With 2 shorthaired cats, we've yet to have a hairball issue, however they do have their winter coats atm, so I figured some hairball measures should be taken. Anyways, saw these at the supermarket and grabbed a box instead of the usual tempations the boys get as treats (3-4 at a day, and normally only every few days).

My question, do these have any benefits for hairball control, or are the pretty pointless, and just another marketing gimmik, (they were on special so not an issue if they are pointless - they will work as treats just the same).

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I sometimes buy the Whiska'sHairball treats but dont honestly know whether they are effective or not.I have started to use these though Mark and Chappell Defurr-UM Cat Treats 50gm | Pets at Home I also have the malt paste by the same company it does seem to help and bonus is Meeko likes the paste

ETA may not be available where you are,just realised

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they definitely smell of malt, the same as the paste you can buy, so I think they must at least include that. I give them to Oskar every now and then and he doesn't seem to get hairballs as much as he used to

Hi, have you tried grass for cats (if you have indoor cats). You can buy at PetsatHome "Kitty grass". It won't harm, it gives additional vitamins and my cats like to grass from time to time.
Do you comb yours regularly? I think grooming will have much better effects than any additives in food.

The other question is why hairballs are such a problem for your cats. They are shorthair. Have you thought about a diet change to improve their fur quality? Whiskas is not the best of brands, with a very low meat content. For the same money you could buy better brands like Bozila, Animonda Carny and many others (have a look at the sticky post about other brands). You can order them on-line, delivery for every order over £19 on Zooplus is free, so it's more convenient for you
From the time I changed my cats diet they don't vomit any hairballs more.

^^^ This. You took the words right out of my mouth.

I've been meaning to get them some cat grass - just not sure how it would go here, I manage to kill houseplants regularly ( I used to be ok with them before I moved here, so I'm guessing its a combination of the climate and that we live in a basement flat)...but my local pet shop stocks it so I can always replace it when it dies.

As for hairballs - as yet we haven't had an issue with them - neither of the boys have ever displayed signs of them - I just figured with thier winter coats it may become more of an issue so wanted to take some preventative measures. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting the Whiskas Temptations treats to have much effect, only got them as they were the same price as the normal tempations we buy as treats and figured why not. I really need to find out what treats my petshop can order in for me, to see if there are better options for the boys.

With regards to thier diet - they already eat Bozita (it's the only one of the recommended brands I can get as zooplus don't deliver here). We're now into our 2nd month of eating that full time (the month before that was a mix of bozita and whiskas as I didn't want to order too much of the Bozita in case they didn't like it). Even hubby noticed the difference in their fur after just 2 weeks on the Bozita - as he said it was less greasy & "fatty"...the fact it's also cheaper than Whiskas (just on a weight basis - never mind the fact they eat less of it), is a bonus as well.

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