Whiskers on Wednesday Question
April 28th, 2010 by monnibo | Personal, Pets, Whiskers on Wednesday
I have a question for all you feline slaves owners lovers out there. And it’s a bit of a hairy topic: furballs.
The reason I ask, as you probably deduced, is that Henry coughed up a hairball. But this wasn’t any hairball, this was like a fur-roll the size of my pinky finger. Ew gross mental images. Here, look at the pretty kitty for distraction:
I would classify Henry’s coat as a medium-length. I’ve been looking at breeds, and unless he’s just a regular American longhair, orange tabby… I would probably describe him as a Ragamuffin (all the way down to his “fatty pad on lower abdomen” which made the Vet say he needed more exercise.). All the Ragamuffin characteristics seem like Henry: “They greet family members at the door and will follow their people around the house. Because of their gentle nature, Ragamuffins are generally kept indoors for their own protection. They tend to be very vocal at times and are very lovable.”
Okay, now, back to the hairball business. I brush Henry. Maybe not as often as I should (weekly) but I do brush him (every 2-3 weeks) with a Furminator. He’s not particularly pleased with the Furminator, but he puts up with it.
So my question(s) are: How often do your cats get hairballs? Do they cough them up or pass them? How big are they usually? Is there anything I can do to avoid coming home to barfy-hairballs on my carpet?
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 8:31 am
and is filed under Personal, Pets, Whiskers on Wednesday.
Tags: cat brush, cat hair, furballs, furminator, hairballs, ragamuffin, ragdoll.
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April 28th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Henry is so cute! He looks a little bit like my Oliver. And after reading up on Ragamuffins, my cat sounds similar to one as well – well, he has that ‘fatty pad’ anyway! I don’t brush my cats nearly enough, but they seem to shed it all over the furniture instead of getting hairballs. So far, perhaps, I have just been lucky…
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April 28th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Haha! I’ve got a cat that looks very much like yours, with the fatty pad and everything. She is my hairball queen. She doesn’t get brushed enough either, but the vet did give me something that you put on their fur that they lick off and helps to dissolve the hairballs. It did help a little. There is nothing worse than listening to a call cough one of those up on your carpet!
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April 28th, 2010 at 9:46 am
My cat is a shorthair so she only gets hairballs once in a while. And I wouldn’t say she has a “fatty pad”, she looks pregnant but she was spayed six years ago. The vet suggested I put her on a diet – you mean diet cat food isn’t enough? – and give her unsweetened canned pumpkin in her cat food. Ever try to feed a cat pumpkin? We got a new vet who said she’s probably happy being fat so don’t make her mad. I like this vet.
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April 28th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Confessing to skimming here… Boy, Henry sure is handsome, now matter what you’re talking about!
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April 28th, 2010 at 10:42 am
It’s about time Henry got some face time here! As you know, I can’t answer the hair ball question….so just enjoying the scenery. :-)
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April 28th, 2010 at 11:35 am
One of my cats gets them fairly often. Like Sandy (above), the vet gave me some hairball treatment to have her lick off her paws. Yeah…she did NOT like that and smeared more of the sticky stuff on the furniture than she got in her mouth. Henry is probably shedding more because it’s that time of year. I would just try to brush him more often while he’s losing his winter coat. :)
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April 28th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Yeah, hairballs, we haz ‘em. Both my cats are short hairs but that doesn’t seem to stop them from yacking up hairballs. It tends to be pretty seasonal though, spring and fall, as they shed our and grow in new coats.
Mo Cuirdh tends to get it worse, (she insists on bathing both herself and Beentsy), and she brings ‘em up whole. Wherever she happens to be at the moment. I’ve tried the hairball remedy that you put on their paws and they lick off but it didn’t seem to make much difference. I just try to brush them more during those two seasons and make sure I have lots of paper towels. Oh, and that anything I love is nowhere they could possibly herf up on. :) Sorry, not much help I’m afraid.
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