I need Hairball HELP!!!

Hi All,
I am new here and in need of help, lots of help.. A little back ground may help first:
Sassy is my poor kitty in need of help.. And please before anyone gets on to me we have been to the Vet ALOT!!!!!
She has very bad hairballs all the time, and has already had to have surgery in the last month to remove one that was causing an abstuction ($800.00).. She is almost 6. She is a long haired simease mutt. She is very shy to most people and only likes me and my daughter who is 6 also to mess with her. She has been my life line for the last 6 years. I brought her home with me after my hopitalitation for brain surgery. I have alot of painfull days and she has been with me for 6 years of lots of days in bed.. She hides when we have company and always knows when I need her with me.. I have been feeding her Ucanuba hairball food (spelled wrong) and giving her the GNC brand hairball meds 2 times a week just like the Vet told me to.. But with all this she is still reiching and heaving with nothing coming up today.. She is still eating, drinking and using the potty.. But this is how it started last month and we are going to the Vet Tomorrow, but I CANT afford to do the surgery again..
Ok so that was way toooooo much info!!!!!!!
Does anyone have anything that has helped there kittys with hairballs that i can try.. I have even thought of shaving her. But that would stress her sooo much.. I do brush her daily and use a stripper comb. Please if anyone has any info I could realy use it... THANK YOU all!!!!!!!!!
Rebecca

Surgery again so soon after the last one isn't ideal anyways. There are a few on here that have cats with serious hairball issues, they have to control it with things like added fiber in the diet, rotating hairball remedies - even resorting to using a bit of vasoline.


First thing. What are you calling a stripper comb? You should see if you can get the furminator for long hair cats - as a deshedding tool it will do more than basic combs and brushes do.

Adding fish oil into the diet can help with shedding.

Is her hairballs the side effect of shedding or does she overgroom that you can tell? The latter issue would require a slightly different approach to curb that.

No, if anything she doesnt groom enough. shes real bad about getting all yucky and greasy looking. The comb i call a stripper comb is the same as what your talking about I groom her almost everyday day.. I think I have found a groomer that will groom and shave her hair down.. I will know more tom....
I didnt think the Vet would like the fact that shes in trouble again, but I was able to get her over this spell with the hairball meds made by GNC this time, but am haveing to rotate diffrent kinds to help her.. Its like they quit working as well. I am trying Vasoline to see if that helps.. I read that it works well for kittys with bad/chronic hairballs. I do hope someone has some ideas. Right know Im having to give her something daily to keep her from throwing up and hacking all the time.. The vet tells me all we can do is keep up with the hairball remedy???
Thank you for your reply..
Becca

I have a long hair cat too with hairball problems. Not to the extent yours is going through, but he was coughing up really nasty ones a lot before. Changing his diet helped me...but if I think if your kitty is getting them that badly and that frequently, I think shaving her might be a good idea. Doesn't look so sporty, but will probably make her tummy feel much better. The trauma she might experience from that sure beats coughing up huge hairballs and needing surgeries. If not, then yeah, try what strange_wings suggested.
I swore if Parker ever had hairball problems like before, I would shave him. Just so much easier!

I know you are feeding her a hairball food, but you may want to discuss other options with your vet as it may not be helping her like it should. Both of my boys used to have frequent hairballs when they were on a lower quality food than now and shed a lot more. Once I changed them to a higher quality that agrees with them more, they don't shed much at all and rarely have hairballs. Mulder is a compulsive groomer on both himself and Spooky, but still no hairballs. The fact that her hair is getting dirty/greasy may also point to that her food isn't doing what she needs for her coat.

I have heard feeding her canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin, not pie filling!) as a supplement can help add fiber to the diet to help with hairballs. I gave it to Mulder once for hairballs and it worked, but he didn't seem to like the taste because it was hard to get him to eat it. But its pretty cheap at the grocery store so you could try that, I think some cats will eat it readily.

I give my cats access to cat grass they like to chew on, which is fiber. I know they really like to eat grass when they have upset tummies, I always guessed it was because of the fiber in it. They sell it pre-grown and ready to eat at Petsmart, or kits to grow it yourself at home at Walmart.

I would suggest until you get that figured out with your vet to go ahead and get her shaved. She might not like it, but I bet she doesn't like trips to the vet and surgeries either...

Best of luck! Keep us posted!

eukanuba is what Im feeding.. The vet suggested Science diet, but Sassy hate that one? No clue on that one.. But thanks about the pumpkin and grass I will try those tomorrow. I hate to shave her, but hate to lose her worse. She stress's so easy so maybee the vet can give her somehting to help while at the groomers. I cant thank you guys enough for the input. At this point I will try anything to make her comfortable. I tryed the squash but not pumpkin. She hates sooooo many foods I am unsure if I can get her to eat it. She wont eat any kind of canned food or Tuna? She is soooooo strange..lol... Thanks again guys Ill let yall know how Sassy is doing...
Thank You,
Becca

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!
Sassy goes to the Vet again Tomorrow. She will be checked again, but seems to be better. I have used alot of the ideas and will be groomed on Monday.. She is very unhappy with me right now because all the meds and stuff im feeding her but I think shell forgive me.. lol.. MAYBEE!! I went shopping today and got her some grass and new food to try.. So far no luck on all the new canned foods. She just turns her nose up at it. She also wont eat the pumpkin or squash no matter what I hide it in.. So if I have to ill force feed her but Ill see how she does first. Ill know more on Monday on how things are going, but I think were out of danger right now. I HOPE!! Again THANK you all so much fo rbeing so kind to me and Sassy..
God Bless
Becca

What works best for her as far as the shedding and resulting hairballs depends on her system and what she needs. It may not be a hairball food. I feed my cats Kirkland Maintenance Chicken and Rice (from Costco). It works great for their overall health and as a result it has reduced their shedding, but wouldn't be the right fit for other cats. You will have to play around with it, I just have to say to consult your vet. A lot of vets push the Science Diet, but I don't really agree with it being a great food especially for its price. Ultimately the best food for Sassy is one she will eat and she thrives on and no one but you (and her!) can decide what that will be.

I wish you the best in getting her through this. I look forward to an update on Monday!

Are you feeding her wet or dry? How often does she poop? Is it soft or hard?

I ask because if you're feeding strictly dry, that can perpetuate the hairball problem. Dry food will suck up excess moisture from the body and make it difficult to pass anything, much less a hairball. So, you might want to transition her to a high quality wet food and supplement with dry, if you're not already feeding wet.

If you are feeding wet, add some pumpkin (plain canned, not pie filling) as a previous poster mentioned. Also, you can try adding slippery elm bark to help her poop easier and get things moving.

Continue to brush her daily, even twice a day if she'll let you. After using the furminator, use a brush or comb for long haired kitties to pick up any excess hair left on her that she might lick up. She's obviously grooming SOME or she'd not have hair in her digestive tract.

Yes, she eats ONLY dry food.. I have tried tons of diffrent canned food and can not find one she will eat. I did some reaserch and found the brands that were better for our kittys and It doesnt matter what it is she turns her nose up. I tryed to pumpkin and Squash, but she wont eat it even hidden in tuna or babyfood (chicken/beef). BUT she doesnt care for tuna eather. She is a very picky eater and only likes some dry foods, and i have tryed what seems like every canned and she just wont eat them. I brush her daily and like you said sometimes twice a day. She will be shaved on Monday, so I hope that will help her. And yes she grooms herself I just ment not excesively and she stops when she gets sick and gets yucky and greasy looking. She also gets a check up again today so hopefully it will be good new and by next week she will be doing better.
Thank You,
Becca

Originally Posted by poor_kitty

Yes, she eats ONLY dry food.. I have tried tons of diffrent canned food and can not find one she will eat.

Click to expand...

I CANT BELIEVE IT!! I tryed again tonight and got her to eat a whole can of cat food (3oz)!!! WHOOOOOO HOOOOO!! LOL.. I have been trying a few times a day and just couldnt get her to try any kind. Soooo I got a new brand today (Wellness) and Tryed again. At first she turned her nose up at it and got mad at me. I remembered a post saying a lady had put some on the end of her cats nose and made her try a food and she ATE all of it!! lol.. I found that #1 she doesnt like it on a paper plate I had to feed it to her on the freezer were her bowls are. AND #2 shes more of a diva than I ever thought. IT had to be warmed.. lol.. Sorry I dont mean to be stupid but I am sooooo excited that I got her to eat this food. The Vet said it would help her alot, but she understood that some cats dont like canned food!
We did see the Vet today and she said that its a good sign that shes still eating and useing the potty. BUT she has lost another 6 ounces in the last 2 weeks. She is down to 6 pounds even so she would like to see some weight on her and I need to keep watching for any problems that point to hairballs again. She did tell me I should still shave her That Ill have to live with she is so soft and pirty.. lol.. but Id rather have her bald then not at all.
Again I cant thank you all enough for all the ideas to try. I am seeing a small improvement in the last few days... I have tryed so many things in the last few days shes just like know what mom.. :-) o well she will get over it. I will keep yall updated and we will see how the next few days go..

One thing I would like to know for those of you that do feed canned food:
do you feed only canned food or do you offer dry along with it?
and how many cans a day do you feed.
Right know I got her to eat a small can and left her dry food down for after, but should i get the bigger cans and not offer as much dry. And do I feed more than once a day. I am sorry for so many questions I have never feed canned food. So im starting form scratch on this one.
THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!!
God Bless
Becca

The amount of canned is based on what kitty will eat and what you can afford... Many find a 50/50 wet to dry ratio works for both

Use a good shampoo and take a good comb...

My guy eats Wellness too. He loves it! Because of crystals in his urine, my vet advised me not to give him any dry food...but I do sneak a few pieces in his food. But he gets 97% wet food twice a day. Same with with the other two kitties. I'm not really a fan of dry food, but if thats ALL a cat will eat, what can you do? I'm glad you found one she likes though. Keep us updated on your diva.