Seeking help concerning hairballs

Hey folks,

I hate for my first post here to be something this unpleasant but I'm having trouble finding any info on something this specific. I suppose I might as well get to the nitty gritty.

My cat was diagnosed with cancer just about a week ago(ack! Just writing that is hard to do). It's pretty far along know from what I understand and she's starting to turn down food more often than not. The reason I'm postinghere though is because over the last 4 nights she's been vomiting up a big tube of hair. At first a rather tight packed wad and since then something less dense but still pretty substantial. I've been over several hairball remedy sites and asked around a lot but pretty much everything I have seen thus far is a laxative... and right now the last thing I want is for her to have any more intestinal issues(The vet said something to the extent that it was intestinal cancer that spread to her liver, my wife was pretty broken up during the call but I think we're pretty clear on what's going on).

I guess to summarize, is there anything out there that may help my cat out without possibly irritating her already troublesome bowels. She probably won't be around too much longer with how things are looking these days, I just want her to be as comfortable as possible for as long as we have her.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.

-Dave

I would get a second opinion, possibley from a holistic vet

I'm so sorry for your little one. Many Prayers for all of you during this very hard time.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m sorry, I have no advice for you. I just wanted to say my heart goes out to you and your wife. You cat is very lucky to have such loving parents to do research her. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Thank you for the well wishes.

To clarify on the vet situation. We've had 3 vets involved so far so I'm pretty sure the diagnosis is accurate(unfortunately). Plus, we're kinda small town here so a holistic vet isn't anywhere within comfortable travelling range for the cat.

So far the best help my wife has discovered is wait until the sunbeams come in the living room window then brush her while she's recharging her solar batteries. As long she she's still pretty active and in a good mood we think this will help.

I'm gonna go try and coax her out of my closet with a piece of tuna now. I'll post if I come across anything more helpful then extra brushings

Your poor kitty

I don't buy anything special for hairballs. I just use plain ordinary Vaseline petroleum jelly. It's edible (otherwise it wouldn't be advised to use on your lips when they're dry), bland and works wonders without causing diarrhea.

That being said, if her cancer is that far advanced and she's refusing food and throwing up like you said, as hard as it is, you might want to consider helping her along to Rainbow Bridge just for her comfort. Cats really don't show their pain, and by the time they do show it, it's very advanced and the cat is suffering at that point.

Dave,
Could one of the vets recommend something gentle for the hairballs? I've used Vetbasis for years. It has no petroleum in it.

http://www.vetbasis.com/

Good vibes to your kitty!

Just as an update,

She's stopped hairballing recently, 2 nights in a row the living room floor is clean. We've been feeding her a bit of oily fish during the day and giving her lots of brushing when she feels up for it. seems to be helping... or maybe she's just less nauseous at night now?

cl: I'll check out the vetbasis link as soon as I finish typing!

Natalie: I think I may have described her health a bit inaccurately. I was feeling pretty low when I first posted. That said, she is feeling all of what I've described, but they don't define her days quite yet. She DOES eat, she just refuses food more often than not... but we offer her food 90 times a day now so she is getting more food into her belly than if we just let her be. She doesn't seem to be in so much pain that she doesn't still hop up onto my wife's belly and make biscuits, purr, and take a nap up uder her chin sometimes. The cuddling has become less frequent, and for not as long, but I think she's still showing she can life enoughof a life that I don't want it to end quite yet. We're trying to be as logical about this as we can be, we don't want to be greedy and hold onto her longer than need be because we don't want to let her go, but we also don't want to send her over Rainbow Bridge(I low that term actually) while she still may have some happy days left in her. It's hard to tell though, so I appreciate the nudge to keep me from holding on to long.

Phew, didn't intend to write so much.

I'll get back to working and check on my sweet lil Beebee and make sure she has some stinky fish nearby incase she gets the munchies

-Dave