Hairball surgically removed from my cat

[StillInMyPJJs]

My 14 year old cat has just had to have a hairball surgically removed by laparotomy 😩
She’s recovering well thankfully. I’ve now got CatMalt paste to help with hairballs, changed her onto Royal Canin Hairball food and I’m going to brush her a lot more regularly.
Has anyone had any experience of ways to help reduce hairballs?

I don’t currently have insurance and obviously I know they wouldn’t cover anything related to this recent issue now as it would be pre-existing.
But is it still worth taking insurance out at 14? Has anyone insured an older cat and actually found it worthwhile, or are the premiums/excesses so high at that age that you’re better off just putting money aside yourself?
Interested to hear what others do with older cats.

Oh bless you and her. Nothing to add re insurance as I never got it (but will be in future after so many problems in later life) but I’m glad she’s ok.

Brush her religiously. Mine wouldn’t take the malt paste but you can always put it on her paw (and the carpet.).

I feed mine partly on the RC Indoor and partly on the RC Hairball - they both seem to prefer the Hairball formula!.

Churu (Inaba) do an anti-hairball version of lik e lix which goes down with mine just as well as the original, and there are various formulae of treats like Dreamies that come with a hairball formula. As mine are indoor only they have a bowl of live grass growing in the house by their feeding station, and Girlcat (queen of the hairballs) has a good old chomp on that to help her shift hers.

Do you grow the grass from a grow kit? If so, which one do you use? I tried one and my cat absolutely ignored it, just wanted to eat from the garden (which isn’t exactly lush grass, just a pot of quite rough grass and weeds). I’m moving to a flat without garden for a while and need to sort some grass out, as she seems to need it every few days.

And also what are your tips for keeping the grass solid at the base? I’ve tried growing it in pots but every cat just tears it up by the roots in seconds.

I use either the Trixie seeds, or recently have been using the Webbox. With both, you need to ensure the grass has had a good chance to root itself. With the Trixie I line my own tray with kitchen roll first then soak that before adding the substrate and seeds, this gives the roots even more to grab on to. The Webbox is a bit different as it comes with a tray with it's own "saucer" like you would have for a normal house plant. I now add a tiny bit of Baby Bio to the water, lasts much longer that way.

I must admit my old Boycat did have a habit of pulling the entire mat of kitchen roll, substrate and grass part way out of the bowl occasionally! Girlcat however chews the tops off the blades (I don't put it out for them until it's at least 3-4 inches tall), and I've not observed Tobias at it ever.

@StillInMyPJJs sorry for hijacking your thread!

So sorry to hear this! Hope she is feeling much better now. Can I ask what were her symptoms and how she got diagnosed? I have long haired cats and this is one of my concerns.

Yeah, my cats sound like your old Boycat but this is great - thanks so much. 😻