Conference misery::feline

    
    What we do with our cats is dap a little of the hairball medication 
    on their paw. They will lick it clean. If your cat still doesn't 
    like to lick it off, do the same thing with butter. 
    
    Shaw

    I have written this elsewhere, but obviously cannot point it out!
    I am not the greatest when it comes to "working" notes.
    
    Anyway, the simplest thing is to take vaseline and wipe it into the
    roof of their mouth.  Sounds gross, but works like magic.  A persian
    breeder I know told me how to do this.  She said, "why waste money on
    the hairball stuff, it still is vaseline!"  Just flavored!
    
    You need to use about a good size teaspoon to do the trick.  This can
    also be very useful in case of an emergency and the cat has eaten
    something it needs to pass, but you might need to give more.
    Karen

    Thanks for the ideas.  I will give it a try.
    Vaseline does sound gross, but if it works, I will try it.
    
    I will keep in touch. 
    
    Renee

    Where did I read that someone just put a stick of butter out and let
    the cats lick off that when they got the urge?  Hmmm, maybe I heard
    it from one of my breeder-type friends.  Anyway, it was always
    available and that person didn't have to dose everyone for furballs.
    Sounds like an interesting idea.  Wonder if it would cause any
    problems.  Wouldn't the butter go bad after a while.  Would the piggy 
    cats that were constantly at the butter lick have health problems 
    related to consuming all that fat?  Inquiring minds want to know.
    
    Jan

    Jan,
    
    My cat is so...... fussy, the butter could sit on the floor for a year
    and he wouldn't touch it.  I have a cat that is finiky (sp?).  One of
    the cats IS a piggy and she would probably eat the whole thing in 1
    minute flat.  But my male cat hates everything.  I swear, it's just
    like having kids around.  I still prefer cats though.  Thanks for the
    message....
    
    Renee

    I've had very good results with the put-it-on-their-paws method of
    hairball remedy application. Some of mine have preferred the malt
    flavored stuff, others wouldn't touch anything except butter. Putting
    it on their paws seems to inspire them to clean said paws.
    
    Lynn

    In my house, I only have two problems with the "put it on their paw" 
    method:
    
    1)  If I put it on the bottom of their paw, I get little "femalt
    footprints" all over the place after they've run from me.
    
    2)  If I put it on the top of their paw, they somehow manage to "flick"
    it off, and I get a femalt GOB somewhere in the house (I never seem to
    find where they've "flicked" it unless I've stepped on it or, worse,
    sat on it).
    
    Ugh .. I think I'm going to try the butter... this isn't worth it.
    
    Holly
    

    Nebula used to manage to fling most of the vaseline off of her foot and
    onto some piece or other of furniture.  Poor little beast - I miss that
    kitty even though it has been nearly a year since she died.  JFCL gets
    more hairballs than she used to when she was a youngster, but I haven't
    been dosing her for them yet - she is nearly 17 and I have enough
    trouble getting her to even eat enough to keep her weight up especially
    when it is cold out.  Her new companion, the Maine coon kitten (Melody)
    hasn't had a hairball yet.
    
    /Charlotte

    You need to really "squish" the hairball stuff into the fur
    on top of their paw....so even if they fling it...it stays on!!!
    
    Works wonders for my cats who won't eat the stuff off my finger!!
    
    Sandy

    
    Callie will not eat the Laxatone unless I just squeeze it into her
    mouth.  She'd eat the whole thing if she had her druthers.  Ms. Kisa,
    on the hand, will not touch it in any way, shape or form.  I tried
    the "on the paw" thing and she acted like I had tried to cut it off...
    
    
    

    I have distinct memories of the first time I put that stuff on a
    kitty paw.  Kitty got this disgusted look on her face.  I swear
    she was saying "what's this icky stuff on my paw" and proceeded to
    shake (not lick) the stuff off her paw and all over the surrounding
    walls/furniture.  Haven't done that since.
    
    My cats get their petromalt (haven't been able to find Cat-A-Lax or
    Laxatone lately) straight from the tube.  They're very good about
    taking it that way.  I usually just line them up 4 across and dose
    the whole bunch.  Sometimes they're a little sloppy with the licking
    and get some down the side of the tube but I just reposition it until
    they lick the sides clean.  Works great.
    
    I probably have 3 cats that would really enjoy the butter thing. 
    Carrie, on the other hand, will not touch anthing remotely related to
    people food.  Can't stand milk, will tolerate cheese if in just the
    right mood, can be convinced to eat a tiny bit of chicken but she's
    got to look like she doesn't like it for 10 minutes first.
    
    Carrie is one of my better Petromalt tube cleaneruppers. :^)
    
    Jan

	For those who have problems with their felines shaking the
	stuff off their paw, why bother with the paw.  I spread the
	stuff out on the fur on the side of their bodies.  Of course
	I have all short-haired felines so I don't know if that will
	work for longer haired ones.

    RE: .11
    
    Jan,
    
    MY Kyra is like that.  She'll look at you in disgust if you offer her
    any people food.  Except butter and tuna fish.  I've put a quarter of a
    stick of butter in a small dish next to their food bowl and about half
    of it's gone (3 cats eating it).  I've also put a pat of butter into
    Mondo's room and about half is gone.  Let's see how it works for
    hairballs.
    
    Oh, and Kyra does the FUNNIEST thing when she doesn't like something
    that I put down for her.  She'll smell it, and then shake her foot at
    it and run away.  If it really smells disgusting, she'll shake her
    foot, squint her eyes at me, and then RUN! (-:
    
    Holly
     

    I smear the stuff on the top of the kitty's nose.  They look at me as
    if they think I've really gone off the deep end, but they do clean it
    off and get most, if not all, of it into their little bods.
    
    Marilyn

    Sorry to have to ask this, since everyone seems to know already but...
    about hairballs... I have a Maine Coon cat named Houdini, who now and 
    then gets a horrible huge hairball, which I only know about because 
    he vomits his food and the hair ball, and it's nearly always been on
    something of white fabric!  He seems to do this about once every six
    weeks.  Is all this talk about butter, and hairball medicine so that
    they can pass the hairball rather than vomit it?
    
    What a subject!  But it is a problem.  The last time it was 2:00 in the
    morning, on our bed, which has a white comforter.  I don't mind his
    sleeping there (those masking tape lint rollers are the best thing for
    hair removal), but this was a horrible experience.  We woke to "that 
    sound", and just as we got the light on, he got sick everywhere!
    What a mess, and in the middle of the night too.  I cleaned it right
    away and the spots came out.  But would like to know more about
    hairballs.
    
    BTW, we got him from a shelter January 94, he is now about two years
    old.  He was abused severely, and it's taken all these months for him
    to mellow and really flourish.  We think he must have been either hit
    with the brush, or brushed violently because it's taken me months to be
    able to brush him.  The only way I could train him to not mind brushing
    was to give him his favorite food (9 Lives Tuna), and brush him while
    he eats.  Same with Bonkers.  I make a trail of Bonkers across the
    kitchen, and brush as he "hunts" for them.  He now associates brushing
    with goodness, but prior to that brushing was more trauma.  So now the
    hairballs are fewer and smaller, but still a problem because he has 
    VERY long hair.
    
    Thanks all... love reading your notes.
    
    Nancy

    hi
    I have 2 Maine Coon cats and one has a hairball problem. we put
    vaseline on the top of her paw and that seems to work pretty good. She
    dosen't like it but she'll eat it to clean off her paw. The other
    kitten loves it,she'll eat anything. good luck
    Kathy

I'm noticing a pattern.  Pumpkin, my Maine Coon lookalike, will gak 
(for lack of a better term *:) a hairball within a day of when I combed 
her last.  If I comb her every day she throws up every day.  If I comb 
her twice a week, she will throw up twice a week.

I comb her with a zoom groom and then use a flea comb to get the loose hair
off.  She also gets a laxatone "treat" twice a week (I call it a treat because
she loves it).  This cat has a LOT of fur and needs to be combed at least 
every other day.  

Does anyone else notice this pattern?  I feel bad because I'm down to 
combing her only twice a week and she loves to be brushed/combed more than 
anything.  

Sharon

    one of the tricks I use with my cats when I can't get to them real
    often during the shedding season I try to rub them down a few ties a
    day with a towel; it picks up all the loose hairs and the cats seem to
    love it!
    
    Deb

    is it a wet or a dry towel?

    Misty, our little cat, keeps ralphing hairballs.  I am trying to keep
    her well-groomed, but she isn't big for human contact, if you know
    what I mean.  She's brought up 3 hairballs in about a week.  Is this
    normal?  She seems to be her usual disdainful kitty self.  
    
    Thanks,
    Kate
    

                     <<< Note 798.20 by POWDML::KNELSON >>>
                  -< 3 hairballs in a week - is it normal?? >-

    Misty, our little cat, keeps ralphing hairballs.  I am trying to keep
    her well-groomed, but she isn't big for human contact, if you know
    what I mean.  She's brought up 3 hairballs in about a week.  Is this
    normal?  She seems to be her usual disdainful kitty self.  
    
    Thanks,
    Kate

	If Misty grooms herself alot or more than normal, I would
	assume that the outcome would be thoses wonderful disgusting
	looking things called hairballs.

	Snoozer is a perpetual groomer, but seeing she spends 70 %
	of her time outdoors, in the year we've had here, I've yet
	to encounter a HB. She must upchuck 'em outside. I count
	my blessings. I just could not imagine stepping on one
	of those in the dark in the middle of the night...Squishing
	between my toes....ech.....

	Red    

    It's a little frequent.  She might just have been wedged, so to
    speak.  If they are really hairballs, and she is eating and
    using her litter box and seems otherwise fine, I would just keep
    an eye on her.  If it continues at this rate, I would probably
    take her into the vet next week just to be safe.
    

    I find in the spring and fall...my guys have the hardest time
    with hairballs and that is because there coats are changing
    for the warmer/colder weather.
    
    With allt he fur flying around..My house looks like one
    big fur ball....
    
    Sandy 

    Regular brushing can really help cut down on the amount of hair that's
    ingested.  Comb the kitties once or twice daily during the big shedding
    times, and use a laxatone product everyday.  This should help cut down
    on the hairballs.  
    
    Regards,
    liz

    
    
    	Has anyone had a cat eat part of a sponge?  ie: the type you
    	use to clean your dishes, counters etc.  Gilligan has this
    	fetish with the sponges and dishrags I use in the kitchen.
    	Usually he just drags them out of the sink and sometimes up
    	under our bed.  Well this last time, it appears he actually
    	ATE part of the sponge and he's been throwing it up periodically.
    	We were gone on Saturday and our kitty sitter said there was 
    	a strange colored hairball on the kitchen floor.  We found the
    	same thing downstairs by the litterboxes.  And he did it again
    	yesterday.  He still eats like a pig, and is as active and
    	stubborn as ever, so there's no change there.  The line is busy
    	at the vets, so I thought in the interim, I'd post here and see
    	if anyone has had a similar experience.
    
    	Thanks
    
    	JJ
    

>He still eats like a pig, and is as active and
>    	stubborn as ever, 

So long as it's getting out the other end too I 
expect he's ok, though of course don't let that 
slow your attempts to speak to someone who 
knows about it. 

Sponges don't have sharp edges to do internal 
damage, like fur balls - if he's icking them 
up then better out than in.  Maybe some 
furball treatment liquid'd do the trick and
flush the lot through (visions of pastel 
coloured fluffy lumps in the litter tray). 

My guys don't go for sponges in particular
but do like the blotting paper fish comes on 
if I don't get it out of their way in time 
will eat it, but seem ok 'til now. 

    I think the sponge type things could impact the intestines, tho,
    so do check with your vet and lock up the sponges :-)