Congratulations if you’re seeking for a DIY hairball treatment for cats! You’ve arrived to the correct location! Everyone has been there. Your pet is OK one minute…. It’s going about its business… Then you hear the noises of a cat choking up something in its throat… The next thing you know, your cat has left the “crime scene,” leaving behind “proof” of a little pool of vomit… Only this puke is a concoction of undigested food and fur knots!
So, what exactly should you do in this situation? Unfortunately for us pet owners, our cats are unlikely to accept responsibility for their activities and clean up after themselves (which is odd given that the cat’s inherent need to groom itself put it into this mess in the first place)! So who is left with the responsibility of cleaning up the mess? We, the humans. (Although we humans profess to be superior to the rest of the animal species, who is responsible for cleaning up after who? Nature, after all, has its own sense of irony, doesn’t it?)
It’s a disgusting job, but as the adage goes, someone has to do it! Now comes the tricky part: You may keep living this way… Your cat will vomit every few days or weeks (or, in extreme situations, every day). You’ll have to clean up after your cat. Repeat as necessary. Doesn’t it seem to be a vicious circle?
Putting A Gag On Hairball Vomiting
There is, however, a method to interrupt the pattern. There is, indeed, a light at the end of the tunnel. This does not have to be the case all of the time. It does not have to be the case that you should just accept that this is “how it is” with cats. While it is true that if cats are left to their own devices, they will lick and consume their own fur, and there is a chance that they may vomit hairballs at some time. Cats have been around for millennia, and they have been throwing hairballs for generations. That is in their nature.
Things are different now that we live in an age when we have access to technology, medicine, and have tamed our cats. Hairballs will be thrown up by cats that live with us. And when they do, it may harm our furniture, clothing, bedding, and other personal belongings.
The good news is that hairball vomiting is treatable. In terms of amount and frequency, it may be diminished and reduced. For as long as cats will be our housemates, we must do all we can to strike a careful balance between keeping our cats happy and caring for them and keeping our surroundings clean and free of destruction.
A Really Slick Homemade Hairball Remedy For Cats
Oil. I’m not talking about the sort for which you drill. I’m referring to any natural oil created by foods. According to research, letting your cat ingest oil-containing meals (or drinking oil on its own) will help solve its hairball problem.
Olive oil is an excellent example. You may add a few drops of oil to your cat’s diet… However, not too much. Try one teaspoon every week at first, and then explore as needed.
Oil may assist “grease your cat’s digestive tract,” allowing hairballs to go ahead through the system and be passed out of their body via their faeces.
Adding a little oil to your cat’s food should assist to reduce your cat’s inclination to vomit them up.
You may also try other kinds of oil, such as mineral oil, saffron oil, and so on.
In the same vein (no, not literally the veins of your cat’s body), you may give your cat butter by mixing it in with their food, which is similarly effective to oil.
Fish oil is another excellent alternative. Many marine foods are offered in cans that include fish oil. So be sure to integrate canned salmon with fish oil into your cat’s diet… Tuna and salmon are two excellent examples.
Given that cats are primarily carnivorous, feeding them fibre may seem counterintuitive. (Have you ever tried giving fruits and veggies to your cat? They’ll turn down whatever vegetables you attempt to feed them!) However, just as fibre is good to people, it is also healthy to cats!
Fiber, by itself, has no nutrients that the body can utilise. However, it is necessary for keeping the digestive system clean, healthy, and working properly.
So the issue is, how would you provide fibre to your cat since cats don’t naturally consume fibrous foods?
The solution is simple: many dry cat diets and cat treats sold at pet stores have fiber-containing components.
You may also include powdered fibre into your cat’s wet cat food.
Your pet would be unaffected!
(Of course, you’d want to avoid giving your cat too much fibre, otherwise you may wind up with a problem worse than hairball vomiting, if you know what I mean!)
Other Do-It-Yourself Homemade Cat Hairball Remedies
- Cleaning Your Cat’s Fur
Brushing your cat on a regular basis will help prevent cat hairball vomiting. Let’s face it: whether you like it or not, your cat will lick itself all day. And when it does, it will surely swallow part of its own fur… hair that has come free from its body as a result of the process.
What would happen if you brushed your cat on a regular basis, though?
Brushing your cat will proactively remove loose hair from its body… fur that would otherwise have been eaten by your cat and gathered into a ball of fur trapped in its stomach. Obviously, you cannot completely prevent your cat from picking up loose hair with its mouth. When there is less loose hair accessible for it to eat in the first place, you may substantially decrease and lessen the quantity of fur that is absorbed into its body!
This certainly requires a continuing commitment on your behalf, both in terms of time and effort.
Bathing your cat follows the same rationale as brushing your cat: bathing your cat is likely to wash away any loose hair from its skin. This will result in less hair being licked up by your cat the next time it grooms itself. Again, this is not a flawless approach, but it is one that needs frequent, regular monitoring to preserve its advantages. (Doing it only once will only give you a few moments before additional loose hair gets ripe and ready to be sucked up by your cat.)
Your Turn: What Is The Most Effective Homemade Hairball Remedy For Cats?
It’s now your time! Has your cat ever had a serious case of hairballs? Have you tried any of the hairball treatment options suggested above? How did they function?
What additional home remedies for hairballs have you tried?
What is the best DIY hairball cure for cats, in your opinion?