Cat Hairball Prevention

If you're a kitty owner likely you probably are aware of a usual cat health concern that targets felines:  hairballs.  But how much do you know of a hairball's signs, root causes, and therapies?

What Causes Hairballs?

Hairballs are caused by the course exterior of a feline's tongue pulling out loose hair during the process of washing themselves.  The hair is then gulped down and moved into the digestive tract.  Ideally, this hair would not get digested, but would get removed when the cat uses the litter tray or goes outside.  After all, felines are hunters, and are designed to be able to handle swallowing fur, like from some poor rat it catches.   When it congeals into a mass, the kitty will probably end up with the unrewarding experience of barfing it back up.  In some situations however, this might not happen and the hairball may become trapped inside your kitty, unfortunately bringing about serious health issues.

Cat Hairballs and Cat Health

Hairballs are inconvenient on their own, but can also cause many corollary issues, quickly growing dangerous if not removed or resolved with a quickness.  Aside from the unsightly and irritating throwing up, of course, the lodged-in hair can cause intestinal distress and constipation.  Your cat may stop eating and become lethargic as the hairball grows in size, while your pet are still unable to expell it.  Their intestines can become swollen and this can clearly create several unwelcome problems that you'd hate to be stuck with.  This problem could even end up requiring surgery to remove the hairball, which is a disastrously large financial impact and risk to your cat, certainly considering the trivial nature of preventing it in the first place.  Left untreated, it could end up in a mortal affliction.

Curing Hairballs

Kitties naturally try to treat themselves by throwing up.  They can do this by eating grass, which usually makes cats to vomit due to the grass fibers irritating their stomaches.  Other possibilities to treat cat hairballs use petroleum or mineral oil based products meant to grease the intestinal tract so as to ease the natural passage of the hairball.  Products such as Laxatone or Petromalt have been made to prevent hairballs.  They are a semi-solid glop that you give your felines before meals.  This slides the hairball through the digestive process and would also be helpful to relieve non-hairball caused constipation as well.  They have been made available in a variety of flavors like tuna or catnip flavoring.  A dose daily for two or three days, and your concern should be resolved.

Preventing Hairball Recurrence

Preventing hairball recurrence is done by a few varying means, some of them complementary.  One is a half dose of Laxatone or Petromalt two to three times per week.  Laxatone is highly approved by veterinarians and pet owners alike. There are also certain "hairball prevention" diet foods available.  A large percentage of hairball prevention is of course correct grooming.  Be sure to brush your short-haired felines but comb the long-haired cats on a continual basis.  They love it and it's a wonderful way to spend time being sure your cat continues to be happy and healthy.