My cat has a bad hairball problem. I brush her daily and its still bad. What can i do?

Hi Marleane,





If you are continuing to have a ';bad hairball problem'; and you are brushing her daily you should consult your veterinarian. Hairballs are not only a nuisance for you and your cat, but with your consistent grooming with poor results, you may need to consider that this may not only be a hairball problem.





Hairballs can cause blockages in your cat's digestive tract so care must be given to ensure that this is not happening.





An excellent resource to learn about this condition is:


http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-69.htm





Hope this helps, and do consult with your vet about what else may be going on before you begin any commercial remedies for your kitty. Good luck with her.





Troublesniffer


Owned by cats for over 40 years





http://frequentlyfeline.blogspot.com/My cat has a bad hairball problem. I brush her daily and its still bad. What can i do?
Sometimes, with brushing, you simply loosen fur from the undercoat without eliminating it. That can make it even worse. Try a different brush (one with soft metal tines is real good, and others are advertised to take off loose fur from the undercoat). There are also hairball medications, that are actually flavored greases that allow the hair to pass through. Simply adding extra oils to food sometimes is not that good, as it can dissolve needed vitamins from the foods.





But the normal definition of a hairball problem is when they upchuck hairballs; otherwise it is a shedding problem.My cat has a bad hairball problem. I brush her daily and its still bad. What can i do?
Avoid the hairball formula food.





There are two things you can do if you're already grooming daily. One is to add fish oil to the diet and the other is to use a hairball remedy.





You can find hairball remedies in most pet stores.





Fish oil:


Only Natural Pet Icelandic Salmon Oil (pump) (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/O鈥?/a>


The one from the Natural Pet....(local pet store)





Good for hairballs, good for skin and coat.





Selection: You typically won't use human fish oils - at least not the ones in liquid form - because they have added citrus flavors to many of them. You don't want to use cod liver oil - at least not on a very regular basis - because it has too much vitamin a. Plain old fish oil or salmon oil is best. I prefer it in liquid form as opposed to capsules for ease of dispensing. You want it to say that they've done everything possible to remove mercury. I prefer one with the fewest additives, especially not rosemary. Or propyllgallate.





For ease of use, I prefer to buy it in liquid form in a squeeze bottle or pump.





Dosage: I give a squirt every day. It's not measured but probably comes to somewhere around 1/4 tsp.
There is a product called Laxatone that you can get from your vet that helps cats ';digest'; the hairballs, so instead of throwing them up they poop them out. It comes in a tube and you can either mix it in with your cats food or put it directly in her mouth. Call your vet and ask them about it. There's also hairball control foods you can try as well. Good luck!
You say your cat has a hairball problem, but there aren't any specifics. Does your act actually produce a hairball or just cough? The reason I ask is that my cat would cough, but never produce an actual hairball. Turns out it is asthma and not hairballs.





Good luck,


Stacey
Why don't you buy cat food that is specially formulated for hairball control, like 9 lives or purina...it's like 4 bucks. And they have one for hairball control-indoor formula together!
Try adding oily stuff to her food: That might help with the shedding problem.





Good luck!
I used purina hair-ball formula for my cat's food. Hairballs cleared up after a few weeks.