Hairball Remedies

My big fat hairy cat is having a lot of hairball problems, and in turn, I am having a lot of hairball cleaning up problems! My shorthair cat has almost no hairballs, so I don't want to get into the whole buying special expensive food for my long haired cat. Does anyone have any good remedies for hairballs? I know that in the states you can get Petromalt that you put into their food, but I don't know of an equivelant here.

Any help would be appreciated by my carpets, my duvets and my wooden floors!!!
Thanks!

We are having the same problem as you are 1 short hair cat & 1 long hair cat. I had some hairball medicine from the vet that I had while in the States but we are almost out of that. when we were at the vets on Friday she said he could constipated because he is so hairy. We have tried a couple of the hairball pastes over here but they don't seem to have the same effect as the one they are used to. I think the Siamese is allergic to one of them as well his eyes get really weepy & he sneezes alot.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I've found the hairball formula cat food (I know Iams does one and I think Science Plan does as well) works pretty well. And we bought a Furminator (you'll have to google it - can't recall where I ordered it from) which gets off SHOCKING amounts of hair (like so much that it if I don't do it for a while it ends up covering me, the sofa, and the carpet around the sofa!!)

i have a british short hair... she gets them once in a while, but not so bad, does brushing her more helps? i have the paste hairball remedy... i got this i think at petsmart in the states, and im about to run out too... i hope she is ok!

My mom used to put a lid from a container with vegetable oil on it.  The cats would just lick it.  Not sure if this is the answer but it worked for our kitties.

I have two Manx cats, both who are *awful* about hairballs.  I feed them the Science Diet hairball biscuit, but I mix it half and half with their regular food so it lasts longer.  Seems to work just fine - I haven't had to clean up a hairball in ages!

I have two Manx cats, both who are *awful* about hairballs.  I feed them the Science Diet hairball biscuit, but I mix it half and half with their regular food so it lasts longer.  Seems to work just fine - I haven't had to clean up a hairball in ages!

We have to be careful what cat food we give our cats the Siamese the hairy one is prone to UTI'S so we have make sure the cat food helps out with UTI's. I used to buy Purina Plus Urinary Tract Formula back in the States the cats love it an little to no hairballs either. but we cant get that over here in the UK we have tried several pet places they have never heard of it.

Does Science Diet Hairball help out with UTI'S if it does we could always try them on that an do what you do to make it last longer? Thanks in Advance.

My mom used to put a lid from a container with vegetable oil on it.  The cats would just lick it.  Not sure if this is the answer but it worked for our kitties.

I've also heard that feeding your cats a bit of Vaseline every so often will do the trick - don't know if it really works though as mine refuse to touch it!   

I've also heard that feeding your cats a bit of Vaseline every so often will do the trick - don't know if it really works though as mine refuse to touch it!   

The hairball medicine I have now I got back in the States from the vet I think smells a little like a American beef bouillon cube an my female cat struggles with me when I put that on her paw so I know she wont touch vaseline lol.   

Yeah, I finally just smeared a bit on their noses and watched them try to lick it off - at least it was entertaining!  Jury's still out on the hairballs, though.

The hairball remedy I bought years ago was cod liver oil and silicate.  So I just buy cod liver oil now.  Butter should work, too.. or any oil the cat will take.

I worked in a natural pet supply store.  We didn't recommend using the petroleum-based products as they can cause other digestive problems.  There was one gel made by Vetbasis that was natural, but as someone else suggested, you can probably get the same result by feeding your cat some cod liver oil.

You can try to find out if Laxatone is sold in the UK.  It may only be available through a vet though.

Petroleum jelly can work too.  Just scrape it off your finger on the roof of your cat's mouth so s/he has to eat it.