HAIRBALLS
Does your cat have faecal impaction? How
can it help? Here you can advice?
Health problems - cat hairballs in the digestive tract of the British
cat.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004
by Muezzi
Everybody saw SHREK2… and the scene with a cat "throwing" a peace of fur. It was probably the best scene of the whole movie. That's just for that scene that every cat lover should see the movie. I think that he/she will remain the scene for a long time… The problem of each cat, wonderfully spied on by the movie authors… "...eeehue, eeehue, eeehue ...HAIRBALL!..."
The problem mentioned above is very dangerous. We don't realize how our pupils suffer because of that problem. Sudenly, our big "tiger" become to be weak. Our joker becomes to be sad… we think why our cat stops to eat or eats very small amounts of food; it often brings up undigested food, becomes to lose weight, doesn't play and even doesn't like to live. Our cat still asks for food, and then it walks away… These are pieces of fur which causes such symptoms (a fur ball - pilobezoar).
Each time when a cat makes a toilette, it swallow coat which is glue together by the mucous secretion of alimentary canal. The coat swallowed turn to sausage forms. These forms often cause obstructions. Usually, cats cope with this inconvenience. But some cats aren't able to throw such foreign body from their stomach. When a cat won't vomit quickly swallowed coat, it move to the intestine. If a cat won't excrete such a coat with feces (often it causes diarrhea or even traces of blood in feces), the problem become more serious. The coat staying in intestines may cause constipation and feces' stones, which cause obstructions. ATTENTION! STOMACH'S X-RAY WILL CONFIRM INFORMATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE! Don't diagnose without confirmation, our cat may be weak because of another reason. Problems with fur balls concerns not only adult cats. Little kittens may also have problems with swallow coat and obstruction. Even little kittens take care about their coat. There're many little hooks on cat's tongue, arranged towards esophagus. Dead coat fastens there. More frequently, the fur ball problem concerns long- and semi longhair cats as well as cats having rich undergrowth. Regular grooming with thick comb or a special hairbrush may minimize the amount of swallowed coat. We must remember that grooming should be executed as close as it's possible to the skin. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to eliminate the problem. So, how can we help our cat?
My previous experience let me find out a very effective manner to present the fur ball problem: one teaspoon of grape seeds' oil daily will almost resolve this problem.
Why must it be grape seeds' oil? We'll resolve two problems: we'll get rid of fur balls and we'll give our cat insatiable acid fat, which are in this case better for our cat. Also a special cat food against fur balls is very good to fight this problem. IT should be only the best cat food: Royal Canin or Hill's.
Some handbooks for cat owners as well as vet doctors recommend the administration of liquid paraffin. However, it's not allowed to give the paraffin each day, because it's damaging - it makes vitamins' absorption difficult.
But if our cat has feces' stones and doesn't defecate from a long time (sometimes it lasts for 10 days!!!) - don't hurry to make the surgical operation… it's absolutely last necessity in the case when the medicines, recommended by a vet doctor, are not effective (AN APPOINTMENT WITH A VET DOCTOR IS OBLIGATORY!!!). I also recommend the herbal patent medicine.
This is DEPURAN (in capsules is the best), the herbal laxative for men, of German origin. I tried it in 1995 on my Persians I bred, which had a fur ball problem. The medicine causes gentle, slow melting of the hard feces, it works without any pain, without volvulus. Simply, it decreases the capacity of the feces' stones, giving the cat the possibility to defecation. It's easier because of feces' gunk, which let us to avoid the surgical intervention. An important thing is, that the medicine doesn't because the cat to "pushing" till the feces will be dissolved enough to let the feces go through cat's anus. Feces' stones may have an enormous diameter, so it's impossible to let them go out of the cat without dissolving its outside part. This medicine now is not accessible in Poland.
Some years ago, DEPURAN was accessible in Poland. Unfortunately, its registration was not extended. It's a pity, because it was excellent for cats. It's not necessary to divide a capsule or coated tablet, because it should to dissolve in intestine. You may give a little capsule or tablet even to a little kitty having contistipation. It was also checked by me during my breeding practice. After administration of Depuran, during 4-8 h, the effect should be visible. If there'll be any effect after 10 h or it would be insufficient, you may give another capsule or tablet.
Recently, several cats were resuscitated and two weeks ago another cat was saved, a British shorthair. The owner, following my advice, gave her cat Depuran and the effect, in her opinion, was "amazing"...The film's scene with Swashbuckling Hitman and the last "saved" cat inspired me to write about this problem.
I collected some of fur balls, vomited by my cats (British shorthairs, - shorthair cats!), to let you imagine the seriousness of the problem. I made some pictures. I putted a pen near these fur balls - a pen is 13 cm long and - on the last picture - 13,5 cm. This can let you know how big fur balls may be.
Please take a look… and you should do everything to avoid
this problem appear to your pupil.
Below - the picture enlarged.
Picture enlarged below
Wilby Blue Muezzi - British Shorthair blue male
