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.Chances
are if you've had cats, they've had hairballs. The telltale
yellowish "yack" spots on the carpet, the mysterious
hacking noise in the middle of the night, yes my friends;
you're in hairball country. As much as you don't like crawling
under the bed to clean up these presents, imagine how much
your cat hates to throw them up. (Anyone who has witnessed
the look on a cat's face while in the process knows how much
they hate it.)
So
why do cats get hairballs?
Cats are extremely fastidious creatures, and are constantly
grooming themselves. Their tongues are built in such a way
that once hair is on it, there is only one way for it to go,
down the hatch. Hair is not digestible, so it just sits in
the stomach, turning and churning, until its a mass of hair,
mucous and digestive acids. Eventually the cat has to throw
it up. Both long and shorthaired cats can get hairballs, generally
longhaired cats will get them more often. Hairballs can actually
be deadly, a friend's cat had to be rushed to the emergency
clinic barely able to breathe, and as soon as he was lightly
sedated he produced a foot long hairball. Had his owners not
been home, he likely would have suffocated.
How
can I prevent hairballs?
The absolute #1 way you can prevent hairballs is brush your
cat. By removing excess hair, you are preventing it from ending
up in your cats stomach. If your cat still has problems even
with frequent brushing you can use any of the "hairball
remedy" products, they look like brown petroleum jelly
and most cats will readily lick them up. [Note: Because of
some cats willingness to eat hairball remedy some people use
it to disguise and give pills to their cat. Please do not
do this! Hairball remedy works on the principle that it is
indigestible, coats the hair in the stomach, and helps it
pass through the cat's system. It will also make the cats
pill indigestible and pass right through!] There are also
some new "hairball relief" treats and diets on the
market, designed to keep hairballs from building up.
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