Being a pet fanatic certainly you probably are knowledgable of a common cat health concern that troubles kitties:  the hairball.  But what are you aware of a hairball’s signs, causes, and cures?

What Causes Cat Hairballs?

A hairball is caused by the tough surface of a cat’s tongue removing loose hair in the course of cleaning themselves.  This hair is then ingested and pulled into the digestive tract.  Ideally, this hair would not be digested, but would get excreted when the cat uses the litter tray or goes outside.  Naturally, cats are hunters, and are designed to be capable to deal with swallowing fur, like from some poor mouse it catches.   When hair hardens into a ball, the kitty will likely suffer the unpleasant experience of vomiting it back up.  In certain cases however, this might not work and the hairball can end up trapped inside your pet, unfortunately resulting in potentially disastrous health issues.

Hairballs - A Cat Health Problem

Hairballs of cats are irritating enough on their own, but can additionally instigate several corollary issues, speedily becoming unhealthy if not removed or cured speedily.  Additionally the obvious and unpleasant vomiting, of course, the unexpelled hair can cause digestive difficulties and constipation.  Your cat might quit eating and start being lethargic as the hairball increases in size, while your pet are still unable to expell it.  Their intestines can swell and this can undoubtedly create several harmful problems that you’d hate to be stuck with.  This danger could even wind up necessitating invasive medical procedures to remove the hairball, which is a disastrously unwelcome expense and risk to your animal, certainly given the ease of preventing hairballs in the first place.  Left alone, it could become a mortal health problem.

Curing Hairballs

Cats instinctively try to treat themselves by puking.  They can accomplish this by eating grass, which often causes kitties to vomit due to the irritating fiber content.  Other ways to cure cat hairballs involve petroleum or mineral oil based materials made to lubricate the intestinal tract in such a means to ease the natural passage of the hairball.  Products such as Laxatone or Petromalt have been made to eliminate hairballs.  They are a semi-solid paste that you feed your cats before meals.  This slides the hairball through the system and acts in a manner very helpful to ease non-hairball caused constipation in addition.  They have been made purchasable in a array of flavors like tuna or catnip flavoring.  One serving daily for two to three days, and your problem is solved.

Hairball Prevention

Hairball prevention is achieved by certain different ways, some of them complementary.  One is a dab of Laxatone or Petromalt two or three times per week.  Petromalt hairball remedy tends to be highly thought of by vets and owners alike. There are also specific “hairball prevention” diet foods available.  A major degree of hairball prevention is of course correct grooming.  Be sure to brush your short-haired felines but comb the long-haired kitties on a continual basis.  They enjoy it and it’s a super means to spend time being sure your kitty stays happy and healthy.