Feline Hairball Remedies That Just Work!
There are several feline hairball cures available. Both homoeopathic remedies handed down through centuries of folklore and clinical answers popularised by current medical research aim to provide solutions to this ageless dilemma. But herein lays the true issue: What are hairballs, exactly? Why should we be concerned? Is this really a problem? Is it merely a nuisance for both the cat owner and the cat? Is it necessary to seek medical attention? Or should we let nature take its course? If nothing is done, would it cause additional issues for cats later in life? These are just a few of the rhetorical questions that humanity has attempted to answer about our feline companions during the thousands of years that cats have been our companions on our journey through life. Perhaps it was never a significant issue in the past. But now since the great majority of cats in the world are domesticated and kept inside, and we humans live in close quarters, near them, the issue of hairballs (and its related feline hairball cures) has become all the more frequent and a source of worry for us. Given that humans live with these creatures, the fact that cats may vomit up hairballs on occasion may be considered a small annoyance. You just clean things up and go on. However, if your cat is constantly throwing up hairballs, this may be reason for worry. After all, don’t we care for our dogs and want them to have a high quality of life? Things may have progressed from annoyance to nuisance at this stage.
Before You Read Any Further: Disclaimer
In this post, we intend to present feline hairball cures that may provide much-needed relief for your cat, as well as concrete procedures that, if implemented proactively, can assist to avoid and decrease the probability and danger of your cat succumbing to hairballs again in the future.
However, in full honesty, I would want to give one caution before we proceed:
To begin, the information in this post (or anyplace on this website in general) does not represent professional medical advice. It should not be used in lieu of expert counsel from a registered professional veterinarian. This website’s information is based on the suggestions of cat lovers and pet enthusiasts like you and me. The information provided here is based on our own experiences and research. Every effort has been taken to ensure that the information provided in this document is as accurate and dependable as possible. And we hope you find the material included below highly useful and helpful. However, if your cat requires true medical attention, you may find it essential to take your cat to a veterinarian and seek their advise instead. So, now that we’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way, should we go on?
What Are Hairballs?
So, what precisely are hairballs, you may wonder? Hairballs are also known as furballs in certain circles. And they are precisely what their names suggest: balls of fur or hair. These are essentially vast amounts of your cat’s hair that have grown enough entangled to produce a semi-rigid mass that is spherical or cylindrical in shape. Consider a ball of yarn that has been produced by spinning numerous threads of yarn together to the point where it can be treated as a single mass (and could even roll it around like a ball if you wanted to).
How Do Hairballs Form?
Before we get into assessing the numerous feline hairball therapies accessible to you, it would be useful to understand how hairballs develop in your cat’s stomach in the first place.
It should come as no surprise to you as a cat owner that your cat is intuitively and genetically hard-wired to groom itself. It does this by constantly licking itself. I’ve never counted how many times my cats lick themselves every day, but it seems reasonable to assume that they spend a significant portion of their awake hours licking themselves all over, from head to tail. This is how they maintain their cleanliness. It is also how they de-stress. While this is all well and good, there is one problem: when cats lick their own hair, a microscopic, trace quantity of loose fur may get dislodged from the body and become attached to the tongue. Unbeknownst to the cat, this solitary strand of hair may be ingested. One or two strands of hair ingested by your cat on occasion may seem absolutely benign and harmless. However, when seen as a whole, it may be rather troublesome. Consider this: if your cat laps up on or two strands of hair with each grooming session, increase it by hundreds of grooming sessions. It was just a matter of time until those tiny strands of fur began to accumulate. They may begin to cling together and become interwoven, finally forming a highly tight, opaque, and intimidating “solid” message. This lump is known colloquially as a “hairball” or a “furball.”
What Happens When Cat Hairballs Don’t Just Get Excreted Normally?
You’d think that whatever your cat ingests into its stomach would ultimately be ejected out the other end if it couldn’t be digested by the body, right? While this is true for cat hair, there is always the potential that cat fur may not be digested correctly and will remain dormant within your cat’s stomach, gradually accumulating more and more fur until it starts to expand in size. It may eventually reach “critical mass,” at which point it will form a semi-solid mass. What Are the Consequences of Cat Hairballs? So the issue is, what is the effect of hairballs forming in your cat’s stomach? Are there any negative consequences? Hairballs are usually not harmful. Cats will either gradually excrete them or will just puke them up. The latter is the more frequent of the two outcomes. If you’ve ever spotted a pile of fur in your cat’s vomit, you know it was a hairball that has just been ejected from the body. However, it is possible that this hairball may get persistently entrenched inside your cat’s stomach, causing a blockage in your cat’s gastrointestinal route. Your cat is unable to vomit it up, nor is it able to defecate it. To make things worse, your cat can’t digest any more food since the pathway is blocked. This latter problem, if left untreated and without any feline hairball cures, might have highly catastrophic implications.
How Do I know If My Cat Needs Feline Hairball Remedies?
Among the most apparent signs that your cat may be suffering with a bout of hairballs are that your cat:
- is vomiting more frequently than what is considered “normal”.
- has expelled a vomit specimen includes wads of fur.
- is experience a loss of appetite, either eating very little or not at all.
- has lost weight.
- is exhibiting signs of lethargy.
Any one of these aforementioned behaviors are indications that something is wrong. And that something could probably be hairballs. And among these, the most apparent sign would of course be the presence of fur in your cat’s vomit.
How do I know if I should take my cat to the vet?
In this post, we’ll go over several “do it yourself” home remedies for your cat’s hairball problem, as well as some preventive actions you can take to keep the problem from becoming worse or repeating. It takes some time and effort, as well as trial and error, before you see any results. However, if you suspect that your cat is not doing well, you should take him to the veterinarian right away. However, if you believe that your cat is doing well, except from the little annoyance of having to clean up its vomit every now and again, you may be able to wait and address your cat’s condition on its own. Cat hairballs are not a “disease” in and of itself. It is not an ailment, affliction, or malady. It is just a troublesome situation that must be addressed. However, it is not something you should fully disregard. It’s something you’ll want to keep an eye on and make sure is handled before it gets out of hand.
Dietary Feline Hairball Remedies
Because the ingestion of hairballs includes the digestive system of a cat, the therapies for removing persistent hairballs (as well as avoiding future hairballs) should also include a nutritional remedy.
In the sections that follow, we will go through a variety of popular “do-it-yourself” nutritional feline hairball cures, each of which will not cost you anything more than what you would have previously spent on your cat for food and upkeep in the first place. Any combination of these may offer the relaxation that your cat needs.
Hairball Control Cat Treats
One of the most basic feline hairball treatments is one you can get right now, over-the-counter. There is no requirement for a prescription. You may get them in the pet food area of your local grocery store, or you can purchase them online and have them mailed to you right here. I’m talking about hairball management cat treats. As a cat owner, you’ve probably given your cat some goodies at some time. Perhaps you give them snacks on occasion. Or maybe you offer them snacks on a regular basis. But, whatever the situation may be, the good news is that if your cat has hairballs, you may offer him hairball management cat treats. They have the appearance, fragrance, and taste of typical cat treats, but they are carefully made and loaded with chemicals that promote digestion and help to remove hairballs from the body. There are several hairball management cat treats available on the market. Many prominent cat food brands will often provide a “hairball management” variant of some of their standard cat treats.
Hairball Control Cat Food
If you think giving your cat hairball control treats is a simple way to solve the hairball issue, wait till you hear about this one:Hairball control cat food. This technique is even simpler than the previously described cat treats alternative. All you have to do is switch your cat’s usual dry cat food for specially designed hairball control cat food, and then let nature do its thing. While your cat goes about its business, eating food at its typical mealtimes, your cat is not just absorbing the normal, important nutrients that it needs to feed itself. However, it is also absorbing elements that promote a healthy digestive system and may aid in the removal of any tough hairballs that have been trapped inside your cat’s stomach. If your cat is a finicky eater and does not respond well to changes in its cat food, you may supplement its usual cat food with the specially made hairball management cat food. When it comes to hairball management cat diets, one product stands out above the others as the best option for dealing with your cat’s hairball problems: Hairball Control Cat Food from Hills Science Diet. Hills Science Diet is one of the healthiest cat food product lines on the market today. It offers nothing less than high-quality, nutrient-dense food that is essential for your cat’s health and nutrition. No fast food. As a result, its hairball management cat food products will be exceptionally nutrient-dense, in the same spirit as the rest of its goods.
How Do Hairball Control Cat Foods and Treats Work?
If you’re wondering how can hairball control cat meals and cat treats work, the solution is simple: fibre.
Fiber, indeed. You read it accurately. This is the vitamin that is typically present in all fruits and vegetables and is required for proper digestive health in humans. Fiber, it turns out, is also good for a cat’s digestive health. But, you may be asking, how can carnivorous cats consume fibre? Plants, fruits, and vegetables are not eaten by cats. They solely consume meat and dairy products. The basic reason is that fibre may be found in their prey’s bones, ligaments, and tendons. It may also be detected in the undigested food in their prey’s stomach. Cats that hunt for food in the wild will, in theory, be able to ingest fibre, depending on the animals they capture and the sections of their body they devour. But what about cats that have been domesticated? How would they get fibre? That is where these specifically made hairball management cat diets and cat treats come into play. Because these meals are created and processed, they are high in fibre. Fiber helps with digestion and promotes a healthy digestive tract.
Hairball Gels
If solid meals and snacks aren’t your cat’s thing for whatever reason (whether it’s a gastronomic preference or your cat has dental difficulties and has trouble chewing solid foods), and your cat prefers soft, chewy, or wet cat food, there’s another option: gel-based hairball treats. Your cat may lick the gel directly off your finger or off the food dish. It has the same component concentration as well as the same fibre content as its solid equivalents. It merely comes in a gelatinous form rather than a solid shape.
Oils
Oils are yet another nutritional alternative for dealing with your cat’s hairball problem. If your cat has a large ball of hair caught in their stomach or someplace downstream in their gastrointestinal tract, feeding them a small amount of oil may actually help to “grease things up.” Oil may assist in “moving things along.” Regardless of whether the hairball is released by vomiting or excretion, oil may aid in the movement. Furthermore, oils may give several other health advantages for your cat if ingested in moderation and you are careful about whatever sort of oil you feed them.
What Types Of Oil?
Based on our suggestions here at HairballCures.com, the two top candidates for your best choice in terms of oils to give your cat are olive oil (extra virgin version) and coconut oil. Both of these oils are safe for cats to eat while also providing several health advantages that your cat may reap. As a result, feeding your cat is an all-around win-win approach for your cat, both in terms of removing its hairball issue and increasing its overall health.
How Much Oil?
So, how much oil should you give your cat in order to heal their hairball problem? While there is no one correct or incorrect response, there are some broad rules you may follow. One thing you definitely don’t want to do is overfeed your cat on oil. This may result in a slew of additional issues, the most obvious of which is weight gain. Because oil is heavy in calories, you should use it sparingly and in tiny amounts. One suggestion is to give your cat no more than one teaspoon of oil two or three times a week. This is an overly cautious approach. If you don’t observe any benefits or improvement in your cat’s condition, you may raise the frequency of each medication to daily if necessary. However, feeding your cat more than that is typically not a good idea. Check visit this page for additional information about oils.
Calorie Restriction
Calorie restriction is another option for assisting with your cat’s hairball troubles. It is completely free of charge. In fact, using this strategy will save you money. This procedure may or may not solve your cat’s hairball issue. However, it may undoubtedly assist to keep your cat’s condition from worsening. There are three approaches you may take: #1: Reduce the amount of food you give your cat at each meal. #2: Space out your cat’s meals so that there is more time between each one. #3: Use a mix of options 1 and 2. Reduced nutritional intake simply provides a “break” for your cat’s gastrointestinal tract. It gives it an opportunity to “cure the backlog” of any blocked fur and let it pass (or let it be vomited out). When there is a blockage, the last thing you want to do is aggravate the condition by bringing additional food into the system. Again, this solution may not always solve the issue, but it may be something you must eventually do. Once your cat has regurgitated or passed its hairball, you may gradually increase the frequency and amount of food it consumes.
Cat Brushing
Brushing cats is an efficient approach to keep hairballs at bay. It is not a feline hairball remedy in the traditional sense. However, it would be seen as a prophylactic action. When cats lick their own fur, they may unwittingly consume strands of fur, although in minute quantities. With the multiplier effect, hundreds, if not thousands, of individual strands of fur may be ingested, interwoven, and formed into a ball. Brushing may help your cat by proactively removing any loose, extra hair that is in the process of shedding. Essentially, you’re beating your cat to the punch by removing superfluous, loose hair before it ingests it. What kind of brush is it?
Frequency of Brushing
Regular brushing of your cat might help avoid hairballs.
So the issue is, how often and how much should you brush your cat?
Obviously, if you are a busy person who is out of the home most of the day, most days of the week, it may be difficult for you to sit down and brush your cat for fifteen minutes every day. That could be too much for you. So brushing your cat often and regularly may suffice. Most essential, you must brush your cat on a regular basis. Perhaps once a week for a few minutes each day will suffice. If even that is too much for you, try once a week or once every two weeks. The key is to complete the task. Alternatively, you might employ a professional grooming service to brush your cat for you. (While they’re at it, they can even trim their claws and give them a bath.) If you do decide to brush your cat on your own, I highly suggest The Furminator. The Furminator is unusual in that you can brush your cat and dispose of the hair with a single hand and a single push of your thumb. The brushes are made to be tough, resilient, and firm, and they can remove hair as you gently glide the brush over your cat’s body. The fur becomes entangled in the bushes. Then you just press a button to remove the fur that has clung to the brush. This drives the fur off the brush and into any garbage can you have available.
Bathing Your Cat
Bathing your cat on a regular basis is another great strategy to reduce the danger of hairball ingestion. Bathing may help wash away stray fur that may be hanging on their body, ready to be kissed! Bathing, when combined with brushing, is a good two-pronged strategy to addressing this issue. Perhaps you could mix the two tasks and have them completed one after the other. After brushing your cat, give them a bath. This will remove any stray strands of fur that your brush did not take up.
What kind of shampoo should you use?
Not all cat shampoos are made equal when it comes to washing your cat. You don’t want to use any old pet shampoo on your cat. If your cat is prone to hairballs, you might consider investing in an excellent shampoo that truly helps to reduce your cat’s inclination to shed. The less your cat sheds, the less probable it is that he will lick up any stray hair when grooming himself. And the less fur it eats, the less likely it is that hairballs will develop in its stomach! Not to mention that your cat will be clean and have a lovely silky coat of hair! It’s a win-win situation! Hartz Groomer Hairball Control Shampoo is highly recommended. This unique hairball prevention shampoo is infused with freshly scented microbeads and gently washes away any loose, superfluous fur. This should result in a smooth, lustrous coat.
Conclusion
Hairballs in your cat are not a “foregone consequence” (pun intended). There are several DIY feline hairball cures available to assist your cat expel hairballs. Similarly, there are several alternatives accessible to you for avoiding your cat from eating hairballs in the future. It just takes time, dedication, and trial and error to discover the ideal option for you and your cat. In the worst-case situation, you can always take your cat to the veterinarian. However, hairballs may not always need emergency medical intervention. Most typical, healthy cats may easily vomit up hairballs, giving them with some comfort.