Vet's Best Hairball Relief - Interesting observation

What is the herb, in the pill he prescribed?

LDG said:

Big hairball hacked up this morning.

Given the TCM trained vet said that hairballs are almost always due to a spleen Qi deficiency, and that's what Chum was treated for, I ordered the Prosperous Farmer Pills used to treat Chum four years ago (who hasn't had ANY problems since). The pills are kind of large. I cut them in half. I coated in butter - and like Chum used to do, Tuxedo just gobbled them up. They aren't an overnight kind of cure, but .... it's not going to hurt him.

http://www.kanherb.com/cons_pi_kh_product.asp?productNameId=1388

https://www.acu-market.com/showproduct.aspx?tcid=19&ProductID=7113

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Hi Laurie,

Can you explain spleen Qi dificiency for us?   

Other questions:

1) Where is it in the GI tract that the hair usually accumulates?   Is it one spot or all over?

2) The largest factor cited is problems with motility - which I take as a weakened peristaltic reflex.   But I am wondering if there is something different about the lubricity of the GI fluids that causes the hair to tend to bind or stick together.   I noticed when my cat threw up clear fluid at times it was very watery consistency but others it was thicker and mucousy.    I think the thicker/mucousy fluid would tend to make the hair bind (just a hunch)

Regards

Awe dang, LDG.  Just crud about the hairball.  Could it be that the dosage of homemade Vet's Best needed to be increased?

I'll be darned!  Hairball this morning!  It wasn't big, but it was vomited hair.  Taking a package of hairball treats and cleaning guts today.  Then figuring out new dosage.  Like, if some days I should do 1/2 tab twice a day instead of just once?  Or a whole tab once a day, a couple of times a week?

sounds like you need roto-rooter. 

Hairball here this morning, too - a very small one.....

myrnafaye said:

 
Hairball here this morning, too - a very small one.....

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Are you using Vet's Best now?

I am giving Mittens a half each day.  Obi is only getting 1/4 tab for now, as he had the vomiting reaction when I gave it to him the first time with a new flavor of his regular food.  So, it is unclear whether the vomiting was a random thing, related to the duck formula, or the VB.  So I am going slowly.  I plan to increase it to one half in a day or so.  I worry that even on 5 mg of pred, Obi is vomiting hair once a week.  It is a much smaller amount than it was, however.

Sorry to hear about all the hairballs!

None here, but I am not relaxing yet. Tim's poop yesterday was almost all hair and this morning was about half hair, so I think what I am doing for him is working. In addition to the blend, which he gets in the evening, I recently re-started the tiny amount of psyllium in the morning to give a little support until he regulates his bowel movements; his last cisapride dose was two weeks ago. Once he's on track, I'll taper the psyllium to just the blend.

I remembered that Abby vomited the last few times I gave her straight slippery elm, so I ended up giving her a small amount of straight psyllium instead of the blend Wednesday night, and she pooped out hair last night. I had been giving that to her once or twice a week as preventive, and maybe I will just stick with that with her, though I may try an alternate blend without the slippery elm for her.

zoneout said:

 
sounds like you need roto-rooter. 

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Oh yes, operation roto-rooter has commenced.  Cats got hairball treats, and as much as I hate those things, they work.  Looks like I should hold onto them a while longer.

I'm not discouraged about the Vet's Best, they should have had hairballs before now if it weren't working.  They're on 1/4 of the dose it says to be, so I have leeway to work with.  Worst case, I'm adopting the recipe here to exclude psyllium.  But for for today, it's petrolatum coated in animal digest/who-knows-what.  Tonight we will get back to regular programming of 1/2 VB tablets. 

My next cat....  guaranteed hairball free.

But then he'll have pica instead.  Cats...I'm telling ya, you just can't win.

I want one of those SO BAD! 2 cats is my limit so I can't get another one for at least 12 years but when the time comes, I desperately want a Sphynx

myrnafaye

myrnafaye said:

What is the herb, in the pill he prescribed?

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LDG said:

http://www.kanherb.com/cons_pi_kh_product.asp?productNameId=1388

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This is a link to the product and the list of ingredients.

zoneout said:

Hi Laurie,

Can you explain spleen Qi dificiency for us?   


Other questions:

1) Where is it in the GI tract that the hair usually accumulates?   Is it one spot or all over?

2) The largest factor cited is problems with motility - which I take as a weakened peristaltic reflex.   But I am wondering if there is something different about the lubricity of the GI fluids that causes the hair to tend to bind or stick together.   I noticed when my cat threw up clear fluid at times it was very watery consistency but others it was thicker and mucousy.    I think the thicker/mucousy fluid would tend to make the hair bind (just a hunch)

Regards

Click to expand...

zoneout The hair accumulates in the stomach. It doesn't empty from the stomach properly - that's the problem. And then fats get bound up with it - that's why hairballs are slimy and stinky, from putrefied improperly digested fat. Yeah - disgusting. And stuff gets trapped in there - I found a fully undigested pill that had been given to one of the cats 2 days before.

When they block the pylorus, they prevent food from moving through. That's why vomiting undigested food hours after a meal is THE major symptom of a hairball.


Spleen Qi deficiency... Here's a sort of overview. This vet discusses a spleen YANG deficiency, whereas the Prosperous Farmer just addresses the Spleen QI deficiency. Yang deficiency = cat is too "cold" and needs to be warmer. Yin deficiency = cat is too "hot" (not as in fever, but as in energy balance) and is ripping their fur out (obsessive licking, abdomen mowing, licking their legs/abdomen bare, etc).

http://library.constantcontact.com/...edicine+Used+to+Unlock+Digestion+Problems+in+

peaches08 said:

Awe dang, LDG.  Just crud about the hairball.  Could it be that the dosage of homemade Vet's Best needed to be increased?

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I should probably use just the powders as AbbyNTim does. And supplement with the SEB syrup. That's what I was doing before with the Vet's Best - he needed both. I don't know if the combo would have worked.

Though I just had an idea. I'm going to quarter the tablet, dip it in water, and roll in in FD liver. Maybe they'll eat it like that! Obviously they didn't mind the crunchy texture.

Well getting the Vet's Best quarters wet and rolling them in FD liver is working for Tuxedo - and he's the one that needs it the most.

I am continuing to give him the Prosperous Farmer though.

Right now, Lazlo, Spooky and Sheldon are getting just the SEB syrup mixed with the marshmallow syrup. In fact, I've taken it down to 2x a day. Knock wood..... :cross: Hopefully the shedding is calming down a bit! Though I did also get a slicker brush, a "normal" one with wire bristles that are rather tightly packed. This seems to be very effective at removing hair vs the furminator (which I worry is removing too much undercoat) or the larger plastic slicker type brush. And the zoom groom - while it gets a lot of hair - it makes a mess. :lol3:

Down to twice a day?  Yeesh...can I leave my cats to you in my will? 

Obi gets SEB twice a day. However, in the recipe, I use 1 Cup of water to 1/2 tsp SEB powder, which is weaker than the usual recipe. 

Since I started using the furminator, there is less hair in the hairballs.  I dont worry about the undercoat.  I worry about hair in his digestive tract, and Mittens' too, for that matter.

Regarding Vets Best, I just grind it to a powder and mix it in with their food.  They dont even know it is t here.

I don't feed much ground food though, and they won't eat the ground Vet's Best on their meals.

Wow.  Mine dont even know it is there, mixed in with their canned.