As a cat fanatic likely you should be cognizant of a typical condition that troubles felines: cat hairballs. But how much do you know of a hairball’s indications, triggers, and reliefs?
What Causes Hairballs?
Hairballs are caused by the rough surface of a feline’s tongue extracting free hair while washing themselves. The hair is then ingested and moved into the digestive tract. Typically, this hair wouldn’t be digested, but would get elminated when the kitty uses the litter pan or goes outside. Naturally, cats are predators, and are capable to be able to accept swallowing fur, like from some poor mouse it catches. When it congeals into a mass, the feline will likely not enjoy the unpleasant experience of vomiting it back up. In unfortunate situations however, this might not happen and it can get stuck inside your animal, sadly bringing about unfortunate health problems.
Health Problems Brought On By Hairballs
Hairballs are enough of a pain in their own right, but can in addition bring on a few related concerns, quickly becoming dangerous if not removed or cured in a prompt manner. In addition to the open and revolting vomiting, of course, the lodged-in hair can precipitate intestinal distress and constipation. Your kitty might stop eating and start being lethargic as the hairball grows in size, while your pet are still unable to pass it. Their guts can bloat and this can undoubtedly cause all sorts of unpleasant problems that you’d hate to be stuck with. This problem could even wind up requiring invasive medical procedures to remove the hairball, which is a dreadfully big expense and danger to your pet, particularly given the trivial nature of preventing it in the first place. Left alone, it could result in a fatal illness.
Removing Hairballs
Cats naturally attempt to treat themselves by throwing up. They can accomplish this by consuming grass, which often causes felines to regurgitate due to the irritating fiber content. Other ways to cure cat hairballs use petroleum or mineral oil based substances made to grease the intestinal tract in order to ease the natural removal of the hairball. Products such as Laxatone tuna flavor or Petromalt fiber capsules have been created to prevent cat hairballs. They are a semi-solid paste that you administer to your kitties before meals. This eases the hairball through the system and is helpful to lessen non-hairball induced constipation as well. They have been made purchasable in a multitude of flavors like tuna or catnip flavoring. One dose each day for 2-3 days, and your issue will be solved.
Preventing Hairball Recurrence
Prevention of hairballs is achieved by several varying ways, some of them complementary. One is a 1/2 dose of Laxatone or Petromalt two to three times per week. Laxatone comes highly recommended by veterinarians and owners alike. There exist also specific “hairball prevention” diet foods available. A major percentage of hairball prevention is definitely correct grooming. Definitely brush your short-haired cats but comb your long-haired cats regularly. They adore it and it’s a fantastic means to spend time being sure your animal remains happy and healthy.