal, though I have pondered the bowl problem. Last visit to the vet it was briefly discussed but he didn’t feel it was the likely problem. Still it is something to keep in mind.
Windigo is doing much better now, regular natural hairball formula seems to really be helping.
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February 15th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Dip both cats in that solution that stops people biting their nails. Should solve the problem!
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February 15th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Purrfect solution!
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