Interesting article on hairballs

Article by vet Dr Fern Crist. Very good information here. Read the comments too, because she goes into a lot more detail in one of her replies.

http://consciouscat.net/2010/04/28/some-startling-new-thoughts-on-cats-and-hairballs/

A small excerpt:

Why would we think that “lubrication” of the gut with petroleum products would help? A cat is not a car. And in no way could a cat have naturally evolved to require the dosing with “lubricants” to survive or to thrive. Likewise, cats in the wild would never eat a “high-fiber” diet, and so would seem unlikely to benefit from one. On the contrary, it would appear logical that a cat would thrive better on what a cat has been evolved to eat – namely a mouse or a reasonable facsimile thereof – and that feeding a cat something wildly different from the diet it has evolved on is more likely to result in harm than in good.

No, she says, I think it likely that a “hairball,” far from normal, is probably a common early symptom of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Impaired motility of the gut would account for the balling up of hair that should pass right through, if stomach-emptying time is the 0.2 – 2 hours it is reported to be in a normal cat. A cat shouldn’t be able to swallow enough hair fast enough to outrace normal stomach emptying time.

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What I am doing:

Along with a combination raw and grain free low carb canned diet, I use egg yolk lecithin to break down the fat that binds the fur into a "ball" and helps the cats pass them. Jennie and Queen Eva each get a half capsule every other day. Jennie also takes pumpkin every day. Mazy gets a full capsule, split between morning and night, every day.

This is sufficient for Queen Eva and Jennie.

Mazy, whose digestion and motility was ruined from 6 1/2 years on a very bad "prescription" dry diet (to control struvite in the urine), still has a lot of inflammation and a motility problem. She is now taking Slippery Elm Bark (as recommended to me by Carolina and other members here, thank you) twice a week to help with inflammation, and getting raw egg yolk four times a week. Egg yolk is rich in choline, and choline aids/increases motility (as told to me by our own LDG, thanks Laurie).

A large egg yolk is between .5 and .65 ounces usually. Mazy can't manage more than .3 oz at a time so she gets .3 oz four days a week, and Jennie and Queen Eva take turns getting the balance, because it is good for them, even if they don't "need" the extra help.

I am convinced that the massive doses of petroleum based hairball products are what
caused Tolly 's cancer. I stopped using them at all shortly after he died and won't recommend anyone use them, ever.

This thread comes at the perfect time for all of us cat lovers. Shedding season. Very interesting and I have to say I agree that if our cats ate what nature intended them to eat then hairballs are not an issue for them. Makes sense that if the stomach is not emptying in the normal range and motility is then slowing that hairballs can form. It is so incredible to me how much I have learned in the last 18 months here on TCS about how diet and nutrition can truly "make or break" our kitties health. Seems to me that so many ailments our kitties have can be rectified with a proper species related diet!

Yup, I had read that article before, but not the comments. It was an eye opener at the time. I do think that most cat owners believe that cats throwing up regularly is normal, whether it's from hairballs or licking themselves clean or eating grass or whatever. I've been told by several people who've owned cats all their lives that it's normal for cats to throw up semi-regularly.

I also joined several feline health Yahoo groups, and it's worth noting that for every health condition I've noticed so far (IBD, FLUTD, pancreatitis, diabetes), the first thing that is recommended is a change to a wet meaty diet low in carbs which is what cats should be eating in the first place. It does make me wonder how many of these conditions would have developed if they had been fed a species-appropriate diet from the beginning. I know that I wish I had learned all this much sooner, but like a lot of people, it took my cat getting sick to do some research on my own.

The current thoughts/myths on cats being "fine" on an all kibble diet and "it's normal for cats to hack up hairballs regularly" and "fat cats are cute" are so prevalent in our culture, I fear that many more cats will suffer before changes are made. The fact that so many vets seem clueless about feline nutrition and are steering their patients toward "special dry food" just makes me feel hopeless at times.

I am so glad to have found the TCS community, but it is a somewhat sobering thought that it is a minority of the cat owners out there.

Very interesting, including the theory about why cats eat grass.

jcat said:

Very interesting, including the theory about why cats eat grass.

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I hadn't read the comments before. Yes, interesting on the grass eating!

Very timely information for me as I am going to the vet for Caspers yearly checkup, and my main concern is his regurgitation issues.  

My sense is it isn't hairball related, we almost never see them, but surely, there is something going on and two vets thus far have no real idea why he's doing it.

Add me to the list of those saying this is a Timely Thread!

I'm still plowing through all the information - here and in the link you've Posted, Otto.

I have one that constantly throws furballs, and the only thing that slows him down is the moist food.

I can't do raw - I'm already exhausted - so canned food is my next best solution.  I do provide raw chicken to those that will eat it - and it's mostly the semi-feral "colony" that now resides at my house.

The one I mentioned - above - Simon is in the same "zone" as his sister and brother - both on the Royal Canin Urinary SO - because of crystals.  They only get the kibble as a treat.  Yes, I'd love to change them to something else, but after very expensive vet bills, I'm -frankly- scared to branch off into another diet because they are doing so well.  Simon's teeth do look as though they may be suffering from throwing all the hairballs and I was looking for a remedy OTHER than ANYTHING petroleum.    He goes in for his first teeth cleaning on Monday, and I was going to ask the Vet about a hairball remedy - it'll be interesting to hear what she recommends.

I already have our FeLV cat on no-grains, trying to feed him the healthiest diet I can afford.  I was looking at raw - but because of his immune system already compromised I just don't feel comfortable about it.

Okay, will continue trying to absorb all this timely information, and, thanks, Otto for the link!

This has all been very interesting. Some of the breeds of today like the persian don't have hair they would have developed in the wild. So grooming them helps get rid of the extra fur. A lot of people don't think that a short hair need grooming, but I would like to point out they shed just as much hair its just that its short hair. My Aussie mist used to love having his fur groomed and would make sure I did not miss any spots. The only time I had fur balls was when I had been lazy and not done any grooming for a few months.