Does your cat suffer from fur balls? what do you feed him/her? Do you give taxative treatment?

[Pavlovthecat]

I am suspecting one of my cats is suffering from fur balls. He has also suffered from fleas despite being on Stronghold (seems to be a bit of an epidemic going about, as lots of cats i know are suffering atm). Anyway, I am treating this additionally by using some flea killer tablets to kill the additional fleas.

But, my cat is also throwing up a LOT. After food often, but not always. He has been overgrooming, as a result of fleas I guess, and I have come to the conclusion he is suffering from fur balls and that is why he is throwing up. Sometimes his vomit has fur in, sometimes not. Sometimes it is bile, sometimes food, sometimes furballs.

I had not ever really considered fur balls to be problem but after looking into it, realise that this appears to be a big problem for him right now.

It is suggested he has a high fibre diet at the moment to help pass any fur balls and possibly treat with Katalax or similar.

So i wondered what you do to treat your cat's fur balls and what food you feed to help prevent further problems? I am starting to feel really sorry for him as he is not feeling very happy these days.

You've just described my cat at the moment. Scratching dementedly, flea drops ineffective, throwing up bile, food or fur...
How do those flea tablets work? Do they really kill the fleas?

woolly they appear to have, but they only kill the ones on them, so it is a short term measure. I don't know how long it will last though. I did it two days ago and both cats seem much calmer, the male cat in particular, he has scabs under his chin and by his ears he was so covered poor thing. I have had a good look on him and can't see anything.

I used a Bob Martin one from the supermarket as I happened to be in there and could not bear to see him suffering any more without doing something. I should probably talk to the vet about long term solution, but they advised me last time to change from Frontline to Stronghold, maybe I need to go back to frontline? .

I think I am a bit worried that he might have a fur ball stuck in his stomach/intestines/bowels.

(i also have very clean carpets and new bedding as I am now paranoid about dead fleas verywhere!)

Taxative treatment - do you mean taking him with me to see the accountant?

Sorry couldn't resist.

I provide oily fish - normally sardines in oil. They make very lose poos and the hairballs tend to come out one end or the other.

What kind of cat, how old and has his weight fluctuated?

lol, i did not even spot that error. Except I did look at it like this and suspected something was wrong with the spelling but it did not register. I think I might be tired .

Oily fish. Oh they would love that! Would tuna work? the female is quite fussy with treats, she swallowed a telephone plug when she was a kitten, had an op to remove it and I think it has buggered up her stomach a bit, she might turn her nose up at sardines. Funnily enough she has not really had too much of a problem with either the fleas or the fur balls (just crapping in my bath, she is most certainly not constipated...a whole other thread!)

he is a bruiser of a moggie. He does appear to have a lost a bit of weight, I think. He has so much fur it is hard to say. And I don't weigh him.

But he is not off his food. Apart from today as DH bought cheapy shit and he won't eat it! In fact, if anything he is gobbling his food. I thought at first that might be the problem, but he has always gobbled it like we don't feed him!

Yes tuna works fine. Don't do it every day obviously but once a week is a good treat and sorts out furballs and if you can get the to eat garlicky mackerels it gets rid of fleas too (they hate garlicky cats) - my cat has not had fleas for over a year now thanks to the garlic chicken he gets every week.

oh is that right?! I should think the male cat will eat whatever I give him if it has chicken or fish in it. he has been known (recently as he has become a bit unruly) to take a bit of curried chicken from a plate on the side (hope it gave him the shits, cheeky cat)

I will try that too then, but might serve it outside...garlic tuna is not the kind of aroma I envisage my perfect home smelling of

You could kill two birds with one stone, mix it with passata and hey presto you have a pasta sauce for small children AND catfood!

Seriously garlic chicken is better than garlic fish which sounds minging

My cat tried chicken jalfrezi once. It was hilarious to watch his face as his mouth suddenly caught fire. He had never drunk out the loo before