Does dry cat food formulated for indoor cats really help with hairballs?

Hey everyone. Precious has been increasingly coughing up hairballs lately. I have tried to give her various types of hairball gels but she refuses to lick them off my finger. It is also next to impossible to get some on her paws because she jerks away too fast. And given that I am having such difficulty with this I am considering switching from Purina Cat Chow Complete to Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula. From what I understand, its supposed to help with hairballs. And so I ask, does anyone know if it really helps or not?

Also, I would switch her to a canned food diet as I know it is much healthier but my budget is too tight to be able to afford canned cat food. My budget is also not going to change significantly in the foreseeable future because I am disabled and receive SSI.

I have never fed my cat a dry food that is specified for hairball control so I can't comment on if Cat Chow Indoor Formula will help but I can say that [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]egg yolk lecithen is a favorite around these parts. Perhaps you can give her a bit of raw egg yolk every other day or so?[/font]

Unfortunately she won't touch eggs. I tried to give her a raw egg when she was younger and she wouldn't touch it.

Try just egg yolk mixed with a little water and put some crushed/ground kibble on top. Most of us use egg yolk lecithin mixed with wet food, but I'm not sure how to mix it with dry food. So egg yolk is your best bet. I would not recommend any petroleum jelly based hair ball remedies.

I don't have any experience with dry indoor hairball formulations and am not sure what's in the formulation that would make it work. Have you heard of petfoodstamps.com? It might be a program that could help you afford to feed some wet food.

I feed a indoor one from friskies for about 6 months and my cats puked more but wen I switched to a no grain kibble my cats hardly ever puke now

of course i had to buy a worse brand of kibble to get my cats switched they was being picky now they are not

We haven't tried any of the hairball formulas, dry or wet.  I use what our vet recommended which is VedaLax (tuna flavor) and I give him a one inch ribbon of it on my finger once a week.  Loves it and so far we've seen no hairballs being coughed up. 

Try putting the hairball gel on your cat's nose; just a small dab of it. Works for my cats. 

You can hide it in their food also.  However, this would be easier with wet food.  I still think you could manage it with dry though if you aren't going to do a switch.  I'd put half the kibble in the bowl, squirt it in the middle and then top with the rest of the kibble.  Press it down so it sticks into it.  Most likely, she isn't even going to notice it while gobbling up her food.  

Worth a shot.

I have used a dry indoor hairball formula (Special Kitty) and I think that it has helped.  She did still have hairballs on occasion, but I don't think it is possible to completely get rid of hairballs.  I have recently bought a hairball control shampoo, so if your cat enjoys baths that may be an option.  I have to agree with the person that recommended mixing the hairball gel in with her food.  If you put a glob of gel in with your cat's food and mix it in a bit, I don't think your cat will notice.

I've been mixing the hairball gel into the food for a while now.  We got tired of chasing Casper down to put it on his paw or nose, and watching him flail around before realizing he actually likes the flavor.  Personally, I squeeze it into the top of the wet food, and just barely cover it up.  I know he always starts eating from the top, so he's sure to wind up getting it.  But as I mentioned, you probably can manage to do this on dry too.

Oddly, considering Cocoa is the long haired one, she has yet to ever hack up a hairball.  Maybe being younger, her digestion is better so they pass through more efficiently the way the are supposed to.

The hairball food formulas basically provide increased fiber. This may help some cats, but it's not good for them long term, it stresses their kidneys as cats are obligate carnivores. If their GI systems have already been damaged from the long term use of a high carb or high fiber diet, they may need some form of fiber, but I'd recommend using a small amount of pumpkin in wet food as opposed to using a hairball formula. Pumpkin at least has beta carotene and vitamin C - antioxidants that are good for them. If you don't feed wet food, then buy some to add the pumpkin to and serve it up as a treat.

http://www.catinfo.org

http://consciouscat.net/2011/04/29/theres-no-such-thing-as-just-a-hairball/

Often when you switch to a better food, the cats go through a period of adjustment, and tossing hairballs during that transition is not unusual. When I switched my cats, looking back it took six months for their bodies to pretty much completely adjust to the new food.

But to manage hairballs in cats, it's really best to use an animal-based solution (again, because they're obligate carnivores). Egg yolks, as mentioned above, and egg yolk lecithin are the healthiest options. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/250653/egg-lecithin-for-hairballs

This discussion is about ferrets, but the same issues all apply to cats. http://www.ferretharmony.net/2013/04/27/hairballs-eat-an-egg/

I'd concur with that.  I use egg yolks, sometimes pumpkin.

The hairball formula is used rarely, only when it appears the other two aren't working.

Prego won't eat Laxatone, so my vet said it was ok to give him a little petroleum jelly. He will lick that right off my finger.  Also, Polly stopped coughing up hairballs when I went from brushing her three days a week to everyday brushing.

The ingredient in laxatone that makes it work IS petroleum jelly. While it can be a great help during a hairball "crisis," the reason not to use it frequently or for preventative care is in this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/202671/lets-say-no-to-vaseline

Hairball formula diets use fiber to get the hairballs out, usually with an emphasis on insoluble fiber. I'd agree with LDG that this is not usually the best solution. Try either the egg yolk lecithin or digestive enzymes. Both of these break down the fats that are holding the hairball together to make it easier to pass. You can also add fish oil, that helps by essentially greasing the intestinal tract, allowing the hairball to slide easier.

When I switched to 100% wet, grain free there was a significant reduction in hairballs.

If you must use a petroleum based remedy, feed it a couple hours after mealtime, as the petroleum oils block nutrient absorption. You can also try Greenies Smartbites Hairball Control. I am not a fan of petroleum based remedies, but I do give these to Poppy during hairball season or if I hear an unproductive hairball wheeze. Poppy hates Petromalt/Laxatone, but for some reasons she loves these, even though the active ingredient is the same.

I have special kitty formula but it doesn't say anything about hairballs.But does any formula special kitty still will work?