Conference misery::feline_v1

       Try treating them with a product like Petromalt.  While she's
    exhibiting symptom, the treatment is once a day.  Maintenance is
    once a week.  Petromalt is a gell that cat's generally like the
    taste of.  It causes them to pass the hairballs instead of barfing
    them.
    
    I'll look up hairballs tonight and see if there is anything else
    I can suggest...                                 
    
    tlh
    

    I also had success with Petromalt. Slightly cheaper if your cat
    will drink it is to give them a small amount of cooking oil.

    I use Laxatone which I purchase from the vet, and the 
    cats really like it.

                        < Vaseline Works >
    
    I have a long-hair angora that constantly had problems with hairballs
    until the vet recommended giving her 1/4 teaspoon of vaseline once
    a week.
    
    Surprisingly, the cat loves the taste of the vaseline!  Since starting
    this routine, I have not had nearly the problem cleaning up hairballs
    as I did before.  
    
    Give it a try - I'd be curious to know if you have the same good
    luck as I did with it.  

    Our gray and white long haired queen of the universe, Suti gets a
    little butter (she refuses margarine) or vaseline once a week and
    gives us very few hairballs to clean up.  She does, however, throw
    up grass once a week.  The vet says it's good for her to vomit once
    in a while and not to worry about it.

    We give our three Petromalt also.  Found it to be a great product!
    They think it's a treat!
    
    

    Buy a can of tuna fish in oil (people food, not cat food) and pour
    the oil over the cat's food. (Or give them a little tuna with a
    lot of oil.) 
    
    Most cats will gobble it down, and if you do it every few weeks
    it should prevent hair balls.
    
    -Bruce (who tolerates a 21-pound and a 4-pound cat)

    Thanks for all the advice!  I think I will try feeding the cats
    a little vegetable oil in their food tonight (since I have that
    around and don't have any of the more exotic stuff - no one I know
    eats tuna fish packed in oil, for example, though there is plenty
    of the water-packed kind), and see if they will eat that.  Nebula
    has not tossed up a hairball since I put in this note (that I know
    of! - Found an old one under the desk a few days ago...).  With
    the Fickle on a diet, both cats are usually hungry enough to eat
    their food, anyhow - it doesn't pay to be fussy if we you see is
    all you are going to get!
    
    I always regret it when I let Nebula go outside right after I mow
    the lawn; cats don't seem to be able to digest grass at all.  It
    must be good for her system somehow because she will always eat
    the clippings if they are still moist; if I don't let her out for
    a while and the clippings dry up, she doesn't eat them.

You remember Cisco and Malcolm? Well I used to take a jar of Vaseline and
smear it across their whiskers which they would then clean in a huff.

It worked but none of us liked it.

Now I have a tube of vaseline (they just started packaging it this way I
guess) and I squeeze a suitable drollop into their food dish. Since it is
Cisco's oft voiced opinion that I starve him, he leaps on anything in the
bowl and wolfs it down. Malcolm is not the little vaccuum cleaner that Cisco
is but figures that he is missing out and pushs his way into the dish.

Now if it just worked for pills....

							.wIx.

      More on Vaseline...
    Our Cats wouldn't have anything to do with Vaseline...So..
    our Vet said to just rub a dollop of it into their front leg hair
    right above the paws.. 
      They didn't particularly like the idea...but immediately began
    to 'clean up'...and in the process, they got the Vaseline into their
    lil' bellies...and we have never had any problems with hairballs
    since we started on it.
    JMCD

       Any of these medications can be administered via leg if the cat
    doesn't want to take it voluntarily.  Be forewarned however.  Make
    sure you spread it on *thinly*.  The first thing the cat will do
    before washing is shake that paw and if there's a thick glob, you'll
    soon have vaseline/petromalt all over the couch/carpet/walls....
    
       My "Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Guide" says:
    
    	Prevent hair balls by administering a commercial hairball
    preparation (cat laxative) which you can acquire at pet stores or
    through your veterinarian.  A safe and effective home remedy for
    hairballs is Petroleum jelly(one teaspoonful twice a week).
    
    	Note: mineral oil might be effective but should be administered
    with caution.  It should not be given by mouth to an uncooperative
    cat who could accidently inhale it while struggling to keep from
    swallowing.  If using mineral oil, add it to the cat's food once
    or twice a week at a dose of one teaspoonful per 5 pounds body weight.
    
    tlh
    

    
    	Copernicus, my Maine Coon, is now 9 months old and shedding
    a bit.  But 1/4 teaspoonful of Vaseline a week (he licks it out
    of the spoon) has kept hairballs to 0.  (I don't care for the
    horrid noises cats make when they spit up hairballs.)  The one
    teaspoonful/week mentioned in .11 appears to be a bit much.  After
    slurping up most of the 1/4 teaspoonful, Copy has to make swallowing
    motions with his head (to degrease his throat ?) so I wouldn't try
    much more.  - Chris

    Re .11
      Not only do they shake them paws...I'd hate to hear what they're
    thinking when they look at you after you rub the stuff into their
    fur...It'd blister the paint on your walls!!!
    JMCD
    

    Perhaps better than the paws is their underside. Just remember to
    put it where they can reach.
    
    	Jon

    re .12
    The noise cats make when they are throwing up is really something
    awful. We once had a cat that barfed all over the car just outside
    of New York city - we really thought she was dying!! We also had
    one that had serious hair ball problems _ she once got both our
    sterio speakers - and everytime I heard the gagging noise start
    I'd rush out and give her some cooking oil which always stopped
    it!

    Do you guys brush your cats?
    
    We have a short hair cat and a long hair cat.  We've NEVER had
    a single problem with fur balls.  We brush the cats at least
    2-3 times a week, and daily during shedding season.  They LOVE
    it, since they never get so bad that there are tangles to brush
    out.
    
    The guys are indoor cats.  When they go out they tend to romp
    a lot, and graze on the lawn a bit.  Sometimes this causes some,
    shall we say, stomach discomfort, but what comes up is always
    all grass - no fur.
    
    Perhaps some preventative brushing would help your cats - better
    that than having them injest petroleum products!
    
    --Louise

    I try to brush mine, but they both love it so much that it's a
    two-person operation. If I'm working on one, the other makes a fuss
    and rolls around, or gets wounded feelings and stalks away.
    
    I do find that if you don't brush regularly, brushing can *cause*
    hairball problems; it loosens up a lot of fur, and when the cat
    next grooms itself, it eats a lot more than usual. Regular brushing
    would reduce this; it also helps, after a thorough brushing, to
    dampen your hands a bit and rub them over the cat to pick up any
    loose fur.

    -b

    I can relate to the stereo speaker problem.  One day Ken and I heard
    Winston making the "hairball in process" noise (thinking to our
    selves...now where have we heard that noise before...) and when
    I suddenly remembered what was about to happen, I ran over and picked
    him up to move him off the rug.  Big Mistake!  I grabbed him at
    just the *wrong* moment causing the hairball to become projectile.
    To make a long story short, the hairball splashed all over Ken's
    brand new speakers.  This is the one instance of his sense of humor
    failing him that I know of.  To this day that speaker still carries
    Winston's mark.  Any ideas on how to get it off?
    
    About giving tuna packed in oil as a hairball preventative.  It
    might be wise to avoid using tuna in oil or even oil from tuna if
    you have a cat prone to FUS.  Tuna is very high in magnesium and
    will aggravate this condition.  It is a good idea to avoid giving
    any cat tuna.  We have used Vaseline, Petromalt (which is just
    petroleum jelly with malt flavoring added), mineral oil, vegetable
    oil etc.  All work pretty well and the cats don't mind eating any
    of them.  Winston still gets an occasional hairball but he is an
    excessive groomer.  We show our cats so the bathing and brushing
    keeps the the loose hair under control.
    JoAnn
    

    Be very careful about giving tuna not enriched with vitamin E. Tuna
    oil can cause an illness called steareitis (bad spelling), or yellow
    fat disease.  It can be fatal to cats in the long run.
    
    By the way, tuna does the same thing to humans... we just don't
    eat as much tuna as some cats.
    
    Dave

    I feed both kitties the water water-packed tuna comes in, and they
    love that.  I took your advice and fed them (impossible to feed
    just Nebula something in her food, even though JFCL never gets
    hairballs) some salad oil in their food, and they practically wouldn't
    eat it, and those two will eat nearly anything (especially JFCL:
    she eats matzohs, wheat checks, sunflower seeds....both of them
    will also eat various sorts of catfood rejected by a friend's finicky
    tomcat, the infamous Nugget).  Neb hasn't had a hairball since then,
    but she may just be being lucky: she used to go for weeks or months
    with no problems, anyway, sometimes.

    You may also try a little Cod Liver Oil....that may work...
    
    Or just get a tube of Femalt and put it on the paw....they'll lick
    it off just to clean themselves.
    
    cin
    

    Cod Liver Oil is the right precaution, but buyer beware.
    
    Since I was a kid taking it everyday, the terrible, fishy taste
    and odor has been removed from many CLO products. It's that taste
    and especially the odor that cats can't resist. READ THE LABLE.
    If it's "not fishy", the cats will probably reject it.
    

    Recently, I've been trying to add some oil to my cats' diet; Chiun
    is fine, but Abigail has been suffering from dry skin and a dull
    coat. What happened was a classic case of the Finicky Feline...
    
    First I tried Linatone, mixed with their meals. Chiun didn't seem
    to mind much, but Abigail looked disgusted and wouldn't eat. After
    a few weeks of this, both cats were leaving a lot of food on their
    plates and giving me dirty looks; so, being soft-hearted, I decided
    to try something else.
      
    Well, Abigail was getting a hairball problem too, so I got some
    Nutrimalt and Petromalt and gave them a shot. And - of course -
    Chiun liked the Petromalt and *loved* the other stuff, slurping
    it back like a kid with Jello. And Abigail turned up her nose and
    walked away.
    
    I guess she's going to have to take care of her dandruff herself...
    
    -b

    Have you tried putting the Linatone on her paw?  She will want to
    clean it off and in doing so will ingest it.  You mentioned Nutrimalt.
    Is that a hairball remedy?  I am familiar with a product called
    Nutrical that is a nutritional supplement.  If you could get that
    down her, if wouldn't matter as much if she wasn't eating very much.
    
    Nutrical has all the essential nutrients to sustain a cat and most
    cats love it.
    Jo Ann

    RE: .25
    
    Jo Ann,
    
    I did just what you suggested recently. However, my cat got the
    upper paw. Our Persian loves Laxatone, and will just lick it off
    your finger. Our Russian Blue needs coaxing. So, says I, let's be
    smart. Lets rub it where he'll lick it off. So, on his paw it goes.
    He looks at it, gives me a look, then *shakes* his paw! The stuff
    went EVERYWHERE! Got me in the face too. Then he licked up what
    was remaining and left. I've since gotten around that mistake by
    rubbing it thinly over more surface. That way, if he does shake,
    it doesn't go every whichway. I hadn't thought of putting it in
    the food.
    
    Bryan

    Argus isn't crazy about it either. He just leaves it there and if
    Pip doesn't lick it off from him, it hardens and stays there until
    I finally groom it off him.
    
    Deb
    

    
    One of my very favorite notes in this notes file is about a kitty
    named Speedy Tomatoe and how his human tried to get him to eat lanolin.
    The note - 101.0 - is about a suckeling problem that was to be cured
    by feeding the cat lanolin.  Don't miss this one.  Very funny stuff!!

    Re: 28...I agree, that was one of the funniest notes I've ever read.
    I wonder how Speedy is today...and if he still loves getting squirted!
    
    I tried the ole Femalt on the paw trick.  I'm still cleaning it
    out of the carpets where Honey re-deposited it!  My vet showed me
    how to put a glob of that on my finger and then stick the finger
    into Honey's mouth and, viola!, the cat has been Femalt-ed.  Right.
    Worked great for the vet..he spent 6 years in vet school learning
    how to do this.  I tried it and ended up needing medical attention.
    By the way, never get your blood on your cat's fur.  Honey was so
    angry that I had soiled him in this manner that he licked and licked
    for half an hour.  Poor baby!
    
    Mary  

    maybe my cat has a milder disposition...
    Originally they both more or less liked the hair ball remedy.
    (vaseline) Now only one of them will eat it willingly.  The other
    one I just stick it to the roof of her mouth.  Sometimes it comes
    back out - and I put it in again.  Vaseline has some nice properites.
    not much smell - not much color... I usually do it in the kitchen
    with floors that are easy to clean.
    Sally