Any ideas on how to help a cat cough up his furballs please? He eats a lot of grass, and coughs a lot, but no furballs come forth.
I think his constitution is Silica - prone to abcesses, fear of injections, was the runt of the litter. Would Silica perhaps help with furballs too - promoting expulsion?
Any other non-homoeopathic suggestions welcome too.

Anna, we have a pet bunny that sheds insanely. What we give him is a standard furball remedy paste (petroleum product with malt) that's made for cats, and he's been fine since. He still sheds, but his digestive tract doesn't shut down anymore. Rabbits actually are more prone to ill effects from furballs because they can't cough them up like cats do, and this stuff has worked great.

Good luck!

RF

Actually, I think if you just keep your cat in your bedroom all night, he will cough up those fur balls just so you can step on them in the dark!!! squish!

Been there and done that. It works!!!


seriously though, I have heard good reports on the malt-petroleum method. Slicks up the stuff so it slides out better. Yummmm!!!

zmyst

ahem? furball cure? cough with surprise?

:

Zmyst justa readi'n em all fer fun now!!!

We have used the petroleum malt flavoured preparation mentioned by RF and have had good results. The other thing we do is regular grooming to get as much loose fur out as we can.

There are several grooming products to try, depending on how well the cat tolerates grooming. Various combs and brushes as well as rubberised mits for human hands which lift the furr as you stroke.

Janyce

Does he tolerate grooming? - yes in 24 hour shifts if available. I can see one of those mits would be good for future use, but for now there's fur in that needs to come out!

And I don't know whether this petroleum malt can be bought in the UK, nor whether I could want to dose a cat with petroleum derivative as a lubricant. Are there more natural plant-based products?
Plus Zymyst - it's the neighbour's cat and he goes home at night

Anna

I am also familiar with the method zymist uses and can vouch for it effectiveness.

The petroleum stuff can be bought at any allopathic vets. I mentioned the grooming as it will help prevent too much more hair going down and blocking things up even more.

Raw liver is something which has an emetic effect if the cat will eat it - my cats, alas, don't like raw liver and have refused to eat it.

jancye thanks, I will get a mit for future reduction of the problem. This cat will trough almost anything
(_!_) (don't know if I got that right) , so I'll see what liver can do.

Zmyst I've just realised I've got your "name" wrong for ages - sorry about that.

[This message has been edited by Anna Bryant (edited 24 June 2000).]

Hi Anna! Thanks for the help with my jaw...as per the hairballs...when we had a long haired kitty years ago, we gave her a spoonful of olive oil every so often and within a day or so, up and out came a hairball. My daughter just gave us her rabbit to take care of, now I wonder if I could use the olive oil on bunny too. Best wishes, Mselle

[This message has been edited by Mselle (edited 25 June 2000).]