Suzy mentioned TigerLily’s problem with hairballs. Long haired cats can have problems with hairballs. They can cause obstructions. For Charlie (my cat) hairballs seem to have grazed the lining of his lower intestine or at least inflammed it slightly. He is a shorthaired cat with a single coat but he was grooming too much at one time.
My vet gave me a tube of Bezo-Pet®. It is called a “complimentary feeding stuff for use in cats”.
It is made up of water, oils and fats, cereal and sugar. Fat is by far the biggest constituent at 23.4%.
It is described as a
“paste in an oily base. It coats the stomach and the digestive/gastro-intestinal tracts with an oily layer where foreign bodies may cause obstructions..”
It helps prevent obstructions.
It is used for long haired cat breeds and moggies and for cats who don’t have the opportunity to chew on grass which provides some fibre and which induces vomiting to expel hairballs.
This product lubricates the digestive tract which aids natural movement in the tract. As it tastes nice a cat should eat it direct or it can be mixed with food.
Dosage for protection is 1 teaspoon 2-3 times per week and for lubrication (to fix a problem) once per day.
I hope this is of use to Suzy, TigerLily and others.
That looks good stuff I wonder if it’s more palatable to cats than katalax I use?
I wonder that too Rose because Jozef is an absolute terror for dosing with anything at all and we’ve never found any hairball stuff he will accept without forcing it on him.
We might try some of this for Jozef, it sounds ideal, I don’t think our vets must have it as surely they would have recommended it when we’ve discussed his hairballs. Wondering if Vet UK have it?
Bigfoot has a problem with hairballs too. My biggest problem is that he won’t take anything wet. I cannot get him to eat it on his own. (Not Bezo Pet, but the stuff I find here.) The only way I can get him to eat it is if I rub a little on his nose. That never gives him enough, and I take my life in my own hands if I try to administer more than two doses. Is the Bezo Pet sticky enough to stay on the nose?
He does eat grass. I figure he knows best. I keep him brushed as well, and combed. That he doesn’t mind at all.
The problem for BigFoot is that he won’t eat wet food. That is unusual. I think the key is to try some different ways o get him interested in wet food. I guess you have tried things like boiled fish. Or prawns. It is about finding the button that gets him excited about wet food. Have you tried adding a tiny bit of water to the dry food and very gradually building up? Just thinking aloud. Probably won’t work.
Bezo-Pet is sticky enough.
Dorothy Gigi won’t eat wet food, almost, she does but she tries not to and begs for biscuits. Molly has long hair so I give her hairball paste every other day. The other 2 don’t like the paste very much so I’d have to mix it into wet food. Lilly does get hairballs.
The paste I give comes in a toothpaste tube just like the one pictured and it smells like paté or something.
And you have had Gigi since kitten hood, right? It makes no sense to me that a cat wouldn’t want wet food, but there you have it. If Gigi won’t, I don’t feel so bad about my boy.