Hairballs and You

Every feline fan probably you ought to be knowledgable of a usual problem that targets cats:  the hairball.  But what have you learned of a hairball's indications, triggers, and reliefs?

What Causes Cat Hairballs?

Hairballs are created by the harsh top of a cat's tongue yanking out loose hair while they are cleaning themselves.  The hair is then swallowed and pulled into the digestive tract.  Ideally, this hair would not get digested, but would get flushed when the cat uses the litter pan or goes outside.  Naturally, kitties are hunters, and are designed to be able to handle ingesting fur, like from any poor rat it catches.   When it hardens into a ball, the cat will probably end up with the unrewarding experience of barfing it back up.  In unfortunate situations however, this might not happen and the hairball may get stuck inside your feline, likely causing unfortunate health concerns.

Health Problems Brought On By Hairballs

Hairballs are a hassle on their own, but can additionally instigate several corollary problems, rapidly growing dangerous if not removed or resolved with a quickness.  Additionally the obvious and revolting puking, of course, the lodged-in hair can induce digestive difficulties and constipation.  Your kitty may cease eating and become lethargic as the hairball grows in size, while your pet are still unable to get rid of it.  Their intestines can bloat and this can obviously cause many kinds of unwelcome concerns that you'd certainly not want be stuck with.  This danger could even wind up needing surgical intervention to remove the hairball, which is a disastrously unwelcome cost and imperilment to your pet, particularly considering the simplicity of preventing hairballs in the first place.  Left untreated, it could end up in a fatal illness.

Curing Hairballs

Kitties instinctively attempt to treat themselves by vomiting.  They can do this by consuming grass, which most of the time induces felines to regurgitate due to the grass fibers irritating their stomaches.  Other possibilities to eliminate cat hairballs use petroleum or mineral oil based substances made to lubricate the intestines in such a means to ease the natural elimination of the hairball.  Products such as Laxatone or Petromalt have been designed to prevent hairballs.  They are a semi-solid crème that you feed your kitties before meals.  This eases the obstruction through the system and would also be helpful to alleviate non-hairball related constipation also.  They have been made available in a variety of flavors like tuna or catnip flavoring.  One dose each day for 2 or 3 days, and your concern will be resolved.

Preventing Hairball Recurrence

Preventing hairball recurrence is done by certain different means, some of them complementary.  One is a half dose of Laxatone or Petromalt 2 or 3 times per week.  Cat Laxatone comes highly approved by veterinarians and pet owners alike. There are certain "hairball prevention" diet foods available.  A large percentage of hairball prevention is of course correct grooming.  Definitely brush the short-haired cats but comb the long-haired cats often.  They love it and it's a wonderful method to spend time making sure your cat gets happy and healthy.