Posted on 07/31/2012 1:39:48 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse
In my short time here I've noticed that a lot of people on this site give great advice concerning pets.
The cat is at the vets office and he's being kept overnight to determine if they need to operate. He's a large Himalayan mixed with Maine Coon.
He hasn't held down food or water since late yesterday afternoon. He had surgery back in early June for similar symptoms. The vet removed a mass of hair from his stomach. I think part of the problem is he's been cleaning the dog who has much courser fur.
The vet also determined he's a little constipated.
He's about four years old and hasn't had these problems until recently. We just moved into a house in East Texas. Until a year ago, we lived near the Canadian border. He's been treated for fleas and worms.
He doesn't like Hartz hair ball remedy. The vet already said both animals must have their coats kept shaved short for the rest of their lives.
Can anyone offer any home remedies that will help him? We recently lost our ancient 20 year old cat. We're not prepared to lose another pet.
Listen to the vet....keep their fur short....less likely to form a ball when the strands are short...Good Luck!
My cats ate “Laxatone” off my fingers; but you can also dab it on their paws and then they lick it off. It helped them pass hairballs. The last cat died at age 21 and a half.
We’re checking with some local groomers to see if we can get a discount for frequent trims. For some strange reason a lot of the local groomers are reluctant to work with cats.
Try the Furminator. I have a cat w/ 40,000 layers of down below 4000 layers of fur (she also just had surgery as well, but not for that).
I used to have to cut the “balls of dreadlocks” off before my land lord told me about the Furminator.
Took em right off. If your dog is that hairy, do it outside, a few times a week to start.
Works like a charm.
Had/still have a maine coon. Vet number one said he had a tumor. Vet number two took a long pair of tweezers into his butt and pulled out a nine inch long mass of hair and poop. Now he eats. Oh, he’s 18. The cat, not the vet.
My parents have a similar, ongoing problem with a long-haired cat. Mom brushes it several times a day, but the cat still throws up hairballs and food and gets blockages.
Maybe your cat is just one that can’t deal with the fur, especially if it’s washing the dog! Perhaps it’s nerves: our old Agnes had a compulsive licking problem when Anoreth was born. The vet gave her a sedative injection. Maybe your cat is reacting to the change of environment, and a shot to mellow it out for a month or so would help.
Soft butter is good. Cats like it.
Here are some suggestions from the net:
http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/hairballs.html
btw, cats have fur, hence shouldn’t they be called ‘furballs’?
This is by no means a sure cure, but try an oily diet, tuna packed in oil, add fish oil to regular canned cat food, etc. He needs a diet that helps the fur to move through his system.
Amen. I say follow the vets advice, get the cat a thorough physical to rule out abdominal obstructions such as tumors, and get a second opinion if necessary. Most cats expel fur balls(you would know). Save yourself time, money, and heartache.
Can you blame them, lol.
I have a couple of long hair cats and they were having issues with hairballs. None cared for the hairball remedy, but I would smear it into their paw so they were forced to lick it off. I also switched their dry food to a hairball remedy. This seems to have solved a lot of the problem.
change the diet to hairball formula, dry food.
use the tiny cans of wet food but when the little thing snacks it can snack on hairball formula.
Comb the cat a couple of times a week if not daily. It will keep the amount of hair ingested down and allow it to pass.
had the same problem and those two things resolved it.
Vets aren't always correct and do misdiagnose.
Have you gone for a 2nd opinion?
Ingesting hair is a perpetual problem with cats.
The vet’s suggestion of shaving the critters will work, however, if you don’t want to you can always give them hairball formula cat food. Or add the hair dissolving ingredient to the food yourself.
I did that with our cat and he wouldn’t eat if for a couple of days. he eventually overcame his hunger and will eat it now.
You can make any food into a hairball formula food the same way the pet food companies do.
Add raw pineapple juice or raw papaya juice to the food. Both contain juices an enzyme that dissolves hair.
It can’t be pasteurized or cooked heating will destroy the enzyme.
Ingesting hair is a perpetual problem with cats.
The vet’s suggestion of shaving the critters will work, however, if you don’t want to you can always give them hairball formula cat food. Or add the hair dissolving ingredient to the food yourself.
I did that with our cat and he wouldn’t eat if for a couple of days. he eventually overcame his hunger and will eat it now.
You can make any food into a hairball formula food the same way the pet food companies do.
Add raw pineapple juice or raw papaya juice to the food. Both contain juices an enzyme that dissolves hair.
It can’t be pasteurized or cooked heating will destroy the enzyme.
“Vet number two took a long pair of tweezers into his butt and pulled out a nine inch long mass of hair and poop.”
Just to be clear, you mean the cat’s butt, right?
Petroleum jelly smeared in the paw works too! That’s what my gramma always used, and her cats lived to a full age.
Laxatone is great. Sometimes they like it, sometimes you have to put it on their paws. Buy a big tube and give it to the cat about once a week.
” I would smear it into their paw so they were forced to lick it off”
Aww. You can’t give away all the secrets..
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