My cat has alot of hairballs

Question

What can i do to prevent him from having hairballs? I brush him all the time but his hair is very long and its become expensive to shave him? Has anyone ever heard of putting vegetable oil in there food? Someone told me to do that?

Answer 1

shave it  

Answer 2

when my cat has hair balls I find that see trys to eat the butter I left out

for some reason it seems to work

Answer 3

After frequent grooming, there are a couple of other things you can try.

Feed canned food.  This may help.

Add some fish oil to the diet.  Per my vet, this somehow helps as well.

Give hairball remedies as needed.

But avoid hairball foods.  They've got lousy ingredients and there are healthier ways to deal with these pesky balls.

Fish oil:

Only Natural Pet Icelandic Salmon Oil (pump) (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/O...

Good for hairballs, good for skin and coat.

Selection: You typically won't use human fish oils - at least not the ones in liquid form - because they have added citrus flavors to many of them. You don't want to use cod liver oil - at least not on a very regular basis - because it has too much vitamin a. Plain old fish oil or salmon oil is best. I prefer it in liquid form as opposed to capsules for ease of dispensing. You want it to say that they've done everything possible to remove mercury. I prefer one with the fewest additives, especially not rosemary. Or propyllgallate.

For ease of use, I prefer to buy it in liquid form in a squeeze bottle or pump.

Dosage: I give a squirt every day. It's not measured but probably comes to somewhere around 1/4 tsp.

Answer 4

I would suggest getting Pounce Hairball Remedy for your cat. They are little treats that come in different flavors. I get this for my cat b/c she constantly gets hairballs if I don't give at least 5 treats a week. She never has any problems now.

You can find these almost anywhere. I get mine at Meijers.

Answer 5

They make a hairball treatment that you can buy, it tastes good to them ..and you just use a dab every so often on their foot.  Works great !!!  I buy mine at walmart

Answer 6

I have never heard of putting Vegetable oil in the food and I do not think I would go that route.   I do use Pro Plan Extra Care Hairball Formula Cat Food.  I have not seen a hairball in so long that I can not remember when the last time was. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Try some cat food that has hairball control

Answer 8

We have a long haired cat that would shed enough fur in one day to knit a whole other cat. No matter how often we brushed her, she would just shed and shed and shed. Our vacuum cleaner canister was always filled to near capacity with cat fur.

Of course, this meant that she would wind up coughing up lots of hairballs. The only solution we found that worked for us was to invest in a special type of brush called the furminator. We bought one from our nearby PetSmart store and it has been a huge blessing. We still brush our cat at least once a day but the amount of fur she is shedding is less now.

Answer 9

You can buy hairball remedy over the counter almost anywhere. You give them a little every week or so to prevent hairballs. Some cats don't like it (two of mine don't) but you can usually just wipe it on their paw and they will l**k it off.

You can also get a food for hairballs. Most major cat food companies make one so you can look for that the next time you buy food.

Brushing alone often isn't enough (it isn't with my two long hairs) so supplements are necessary. I have heard of using vegetable oil (or olive oil) too, but I haven't tried it. You can also call your vet and ask what they recommend, mine had a couple hairball treatment brands she knew off the top of her head.