Furballs

[wombat]

my cat’s favourite pastime is grooming himself. He constantly tries to cough up fur balls but usually fails and just swallows the stuff back in. I read about cats that have died choking on fur balls-
is this really common?! I’m really worried and am trying to think of ways to prevent fur balls... i’ve heard of giving cats oil or butter. I already give him 1/2 a capsule of fish oil Everyday- should I increase it to one capsule?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Every cat I know ingests fur as they groom themselves. That's probably the main reason their tongues are "raspy", so they can get all those lose hairs off. Anyway, here is an article about things you can do to help with them:

How To Treat - And Prevent - Hairballs In Cats

Not mentioned in that article is using egg yolks or egg yolk lecithin to help the hairballs pass thru their digestive tract and go out the back end . You can add a regular egg yolk to their diet a couple times a week, or add 1/2 to 1 capsule of egg yolk lecithin to their food daily to help. OR, I just discovered this product, which I will be trying as soon as I run out of egg yolk lecithin: EZ Egg Yolk

 

[maggiedemi]

You could also give hairball treats or paste every other day or 3 times a week.