I have 5 cats, but I never had an experience with hairballs until I got my 2 long-haired cats, Sadie and Chloe. I didn't know what to think the first time Sadie had a hairball. I was sitting on the couch, and she was in the floor near me. Suddenly she bent down, and looked like she was gagging! I didn't know what to do! Then she seemed to be dry heaving. All of a sudden, out came a long, nasty thing. A hairball. It was probably a week later, and Chloe had one too.

What is a Hairball?

If you've ever been around cats, you know that they are constant bathers. They have little sandpaper-like tongues that they use to groom themselves with. The hair swallowed during grooming accumulates in the cats' stomachs. The build up of hair can interfere with digestion. Some of the hair may be passed, but large amounts may be coughed up in the form of a hairball. Hairballs can occur in cats with any coat length, but are more likely to occur in a cat with long hair. Don't let the name fool you, though. Hairballs don't actually look like balls. They come out looking like something that would come out of the other end!

How can hairballs be prevented?

Regular grooming with a brush or comb can eliminate a lot of the hair that cats swallow, but grooming alone will not prevent hairballs.

There are a few different hairball remedies out there. The first I tried was a tube of hairball medicine from the veterinarian. An inch of this gooey formula worked fine when I remembered to give it to them. It is supposed to be given to them 2-3 times a week to prevent hairballs. I would give it to them one week. Then after a couple of hairball-free weeks, I would forget to give it to them-resulting in another hairball.

I also tried Pounce hairball remedy treats. They were crunchy on the outside, and contained the soft hairball medicine on the inside. Sadie, my cat that will eat anything, wouldn't even touch them.

Finally, I was shopping for cat food when I came across the big, purple bag of Purina Special Care for hairball control. It was a little more expensive than the regular dry cat food, but I thought I would give it a try. The instructions on the bag recommend slowly adding the new food to the cats' diet over a period of 7-10 days, then feeding it exclusively to remain hairball-free. I had no problem adding this to my cats' diets. All 5 of my cats started gobbling it up! They immediately abandoned their friskies cat food for these new, round pellets. After several months of use, I have only had about 2 hairballs each from both Sadie and Chloe. My short-haired cats never have them.

Nutrition

A diet high in fiber will help to move hair through a cat's digestive tract. This minimizes the formation of hairballs, and helps prevent constipation. Purina Special Care for hairball control is rich in natural fibers. It provides 100% of a cat's daily nutrition. It is broken down as listed on the bag; crude protein-30%, crude fat-11%, crude fiber-9%, moisture-12%, calcium-1.1%, phosphorus-0.9%, Taurine-0.125%.

Price

Purina Special Care is a little more expensive than regular dry cat food. I used to get the 6.3 pound bag of Chef's Blend for about $4.99. A 7 pound bag of Special Care is $7.99. If you've ever had to clean up a hairball, the extra few bucks is well worth it!

I highly recommend this product to anyone that has ever had a hairball problem.




Recommended: Yes