Well, it’s that time of year again . . .cats start shedding their fur, grooming themselves with their tongues, then puking their hair encrusted guts up all over the living room floor.
My wife and I have 3 cats. Cat #1 is pretty cool about it . . . he at least tries to toss his cookines in the basement.
But so far Cats #2 and 3 have had one incident each on the carpet, and it is really disgusting to clean up. Is there any way to get a cat to expel their Kit and Kaboodles elsewhere?
I have this stuff called “Boundary” that I got at the pet store. A similar product is sold under the name “No!” It’s some sort of cat repellant that will keep your pets off furniture, carpet, etc. I’ve never had a problem with it staining my furniture. I bet that would work to keep the cat puke somewhere that it’s easier to clean up.
-L
as SexyWriter pointed out, there are methods you can use to prevent cats from going to certain places, thus providing some assurance that your cat’s won’t caught up a hairball there.
This is good if you don’t want the cats venturing there the rest of the time.
My best solution for this problem is to brush your cat thoroughly whenever they are blowing coat. For me, when my furry kids are going through a spring coat change, I wash them. A good thorough wash and comb/blow dry and most of the fur that’s lose at the moment comes off and they produce fewer hairballs for a couple weeks.
One should, of course, be very careful washing their cat.
Mine used to be show cats, so they are used to it. They just stand there in the tub making long suffering meowing noises and starting at me with accusing eyes while I suds them up and rinse them down.
-Doug
My mother had two cats, so I’ve seen and dealt with the damange you’re discussing, Scapegoat.
I recommend laying out a 2’x2’ square of paper towels with 3-4 layers. While you’re doing this, shoo the cats away any time they come close or show interest. Call family over to look at the paper towels. Say “ooh” and “aaah” a lot. Before going to bed or leaving the house for any period of time. gesture toward the paper towels and say something like, “I reallyreally like this new carpet. Even though it was soooo expensive, I think it was a worthwhile investment.”
My mother did all of the above…except, instead of papertowels, she recently installed turquoise plush carpeting. I think the steps taken above indicated to the cats that the new carpet was the appropriate spot for them to hack up.
Brush brush brush. And comb those kitties. Trust me, it makes all the difference.
For some reason, though, we don’t brush them as much…and they don’t have any hairballs…I don’t get it-one is even an angora cat, and she never has had a hairball that I know of.
Go figure.
Lots of good advice here, especially about the brushing. Thankfully, our three love to be brushed; otherwise, we’d have hair everywhere.
I’ll also add that there are various hairball remedies available–we’ve had great luck with something called Kittymalt (malt-flavored petroleum jelly, I think). A little drop of that every couple of days, and instead of barfing up hairballs, the cats expel hair the other way.
And I see that Pounce treats are now available in an anti-hairball formula. We haven’t tried them yet, but they seem to be the above malty goop injected into the middle of a Pounce treat. Since ours all come running if they hear anything like the Pounce can being shaken, this would be a much better way of getting them to eat the malty goop. Anybody tried these? How well do they work?
I’ve never tried the Pounce thingies, but Science Diet Anti-Hairball Cat Food seemed to do the trick. As does giving the cat two different kinds of antacids twice a day, along with some valium and blood pressure medicine. But you gotta have a cat whose kidneys have ceased to function to get the vet to give ya the REALLY good drugs.
Pros: No more hairballs
Cons: Twice a day, I have to hunt the bugger down, hold him firmly to the floor, and insert a pill. When pill is down, insert liquid antacid. Every few months bring to vet and pay exorbitant fees for blood work.
Y’know, you’re right! It’s EASY compared to cleaning up cat puke!
Yes, I tried the Pounce thingies, and they seemed to work pretty good, about as good as the Kittymalt. It made the hairballs less frequent, but didn’t eliminate the problem completely. For the # of servings of Pounce, though, I think you are paying a lot more than for the Kittymalt. I was suprised how quickly we went through the Pounce, and it was more expensive.
…OT but worth reading just the same.
I got the bit below in an e-mail a long time ago. I’d like to give credit to the writer of this but I have no idea who he or she is (it wasn’t theperson who e-mailed me). Anyway…it’s funny and worth a quick read.
Years ago, I heard my cat making retching sounds, and made the mistake of picking her up to take her downstairs and outside. I’d barely made it to the top of the stairs when I copped it all over my right arm. The trip down the stairs seemed like an eternity. The puke was getting colder and heavier, and colder… and… heavier…
EWWWWW! Total recall!
One good thing about this cat was that if she ever was accidently locked in the house, she’d go and crap over the small drain in the shower. We didn’t train her to do this, but I think she was attracted to the earthy smell. Now, cat puke may not be Chanel No.5, but cat poo has to be the most foul-smelling substance known to man. That stuff sure is high.
I’ve heard of cats straddling the toilet seat. Dunno if this was a result of training or not.
Regarding Kittymalt and others:
A small dab of vaseline on the nose or paw will work as well. Cats can’t stand the glob of stuff and will lick it off, thus lubeing the way for the hairballs to go down instead of up.
But brushing to remove the loose hair is probably best.
They make stuff for this. I can’t remember what it is called but it is basically Cod Liver Oil. My cats both love the stuff. I swear the more foul something smells the more interested our cats will be with it. Anyway, a gob on a plate disappears in short order and helps to grease the pipes.