Could fur in whole carcass rabbit cause hairball problems?

[dhammagirl]

Hi all.
One of my three cats, Zeke, has been ill. We just got back from a $427 vet visit. !$$$!

Starting on June 23, in the morning I found a very large hairball, which I don't recall having ever seen him retch up a hairball, and diarrhea in two areas outside the litterbox. (He's strictly indoors, while the other cats go outside-we had to do this to keep the peace and stop the pissing contests, so I know the vomits and poops are his) He had no interest in food, a first for him. I've had him on raw food for about seven months, he loves it, he's lost weight (he's overweight). Long story shorter, since the 23rd he's had diarrhea and vomiting, mostly in the afternoons and evenings. I would have taken him to the vet right away, but in the mornings he's normal, lively, and hungry. He'd eat ok, seem to feel and act fine, but in the afternoon get sick. Some of the vomit was white foam, sometimes partially digested food from breakfast and diarrhea. The last three days I added a little pumpkin puree to some canned food. No raw, thinking this would be easier to digest and the pumpkin would firm up his stool. His stool firmed up some, but it's still diarrhea, and usually on an upholstered chair or couch or bed. :-(
Poor guy. So off to the vet. Xrays didn't show an obvious obstruction or foreign object. He was just a little dehydrated, so they gave him fluids. Will be testing his urine, blood, and feces to check for potential causes.
I always just figured he was passing any hair, his or otherwise, in his stool. But after reading the symptoms of hairball intestinal blockage, which sounds like his symptoms, I have to wonder if the ground whole carcass, fur included, food could be a contributing factor? He also gets whole mice, ground raw chicken, raw turkey gizzards, whole cavies, rabbit chunks.
My other two cats also eat the raw ground rabbit and chicken, and they're doing fine.
I give all the kitties some hairball control treats a couple times a week, mas o menos. I haven't been religious about it. I put fish oil in the raw ground food along with the appropriate Alnutrin.

He doesn't groom excessively.

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks! [emoji]128568[/emoji]

 

[gitabooks]

Poor guy. I'm glad you are taking such good care of him.

Cats adore raw diets, I know this because all of our cats are either out-doors or indoor/out-doors because of allergies in our family. They catch rabbits, squirrels, voles, shrews, weasels, mice, a variety of bird species and probably a host of other animals we've never seen them have before. However, I will say this, when they eat their rabbits they due eat them whole but they often pull a bunch of the fur off. They also often leave the squirrel tails, bird wings, and shrew heads (shrews are venomous). As you can see, they are selective in their choice of what they eat to avoid stomach up-set, so grinding their food may make it hard for them to choose. Perhaps getting rid of some of the fur if possible would help avoid this. I know that the structure fur has to offer seems to actually help make stools healthier in pets and that when they don't have it they sometimes have runnier droppings. I've also noted that sick cats eat grass, another way to add fiber to help their stomachs feel better.

It could be the diet she is eating causing hair-balls, but it very well also could be a virus or bacterial infection she got. Perhaps the food went bad one time when she was eating it or perhaps she simply isn't feeling well. In this case, only the vet can determine the official cause.

Continue giving gentle foods that are good for her stomach and offer lots of nutrition, offer whatever she will drink to keep her hydrated and provide multiple litterboxes so she can get to them as soon as possible (when you've got a stomach-ache you tend not to care where you go). Continue with the hairball control just to be on the safe-side and to help any blockages pass through and make sure he is exercising enough to keep things moving inside.

I hope this helps some and that he gets better soon. Best of luck!

 

[dhammagirl]

Thanks, Gitabooks

The vet did give him an injection for nausea and an antibiotic.

She's not our regular vet, the "family doctor", and voiced concern about bacteria and salmonella potentiality with raw diets.

I had not given him hairball control treats once this started for fear it would make the diarrhea worse, but now I'm thinking it might help pass whatever needs to pass.

 

[catpack]

While x-rays are not always conclusive, I would think a hair all obstruction would show up as bulky intestines.

Is the rabbit fairly new to the diet?

 

[dhammagirl]

He's been eating the rabbit for several months.
The xrays showed his intestines as empty, due to the diarrhea, but the stomach looked like there might be something there.
As you say, xrays aren't conclusive.

Once my other cat caught a small rabbit, but only ate part of it. It was fresh, so I removed the intestines and gave it to Zeke. The next morning, it was comp!etly gone.

 

[missmimz]

I've actually heard the opposite, that the fur in rabbit helps digestion as it adds fiber. It's possible your kitty just caught a virus? 8 of my 10 caught a virus about a month ago where they had a lot of vomiting and nausea (some had diarrhea) for a couple of days. It was def not food related because they don't all eat the same foods. It passed after a few days. 

 

[dhammagirl]

Thanks, Missmimz
I think I'm just needing reassurance that I'm a good cat mom. :lol3:
This evening he's definitely feeling better.
No parasites in his poo.
. We started him on a probiotic the vet prescribed, too.
Aw, he just needed us to drop a few hundred bucks on him.

 

[abby2932]

My 10 year old male cat gets frequent hairballs when I buy anything with fur (whole rabbit carcass, ground or whole mouse, cavies, etc.) I think it is because his intestinal track has been damaged a little from eating kibble until he was 5 and not starting raw until he was 8. He was on grain free canned food from 5 years old - 8 years old and he never (I mean NEVER) had a hairball on canned food. Once I started feeding raw with fur he started having them. So I stick to the hairless proteins for him for the most part but when I feed mouse, I give him Vets Best Hairball relief so we don't have issues. It doesn't always work. I only feed ground mouse when I'm away on business trips to make it easy for the cat sitter to feed them.

My 5 year old, Kali handles the rabbit with fur with no issues but does get frequent hairballs when I feed cavies. She started life on grain free canned food and we switched to raw when she was 3.

 

[dhammagirl]

Thanks Abby2932, and everybody, for your responses.

It seems to simply vary cat to cat as to how prone they are to hairballs. 

He's doing okay today, a few more days of limited feeding of canned food, and gradually reintroduce the raw.

He loves eating big chunks and whole mice, and it's really made a difference for him psychologically, we can tell by his behavior, as well as for necessary weight loss.

I'll probably start adding a regular hairball preventative of some sort to his feeding schedule.

Thanks again y'all!