Cheers for National Hairball Awareness Day! #spons
HELLO, MOM L HERE
I don’t think we have ever posted on National Hairball Awareness Day, mostly because Savannah and The Kid Sage seldom have hairballs worth mentioning. As readers know, Savannah has had a long time battle with vomiting, but it was hardly ever related to the passing of hairballs. We have the vomiting under control now that both Savannah and TKS are on a raw diet.
However, last week, Savannah hacked up big time right after eating a snack of her prescription dry food. I thought it was due to stress and she had just given TKS a smacky paw for getting in her way to go upstairs. YIKES! Was I ever surprised and horrified. I saw something dark in the middle of the hack-up, which came out almost in the shape of a sausage. I looked closer and I found the biggest, literally THE BIGGEST hairball I have ever seen a cat hack up. It was dark gray fur, about one half an inch thick and about four to five inches long!!
Sorry for the mess Mom L
“Savvy, don’t you worry. I’m just sorry I have not been brushing you the RIGHT way.”
Savannah must have been saving that up for months! And I brush her every morning with a soft brush and every night using a slicker brush. I thought I was doing a good job. Apparently not good enough.
That night I used the Furminator and I must have pulled enough fur to fully cloth TWO kittens! I have been doing this every night for a week and it is really paying off. Hairballs are REAL! And after reading blog post from 2010 by Ingrid King, I realized she is right, “there is no such thing as Just A Hairball“.
The very next day I received an offer from Wellness Pet Foods to use an infographic they have created to promote National Hairball Awareness Day. I said heck yes, I’ll post about all the things we cat guardians can do to help our cats’ control hairballs!
Given my experience with Savannah, I agree with five of the tips in the graphic below. Brushing consistently, being sure to give special attention to our long haired feline companions, making time to play to keep our cats focused on something other than grooming, giving them lots of hands on attention to reassure them they are safe and have no need to be anxious and providing water, water everywhere! Hydrate, hydrate!
The tip I am not sure I agree with is the need to add fiber to their diet. While I absolutely appreciate the quality Wellness has put into their Natural Hairball Control dry food, my experience with Savannah is that after four years with me, and eating wet food and now raw, this is the first real hairball she has ever hacked up. We do not find a need for fiber in her diet. I have included a link to Ingrid King’s post from 2010 at the end of this blog post. Please be sure to read it. I found it very informative and useful. (click to be able to read the fine print, and even bigified, it is not easy)
My thanks to Wellness for allowing me use their infographic and for giving me a tool to be able to step up and eagerly promote National Hairball Awareness Day!
Some Startling New Thoughts on Cats and Hairballs, published 2010
FCC Disclaimer: We were compensated for the time it took to tell you about this infographic created by Wellness Pet Foods. However, all our opinions are our own. We will not share information or products unless we believe they can be of benefit to our readers.
Have you brushed your cat today?
Savannah's Paw Tracks 