# Indoor Feral Cat With Hairball Problem



## mindymoon (Mar 3, 2009)

Hi. I just joined because I have a problem with a feral cat and I'm hoping someone here has some advice. I have been living with a feral cat in my house for the past 10 years. Long story - an unsuccessful attempt to 'un-feral' a cat. Anyway, we co-exist quite peacefully and she gets along fine with my other cat. So I just say that I have a cat and my cat has her own cat. Anyway, Mindy, the feral cat, keeps at least a 5 foot distance from me at all times and freaks out if I accidentally get any closer. I have even seen her jump 10 feet from a dead stop just to get away from me. She is a DSH, but the type with very slightly longer hair. I cannot get near her to brush her and she is apparently ingesting a lot of hair. Consequently, she vomits hairballs rather frequently. I have tried a number of the hairball formula cat foods, but neither of my cats will eat them. Obviously, I can't get near her to use the linatone type stuff either. Does anyone know of something I can add to the food she likes, maybe an unobjectionable oil, that might help with the hairball problem? Or suggest a hairball formula cat food that cats absolutely can't resist? Lately she is vomiting pretty much every day, and I feel very bad for her, not to mention that I'm getting tired of shampooing carpet every day. I have even considered trying a Hav-a-Hart trap in the house, and then keeping her in a large dog crate so I can brush her and do the linatone thing, but at her age I'm afraid I could stress her into a heart attack if I trapped and crated her. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome, and I'm sorry you are having trouble with your unsocialized kitty having hairballs. It does make it difficult to treat, since she won't let you near. May I ask what kind (brand) of food you are currently feeding them? I have learned that some cats do not do very well on the poorer quality foods and this can make them shed quite a bit, but if you slowly switch their food to much better quality and/or increase most of their meals to canned food or raw, their haircoat improves dramatically, and I think this would equate to less hairballs for you to have to deal with.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Wow if this was a question on stump the chump I would loose. That is the downside to ferals. You cant get near them to treat them. I have no idea. Does anyone know of a herb or holistic treatment she could put in food? I agree a good quality food does wonders on shedding and coats.


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## mindymoon (Mar 3, 2009)

Hmmm. Good quality food. That's also a problem LOL. I have purchased the better brands of dry cat food, Wellness, etc., but my cats don't like it and I end up throwing out what's in their bowls and bringing the almost full bags to a local shelter that houses a feral colony. My cats prefer Friskies! They're really cheap dates. I leave out 2 bowls of dry food, one of which is the "indoor" type that they rarely eat, and every night they get a can of food. Again, they prefer the Friskies to any of the better brands. I think I'll check for a liquid linatone type thing at the pet store and see if they'll eat their food with that added to it. Unfortunately, I don't know which cat eats what, but the other cat sometimes barfs hairballs too, even though I brush her. So it can't hurt. Thanks for your input.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Fortunately there is a large variety of premium foods available. Give the others a try. Or try canned which would be even better for them in the premium foods. Couldnt hurt! Less rug cleaning possiblely


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I talked with a friend of mind who is knowledgable in natural remedies. She read Flax oil put on their food can help. She found that in the book Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats  by Martin Zucker.


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## mindymoon (Mar 3, 2009)

Thanks! That's what I was hoping. I'll check it out.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I haven't tried it, but I understand that pumpkin might help.



> Pumpkin
> As the proud owner of 7 pukin' cats I'd like to pass on a 'natural' food to help eliminate hairballs. As an animal technician, I have tried everything! We simply mix equal amounts of canned pumpkin puree - yep - the pie stuff - with wet food, and give it twice a week. I use one cane of wet food for the 7 cats... Have tried the pumpkin plain but they ignored it. Have been doing this for 2 months and get about 1 puke a week instead of a couple a day. And I have 3 long hair cats.. Don't know why it works but it does!


There are a lot more ideas at the link where I got this idea. Also, there were many other sources that recommended pumpkin. I hope it works!

http://www.katpuke.com/remedy-reviews.html


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## mindymoon (Mar 3, 2009)

Thanks. I'll check out that site. I researched some foods, and Royal Canin Intense Hairball got a lot of very good reviews. So I'm going to buy some this afternoon. Very expensive, but worth it if it works. But I'll also check into the more natural remedies.


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## jimmylegs (Jan 27, 2009)

i've had a lot of success getting my cats to eat the "Lickables" brand hairball remedy:

http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.a ... id=0029409

it isn't made with petrolatum and appears to be way more palatable, my cats will eat this stuff on a plate, as opposed to the usual meds, which I have to rub on their fur to get them to lick off. 

good luck with your guy, we have two semi-ferals inside. they're still young so they may yet come around, but otherwise they sound similar to your feral.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I filed this so I can try it too when the occasion comes up. Thanks for posting this.


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## mindymoon (Mar 3, 2009)

Just wanted to update. It's been a little while that I've been feeding my cats the Royal Canin Inense Hairball food. It has cut down substantially on the barfing. Now my feral bars about twice a week instead of every day. They don't love the food, but they'll eat it. I think I'll also look for the Lickables as an alternative, since the Royal Canin seems to be a little hard to find.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Thanks for the update and I'm glad it was a positive one. I'll bump this to the top so others can see, too.
h


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