How to Prevent Hairballs

Hairballs are generally more of a problem in longhaired cats than in shorthaired cats. Cats, especially longhaired cats ingest a lot of loose hair as they groom themselves, predominantly at the height of the shedding season. Problem can simply arises because of that. The hair just moves through the digestive tract and gets eliminate in the typical way.

However, oftentimes too much hair will have build up in the stomach and is vomited out as a hairball. In more serious case, the hair may build up and form a large mass further along in the digestive tract, causing a partial blockage that require an enema or even surgery to remove.

To know whether your cat is suffering from blockage, keep a look out for signs of refusal to eat or vomiting food shortly after eating.

Check out the remedies below to prevent hairballs from building up in the first place besides grooming your cat regularly.

1) Place a dab of petroleum-based hairball paste or plain petroleum jelly on your cat's nose or paw. Your cat will instinctively lick it off and ingest it, and these paste and jelly will help to lubricate the hair mass so that it expels more easily out of your cat's system.

2) Put one teaspoon of fish oil or corn oil into your cat's food once a week as a natural lubricant to expel the hair mass.

3) Provide some grass to your cat. The grass will act as some sort of purgative to facilitate the expulsion of excess hair from the stomach.

4) Special formulated food product for hairball control containing natural vegetable fiber, which offers roughage and assist in keeping things moving in the intestinal tracts.

5) Cat treats that are specially formulated for hairball prevention. Get it from your local vets.

Rather than take a passive stance and look for solutions only when hairball problems arise, why not help to prevent it in the first place. Regular grooming is the easiest and cheapest way to prevent hairballs. By brushing and combing your cat regularly helps to remove the loose dead hair it would swallow otherwise.

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