struggle with hairballs (what do you do?)

I am sorry for the often repeated topic. I tried calling my vet yesterday but I forgot they close early on Fridays.
Raven struggles with hairballs. What are you supposed to do for a cat that struggles with hairballs?
I have had Raven since she was 9 weeks old. She is a short haired cat, she has very fine soft fur. She has had hairball problems since she was 12 weeks old, throwing them up often. At first I thought it was a food issue, but there is hair in the "piles".
She is now 11 months old, I had worried about giving her any hairball treatments because the ones I have found have all said for adult cats.
I am more worried about her now because yesterday she brought up a large hairball (barfed, I mean) and seemed to struggle while trying to bring it up.

Is there certian things to feed her that would help? I am still on my quest for the best food for the 2 of them, the diamond naturals has made Jack have horrible dandruff. Raven does not seem to have any problem with food, just hairballs.

I try to brush her more to remove some of the hair. I am worried that this will be an issue all of her life, how do I make it easier for her?

My 2 cats both have long hair (Matilda's is extra long). Mattie will get hairballs constantly, but this is what has made a huge difference for her:

- having her shaved in the summer (wouldn't help a short haired cat)

- feeding her a dry food that was made for indoor cats or cats with hairball issues. Nutro Natural Indoor is one. She never had a hairball when eating this food, and then I switched her to Natural Balance and she started having them. Diamond Naturals makes an indoor formula, have you tried that? I can't say enough good things about how Nutro Natural's Indoor formula helped Mattie with hairballs.

- Temptations Hairball Treats (you feed 10 of these every other day. It has the hairball gel in them. I couldn't get her to eat the hairball stuff you can buy at the pet store (the gel) so I really like these. She gobbles them right up). These are ok for cats over 6 months old.

- brushing with a rake to get the undercoat out.

Even though the gel says for adult cats, I think 11 months is plenty old enough. Your cat is pretty much an adult at that age anyway. Chloe will be 11 months old on July 15th and I am just now in the process of gradually switching her to adult food (albeit an all-life-stages one).

I wouldn't bother with an indoor formula food unless you have a chubby/overweight cat.
I tried it for Spaz, an NFC thus longhair (and the ex-boyfriend's 5 cats), and she (they) went from ideal weight on the small side to rail thin.

I feed Nutro Natural Complete Care (the non-Indoor one) and she does fine.
She brings her hairballs up easily and about once monthly (you could almost use her hairballs as a calendar).

Get a Furminator, it really helps (or, if you're cheap, like me, I found one exactly like the Furminator at Wal-mart for half the price, the FurBuster by Bamboo).

Originally Posted by mom2raven

I try to brush her more to remove some of the hair. I am worried that this will be an issue all of her life, how do I make it easier for her?

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I truly believe this is the answer. Lucky for me that Persi actually likes me to comb him and I take out gobs of hair every day that would probably end up as hairballs had I not.

Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

I truly believe this is the answer. Lucky for me that Persi actually likes me to comb him and I take out gobs of hair every day that would probably end up as hairballs had I not.

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longhair cats actually get fewer hairballs as they shed LESS

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Get a Furminator, it really helps (or, if you're cheap, like me, I found one exactly like the Furminator at Wal-mart for half the price, the FurBuster by Bamboo).

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I use the FurBuster and a Zoom Groom on my 2 guys. Zoom Groom several times a week. FurBuster not as often--I used it a little too much right after I got it, and Stimpy ended up with a baldish patch on his back where the hair was thin and coarse.

Stimpy likes hairball goop and olive oil (and butter and pretty much anything you can give a cat for hairballs ), so he rarely has hairball issues. Nabu is very manageable with regular brushing.

When Raven was still alive, we used brushing to manage his coat (Your Raven looks like she has a similar coat in photos). He still had regular hairballs, that was just him. He did like hairball treats, so that often helped. His faves were Whiskas Temptation hairball treats and Friskies soft hairball treats.