Hairball remedies & your experience?

darkeyedgirl

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Just curious if anyone else gives their cat Laxatone, PetroMalt, or other gel or malt hairball remedies?

What's your experience with it?

My cat Snickers is a long haired, excessive groomer. Very lovely but he gets HUGE hairballs that cause him to vomit a lot of fluid while he's bringing up the hairball.

So I started him on Laxatone; I use it every day (he begs for it, like a treat). The laxatone is *supposed* to make him POOP the hairball out, make it "pass through his system" versus bring vomited up; HOWEVER --- I have noticed, it certainly helps the hairball to pass, ONLY, it passes through his mouth... he still pukes up the hairballs, but they're now slimy and coated with the Laxatone.

I'm happy that he is able to bring up the hairballs without such distress (the last big furball adventure, I had to take him to the Vet for an emergency subcutaneous fluid injection), but I still am curious
as to why the hairballs don't "pass as they should"? Through his bum, pooped out vs. puked up?

Does anyone else use hairball remedies and tell me your experience? Or am I doing something wrong? Maybe giving him too much? Thx
 

sharky

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Mine still puked with the hairball so I tried nutri cal/// it works and I guess tastes better
 

laureen227

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Pixel is currently taking one called lax'aire, that the vet sold me - he said it was better than the petstore ones. she's not vomiting nearly as much, if at all. sometimes it's hard for me to tell who did the deed, if i'm not home or awake when it happens
anyway, what little i'm finding is much smaller & just has saliva... i think they're supposed to poop them out, tho.
 

catgal

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My kitties were also having problems with hairballs. They are fed only Iams Original and when I started finding hairballs here and there, I started mixing in Iams for hairballs with their regular food. This seems to have helped alot.
There is alot of catfood on the market especially formulated to help with hairball problems.
 

sharky

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They should be pooping them out .. sometimes hairball food with the gels works..
 

ilovemy2cats

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My cats eat Nutro Natural Choice (sometimes with Nutro Max hairball mixed in) which is good for hairballs. It's been years since my cats had a hairball.
 

cloud_shade

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Has the vomitting increased recently? It may be due to shedding season. You might try brushing him daily (make it a cuddle-time routine) so that there won't be as much hair for him to groom off himself. It may be that the amount of hair he is ingesting is too large to pass through normally, which is why it comes back up.
 
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darkeyedgirl

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Yah I noticed he's been bringing up more hairballs than recently. Came down this morn and found a rat-sized one, perfectly formed & gelled thanks to the Laxatone!!! The one that really harmed him was much bigger and not formed or coated (gross descript, I know).

Anyhoo yeah I was hoping he'd start pooping them out mainly due to the fact I think pooping is easier for a cat than barfing. It sure looks like it anyway. Poor guy.


He does have really long fur and he does constantly groom himself. He's beautiful & he knows it.
I do brush Snicky pretty much every chance I get... nightly while we're winding down, all the cats come to me when I pick up the Zoom Groom. So he does get groomed lots. I guess he's losing his winter coat eh?
 

scamperfarms

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I could be wrong here..but it works in this household..and a vet of mine recomended it. I dab a little bit of Vaseline on their feeties once a month or so..they lick it off..and we havent had a hair ball......well in about two years now. And thats with Loki...our long hair, and Duthcy the queen of I HAVE TO CLEAN EVERYONE....not a one.
 

coaster

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I just have short-haired cats, but I give them their hairball goop once a week and I've never ever had a hairball coughed up. I've used Laxatone and Petromalt and just plain Vaseline. They like Vaseline and it's the active ingredient in the others and it's cheaper, so if they'll swallow it, why not?
 
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darkeyedgirl

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I'm gonna try the Vaseline tonight. My cats all have weird obsessions so if Vaseline works for my picky Snicky, I will do it!!! He likes the Laxatone but .... I'm having an inkling the Vaseline will make him poop it out rather than puke it up. Hopefully he'll be cool with it.


Thanks guys
 

coaster

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Originally Posted by darkeyedgirl

I'm having an inkling the Vaseline will make him poop it out rather than puke it up.
Yup....a little lubrication to make it slide out the back end!!


One thing to keep in mind with all the hairball remedies is that they shouldn't be given before a meal. In fact, the recommendation is not less than a couple HOURS before a meal. The reason is that, in addition to being absorbed by the hair and making it slide easier, they also coat the lining of the G-I tract. This hinders absorbtion of nutrients. Just a FIY.
 
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