Hello,
My name is Monica and I have a ~3 year old cat called Luna (Nebulung like, long haired), living in Romania. I have been reading your articles for a while now and I have learnt a lot from them. Soo... here is my story...
I used to feed her (or better said, she used to eat):
- 1 puch of wet food https://www.leonardo-catfood.com/detail/1127d6c11aeb41c5bc66a4e08e5dd46a
- ~ 30-40g of mixed dry food between
2 weeks ago she started eating less and less (noticed it in the smart auto-feeder app). Even so (the worst day she had maybe ~10g of dry food and half a pouch of wet food) she was playing and didn't seem to have anything bothering her. The litter box visits were ok as well. So I started reading and gave her more wet food (basically... doing all the wrong stuff... put the food bowl very close to her to be sure she gets to eat something), as according to description, it seemed to be a hairball. On Sunday (after 4 days of more or less called "hunger strike"), she had a very... tied poop. A very long hairball was in the end eliminated that way. Starting that day, she began to eat more and more and got back to normal (even a little above normal, now she has 50g dry food, I will explain why below)
Since this episode, I have stopped given her Purina Beyond (she didn't seem too fond of it when she had the hairball), now she only eats N&D and she absolutely adores it.
But I want to give her a 2nd option. Now I am not sure what is the best for her:
- Hills Hairball https://www.zooplus.ro/shop/pisici/hrana_uscata_pisici/hills_science_plan/special_care/243163
- Another type of N&D flavour (one of these 2)
So.. this is my question I want to ask your advice for. What is the best long term? I don't like about Hills that it has a lot of carbohydrates... And the N&D are just great from that point of view. I wouldn't go to my vet just for this... and I would like to know your opinion as cat experts living a country that respects pets more than anywhere.
Have a great day and thanks in advance!
Hi Monica,
Thanks for your question. I’m sorry to hear that Luna has been unwell; unfortunately hairballs can make them very sick but the good news is that there are some treatments that might help.
First of all, it sounds like you’ve researched her diet thoroughly and that she’s doing well on her current diet (apart from the recent hairball episode). For this reason, I wouldn’t be putting her on a hairball diet just yet and I’d try a few other remedies first.
There are specific hairball pastes/gels available that can be used on a regularly basis to help lubricate hairballs and make them easier for your cat to pass. It usually involves giving your cat pea sized amounts of the paste to eat a few times a week for maintenance but different pastes will vary. This is a relatively safe and easy option for hairballs.
Another option is adding some fibre to aid the passing of the hairball and to keep the bowels moving. There are many options for this but some popular ones are canned pumpkin and psyllium husk powder which can be added to Luna’s food. Double check this with your vet first as they know Luna’s full history and can advise how much to give her.
Some people add butter/oils to food to help with hairballs but this might cause tummy upsets and weight gain so I wouldn’t advise this option.
There’s some more information about hairball remedies here; https://cats.com/best-hairball-remedy-for-cats
Continuing to feed wet food is important too as this keeps Luna hydrated and helps the hairball to pass. Dehydrated poops don’t move through the intestines very well so hydration is very important.
We have some recommendations here; https://cats.com/best-cat-food-hairballs
Regular brushing if Luna doesn’t mind this can also help as it reduces the amount of hair that they need to groom and hence reduces the size of the hairball.
I hope this helps and please don’t hesitate to ask more questions if you have any,
Aisling
I did try much of different cat food for my cat, I mostly buy Meo kitten food from this online website and it also has a great collection of Catnip Toys. So, you can also try these if you find them interesting.