Just wondering if there is a certain age that cats start coughing up hairballs as I have yet to see either cat cough one up
Has anyone tried the petroleum jelly (Vaseline) recommended in this article for getting rid of hair balls? If so, how much do they use?For the full article that Tellingtails is quoting from, which also includes prevention etc, see Hairballs - Cats Coughing up Hairballs
It may not be considered 'natural' but have you considered using the vaseline as recommended in the article in the link in Hobbs' reponse?I have two young, mostly indoor cats. Johnny loves eating grass when he's outside on the harness, but my attempts at growing cat grass inside have proved to be as disastrous as growing anything else - they like to dig deep into plant pots, unearth whatever I'm growing, then play with it and drag it around the floor. There is some chewing involved but overall, this has not been productive!
So what else can I do that is as 'natural' as possible? Johnny has been coughing up the occassional hair ball for several months now, and Bettie coughed up her first one only yesterday (they are both longhaired and thirteen months old)
Lecithin actually helps in the digestion of the hairball which is made up of hair and fat. Urgh. It is better to use egg lecithin, but relatively hard to get hold of. You can buy soy lecithin in Holland and Barratt, but do be aware that soy has been linked to disruption in thyroid function in cats ( although I did read that this fact has since been disputed ) Of course you must also be aware that most commercial cat foods will contain soya protein so most cats will be ingesting it daily anyway. Presumably feeding the occasional raw egg yolk to the cat would serve a similar purpose.
So.....a sprinkle of lecithin, a bowl of egg yolk, a smear of vaseline and Bob's your uncle!