Comments on: What is a good hairball remedy for cats? Homemade or commercial, any hints appreciated…?

By: new gardener

new gardener — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:58:42 +0000

Butter helps, your cat is OK. Thet just means your cat is well groomed. Try brushing the cat, if your cat likes it then you have removed all the hair your cat would have puked up. Butter just eases the transition from stomach to couch.

By: Eve

Eve — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:00:34 +0000

If you brush your cat A LOT it will cut down on the hairballs, considerably. It’s not much fun to do, but they lick and swallow hair constantly! Brushing much of the loose hair off helps.

We buy Science Diet Hairball control…that helps, too. Even so, we squish those slimy things….every now and then, with bare feet. Yech! It has to be love for it to work. Ha.

By: Sandra K

Sandra K — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:37:41 +0000

You should try to brush your cat quite often. This will make a difference.

Secondly, have you tried cat grass? This can also be quite helpful.

By: Cathy A

Cathy A — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:47:29 +0000

I buy something from the Dollar store and you can get the same thing anywhere. It is a little treat shaped in hearts that have hairball control. It says on the package how many to use. My grandmother uses it and it works for her also.

By: Kayty

Kayty — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:03:59 +0000

Actually, the best hairball remedy I have found is prevention. I find that if I brush or comb my cats several times a week, there is much less fur on my furniture and fewer hairball incidents.

I use a fine-tooth flea comb on my shorthaired cats and an Evolution brush on the longhaired one. A groomer showed my how to hold the combs at a 45 degree angle to get the undercoat out rather than just smoothing the surface hairs.

By: UNC

UNC — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:04:38 +0000

iams

By: CF_

CF_ — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:06:33 +0000

good foods use ingredients that help anyhow…

canned pumkin is excellent for helping – regular brushing helps too

best solution is good quality food (not grocery store or Wal Mart food) less filler = healthier skin = less shedding = less hair balls

By: JeN

JeN — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:06:24 +0000

If you have some Vaseline you can try that first, most cats will lick it right off the spoon, or you can mix a little tuna juice with it. For chronic hairball problems, give your cat about 1/2 tsp twice a day, and BRUSH them as much as they’ll let you.

If Vaseline is a no-go, there is a product called Laxatone, it’s basically flavored Vaseline but it’s a little softer, you can put the tube in a glass of hot water and warm it up and mix it in with their food, or put a little bit on their paws for them to lick off. Same dosage applies, and also the brushing.

After about a week of treatment twice a day, you can reduce the number of doses to once a day, or once every other day, basically as little as necessary so you don’t waste your stuff or give them diarrhea.

By the way, butter or margarine is a BAD idea, the oils and fats in them can cause pancreatitis in cats.

By: 2boys4dogs

2boys4dogs — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:57:22 +0000

YES

Get some margarine and put a huge blob of it on your cat’s paw. Really squish it on there. The cat will lick it off and this helps a LOT with hairballs. We did this for all of our cats. It works great. I would suggest doing this every two weeks or so as maintenance.

By: rachel

rachel — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:54:26 +0000

it sounds really weird, but my cats love to eat vaseline, I let them have at total of a teaspoon per month and it works wonderfully. (I read the hairball-formula tube once and that was what they used as the 99% inactive ingredient— it’s pretty active for us- no hairballs ever!)