Ragdoll Cat Forums

I haven't seen this discussed, is it an unmentionable? I have a few questions about what to expect and when.

I brush Percy every day, and usually get an amount equal to a loose, fluffy cotton ball. I could get more with the furminator, but don't use it cuz everyone says not to (but I don't know why not). But I am obviously not raking out everything, my black technical fleece jackets get the rest Still, he has to be ingesting some during his bathing.

So, what happens inside the cat, does a ball form and grow, that food somehow navigates and passes around in their stomach? And at some point the cat yacks it up? Why doesn't the hair mix in with the food in small amounts and pass?

How often does that happen with a typical cat? If I keep Percy raked, can it be avoided?

When we were shopping for Percy before we got him, and bought one of everything in the cat department just to make sure we were prepared. That included a tube of hairball preventer. From the description and ingredients, it sounds like it's chicken flavored vaseline. Should we give him a blast just for preventative maintenance? I don't want him getting the runs when he didn't need it....

LOL, no furballs are not unmentionable Unpleasant yes, and it can be off-putting the first time you see a cat produce one I think most, if not all longer haired cats will yak up a hairball at some point in their life. You can help reduce the frequency by brushing daily, bathing if kitty lets you, and mixing in some hairball formulated food that helps eliminate the furball instead of it coming up the front way. The exact workings of a hairball I'm not sure about, but some hair will pass through with the food as well. I don't think there is any problem with using hairball paste, haven't used it myself though!

It is also imperative that you encourage your cat to drink. Water aids the passage of the hair through their system. This is a good article:
http://jennifercopley.suite101.com/preve...ats-a72301

The article says they are trichobezoars. That sounds better than hairball

When I was in highschool, I used to race motorcycles. We called a particularly tight race a hairball. I didn't know why. Now I do. Yuck!

Annie is 1 1/2 and I have never seen a hairball. She occasionally threw up her food at the end of summer and I gave her that hairball remedy stuff for a few days. She hated it. I tried different flavors but no luck. She did quit throwing up though. I now have her on a hair ball formula food and I think it helps. When spring comes and she starts her major shedding I may have to give it to her again.

Supposedly they will pass the hair in their poop. Sometimes I can tell there is a little but I'm not looking too hard! If it won't pass it could cause some blockage. I think the hairball formula gives the hair more lubrication to slide on through.

What I've read states that the hairball remedy foods have higher fiber and consequently keep things moving. Pumpkin is also recommended a few times a week to increase fiber. If they're getting good exercise it will help with good gut motility.
Only my Maine Coon has had a problem and he is ridiculously fastidious. He cleans himself ALL the time, the Ragdoll and even ME when I'm brushing him. I'm a fairly hairless person though so I'm not contributing to the problem!

One time he yacked, but it was because my son (with my permission) gave him piece of shrimp sauteed in garlic, parsley, white wine, and olive oil. I looked close at the yackage to see if it was hairy, but it wasn't. Don't ask how I know he doesn't chew his treats. After the event, I concluded kitty tummies aren't really up for exotic ingredients. I felt bad.

I used to let Moo Moo lick my empty bowl whenever I ate ice cream and would throw up immediately. No more. It clearly doesn't set well with his tummy.

The article takes the position that hairballs are a "problem." They are not a problem any more than a cat producing stool is a problem. Cats ingest fur and some passes through the GI tract and some does not enter the intestine and collects in the stomach. That will be vomited out when enough is collected to stimulate the response, just as the undigestable parts of mice and other items will be. It is a natural safety mechanism. Having had a cat block and almost die from fur that was passing in the GI tract, I much prefer ours to vomit them up rather than attempting to get them through the intestines.

If there are no hairballs (or signs of attempts to vomit them without success), then there is no need to use a remedy.

The furminator is a harsh tool and pulls out and cuts out healthy fur. The central purpose of grooming is to clean out already shed fur caught up in the coat, not to cut out healthy fur. The latter damages and reduces the coat.

Phoenix isn't much of a shedder, but I do comb him every day, too. He's had two hairballs that I know of.....and I say that I know of because after he coughed a hairball up, he ate it. It scared me.....not good at all. I now leave random paper towels around just in case he throws one up and I don't see it in time, so he can cover it up, which would make him happy....to hide it..lol). Phoenix is very clean boy, but this is too much and I worry about this issue.

And I give him hairball treats....tuna flavored. He dislikes the hairball paste and gels. The treats have petroleum in them.