My rescue cat, 14 years old now, has puked almost daily his whole life. He has long hair and self grooms a lot. Resulting in a lot of hairballs. Sometimes he’ll puke 3 or 4 days in a row until he gets that bastid hairball up.
He’s had gastric problems as well, resulting in the trips to the vet for enemas, as well as to control diarrhea, and was once cut throat to balls for an unknown malady, that the vet could only describe as some sort of gas buildup that had shut down his bowel (no bowel sounds) that needed released. He walks around in a constant state of annoyance-it’s his nature. He’s neurotic.
So he hates fish, as in Laxatone Tuna and the like. He hates me giving him hairball pasty nasty stuff–he spits it out or if I try harder to get it to the back of his throat, he ends up with it somehow all over his face and neck, leading to more self grooming.
He won’t eat hairball preventative dry food. Please don’t tell me if it sits there long enough and there’s nothing else to eat, he’ll eat it. He won’t–he’ll end up at the vet again. Been there, done that.
Anyone have a similar neurotic pissed-off-at-the-world cat with hairballs? Share a success story please! When I left for work this morning he was sitting the closet, glaring at me as he tried to lick the hairball paste off his ruff.
We have a scarf-and-barf cat also. We can only feed her very small amounts of food about every hour and a half or so when she’s awake and have to get up a couple times a night to feed her. Luckily she likes the Laxatone stuff, and we groom her often with one of these, which does a terrific job.
All of these have resulted in far less barfing, which used to be several times a day. Now she’ll go several days between events. I’ve purchased an automatic feeder that regulates the amount, but have to get a 7-day, multiple event timer for it.
Learn to rake (that is, essentially, what the tool is) in the direction of the hair - do NOT try to brush against the grain - you really want the cat to enjoy this.
Brush at least once a month - in the wild, a cat would rub against bushes etc. and disloge loose hairs that way.
A heavy stainless comb (wider spacing for long hair) is good after the brush has removed the loose hair.
I hiope your cat allows you to groom its belly - it took me 3 years to convince my semi-feral Maine Coon to allow me to turn her on her back.
Last time I mentioned this, I got yelled at here but:
Smear about a teaspoon of Vaseline on the forepaws (1/2 teaspoon per paw) - rub it against the grain so it doesn’t get flipped off.
This will lube the digestive track and clear out hairballs.
Pick a variety of grasses and weed. Put them in stable vases near the food dish. It is the natural emetic for cats - the vaseline should not be required.
Long hair cats are better looking, but they are high-maintenance critters.
I’ve got a daily puker too… longhair rescue cat, now 11 years old. I got him at 5 years old and he never missed a day’s puke at the start. He hates hairball paste. Hates butter. Hates fish oil stuff. I brush him twice a day with one of these Shedmonster tools and it’s worked wonders. Also I grow grass in a small planter for the cats year-round. Now he pukes only once a week, still more than the other cats, but then he is CONSTANTLY grooming himself so I think that’s part of it too.
Brushing is probably the best thing you can do for your kitty - get a rake tool as others have mentioned —> Furminator, Shedmonster - whatever kind you like best - and use it. It’s amazing how much more fur you’ll get out with one of those as opposed to a plain brush/comb. Good luck!
Is there another type of anti-puke food that he might like? I have a cat with urinary problems who refused to eat the first type of urinary control food that I tried to give him, but he loves the second type.
Cats (yeah, I know you know of one oddball - sit on it) do not like vaseline.
They dislike crud on forepaws even more.
I don’t know what the “anti-puke” medicine you are wanting to use - if you suppress hairball expulsion, make damned certain the hairball will come out the butt - otherwise you will be looking at either surgery or a dead cat.
Do not block the digestive track.
Given that, mix the med with butter or vaseline (tiny quantities) and smear on paw.
Cat owners, I’d like to mention something that may/may not help:
I have a rabbit. Rabbits groom themselves like cats. Rabbits get hairballs like cats. Rabbits cannot vomit like cats so the hairball has to work its way through to the nether darkness. Vets discovered about 20-25 years ago that (depending on the size of the rabbit) a chunk of pineapple twice a day dissolves hairballs–there is an enzyme in fresh pineapple that helps to dissolve the hair (or it may keep the hairball from forming, I’m not sure which). Logically, you’d think this would work with cats, as well. But we all know that cats are not logical creatures . I just Googled, and cats CAN eat pineapple, but whether it would work on them like it works on rabbits, I do not know. If you think it could work, consult a (or many) vet(s), particularly vets that specialize in “exotics.”
I don’t want to appear irresponsible in suggesting all this, just taking two minutes to propose an idea. Apologies in advance if this wastes someone’s time.
Again, DO NOT TRY THIS BEFORE CONSULTING A VET–IANAVet. Even though I’m a dog/rabbit person, it would kill me if a cat came to distress because of my suggestion. Use Caution, Always.
Shave your cat. Besides eliminating hairballs, we find a lot less cat hair around the house. Plus our weird cat likes getter her fur shaved off. Trixiewould normally have very long hair, this is her shortly after one of her beauty parlor trips. The only part not shaved is her neck and the tip of her tail.
Scarf and barf sounds right for my cat. It’s not (always) hairballs, because I can very clearly see the whole kibble bits that she’s yakked up. Occasionally I find a hairball at the end of the yak, but since she’s a shorthair, there’s really no reason for that many hairballs - the other cat doesn’t puke at all.
Thanks all, I do have a dethatcher (that’s what I call the undercoat tool I use, I think it’s the one at the PetsMart link above)–he loves his brushing, allows me to dethatch him head to toe. IDK if he would eat grass, but I’ve seen it at check out at the PetsMart, so I guess I’ll try that.
Concur with **racer72 **that a crew cut would be the best long-term solution. If your cat is overall amenable to being brushed, you may be able to acclimate him to the sound/feel of clippers so you can do this yourself at home. (NO SCISSORS EVER.) Start out in very short sessions, like a minute or maybe even less, accompanied by lots of good treatsies.
Have you ever tried the Friskies “Oh, No! Hairball” treats? My cats hate every other hairball remedy, won’t tolerate brushing, but will come running for two or three of these soft treats. And they work for my cats.
. I just Googled, and cats CAN eat pineapple, but whether it would work on them like it works on rabbits, I do not know. If you think it could work, consult a (or many) vet(s), particularly vets that specialize in “exotics.”