Egg Lecithin for Hairballs

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carolina

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Let's hope Swanson works for you, and most importantly, for the cats then.
 
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txcatmom

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We received our egg yolk lecithin about a week ago.  I was spurred on to go ahead and order it because my Emily had "the cough."  (None of mine have frequent hairball problems.)  We've been using it for about a week and I think it may have helped Emily cough up a hairball.  I don't know for sure it was hers.  But it was gray (though I'm sure color can be distorted by stomach contents.)  And she sat right there and watched me clean it up with particular interest. 
  I hope this resolves the cough because she is a super healthy girl and I hate to take her in to the vet just to have them tell me "Use Laxatone."  Fingers crossed.....
 

ldg

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FYI, I'm using 1/2 a capsule daily for all of the cats now. Lazlo, who has a particular problem with hariballs, is getting one full pill each morning on his food.

Flowerbelle used to throw up hairballs every few days at times - since starting the egg yolk lecithin - NONE! :clap: No hack - nothing!

So I really hope this will help your Emily prevent them! :cross:
 

txcatmom

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Yeah, I'm giving her one capsule each day until I'm sure it is resolved then we'll go down to a maintenance dose since she doesn't have this problem often.  (I can count on one hand the number of hairballs I've cleaned up in two years of having multiple cats.)
 

otto

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I've got Mazy doing a half capsule every other day. I alternate Jennie and Queen Eva with the other half, so they are getting it every fourth day each. I am...THRILLED to be free of the petroleum based hairball products FOREVER. And I get such a happy feeling when I see those tell tale twists of hair in the poop!

Since I still have quite a lot of the Nature's Plus brand I have decided to just alternate brands, the same way I do foods. It certainly can't hurt...and seems sensible to rotate, don't you think?
 

otto

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Laurie are you happy with the Swanson's brand? I forgot to start alternating, and forgot where I put the bottle of Swanson's when it came in, so am still using the Nature's Plus. Hope to find the Swanson's this weekend and start it.

I'm wondering how long it will take some pet supply manufacturer to discover egg yolk lecithin and start making a "for cats" product, likely as not full of other useless junk. :lol3:
 

ldg

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I ended up just finishing off the Nature's Plus, then switching to the Swanson. We're still hairball free here.... and while the Swanson's has the rice powder in it, it makes it dry, so it just pours really easily out of the capsule. :lol3: I reordered it. :nod:
 

otto

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Mazy vomited when I gave her the Swanson brand. The only thing I can think of is the rice flour. For even such a tiny amount, she is just that sensitive to grains I guess. The Nature's Plus has "vegetable cellulose" but no grain ingredient, and it doesn't bother her tummy at all.

I like the Swanson because it doens't have to be dug out of the capsule. And because it has fewer 'other ingredients' Jennie and Queen Eva will continue on it.
 
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melrai

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I have been trying this brand of Egg Yolk Lecithin for 3 days now. I have also started introducing 1/2 tsp of raw in my boy Hooligan's food. For the past 2 days now, he has had hairballs. I don't know why. Has anyone had this problem? 

I'm giving him 1/2 capsule everyday because he had SEVERE ones. But, its weird, it seemed to have only started when I introduced the raw into his wet food. 

A worried mother, 

Melissa
 

ldg

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Well, I ran out of egg yolk lecithin last week. I was so sure there was another bottle here (and maybe it'll eventually turn up!). I didn't order it right away, and long story short, it arrived today. And Tuxedo threw up a LARGE hairball two days ago, and someone else - not sure who (I suspect Lazlo - the hair wasn't black or white, so it had to be Laz, Spook, or Chum, and Spook's only thrown up a hairball once in 10 years that I'm aware of, and Chum has never thrown up one, knock wood) threw up several (in one go).

Coincidence? :dk: It is shedding season.

I'll start them on it again tonight. I'm going to give Tux and Laz a half capsule at night and 1/2 capsule in the morning rather than a full capsule in the mornings, as I was. It was otto's idea, and makes a lot of sense to break it into twice a day instead of all at once.
 

vball91

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Hmm, that's an awfully big coincidence. I've just started Aria on EYL. I'm only giving her one capsule every other day (the days she doesn't get egg yolk). I'm wondering now if I should give it to her every day during shedding season and every other day when it's not.
 

otto

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I doubt it's coincidence. :) The egg yolk lecithin really does help. It's not the miracle hairball cure-all I was hoping it would be, but it surely makes a difference.
 

txcatmom

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Question....where did the idea to use the egg yolk lecithin come from? I've thought about recommending it to someone on another forum but I found myself wishing I had something more "official" than this thread to point to. No offense...."because my cat site friends said to try it" is a fine reason for me, but I was hoping for another source of info to point others to.
 

vball91

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Soy lecithin is used in a lot of commercial hairball relief products. Since there are many reasons why soy based products may not be good for cats, I think the idea to use egg yolk based lecithin was born. Lecithin itself is an emulsifier that breaks up the fat that binds hairballs together so the theory behind it seems sound.
 

ldg

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Maybe this will help? http://www.livestrong.com/article/304964-does-lecithin-help-you-lose-weight/

Obviously the goal isn't weight loss, but all the principles are there for hairballs: emulsify the fat that binds the hair in the stomach (which creates the hairball); stimulate more efficient digestion of the fat; AND "the acetylcholine increases the force with which this muscle [the GI tract] pushes food and juices along."

Egg yolk lecithin isn't available in many places outside the US. Feeding egg yolks themselves works, though 1/2 a capsule of egg yolk lecithin daily (or for some, just several times a week) seems to do the trick (though during shedding, my three worst "hairball" cats are getting 1/2 a capsule twice a day for probably a month or so here, during the worst of the season), whereas it can take up to three egg yolks a week.

I use egg yolk lecithin for the reason vball91 stated: a cat does best with animal-based sources of anything. And with the GMO soy crops, it's one of the plant-based items I prefer to avoid altogether. (And approx 85% of the soy in the U.S. is GMO).
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I like the Swanson because it doens't have to be dug out of the capsule.
You know those cute little spoons you got from Amazon?  The littlest one works PERFECT for digging it out of the capsule!   We ended up taking the Swanson egg yolk lecithin ourselves and reordering the Natures Plus for the cats.  Our furkids did not like the Swansons...rejected their food if it was on it or mixed in, but will willingly eat the Natures Plus (you know how weird my cats are
)
 
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otto

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You know those cute little spoons you got from Amazon?  The littlest one works PERFECT for digging it out of the capsule!   We ended up taking the Swanson egg yolk lecithin ourselves and reordering the Natures Plus for the cats.  Our furkids did not like the Swansons...rejected their food if it was on it or mixed in, but will willingly eat the Swansons (you know how weird my cats are :lol3: )
Yep, that's exactly what I use to dig out the Nature's Plus! Great minds think alike. Mazy still takes Nature's Plus, Jennie and Queen Eva get the Swanson's.

I was thinking about taking it myself, too. Do you feel any difference in yourself?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Oh, I see I had a typo up there!  Whatever.  We just started taking the Swanson's ourselves so haven't noticed anything yet...not sure we will notice anything, but I read that it's supposed to be good for your liver and immune system.  Those things you wouldn't necessarily feel a difference in
 
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