HELP - My cat needs a good hairball remedy

[GCP]

Domestic long hair - she's been coughing and bringing up nothing for the past 4-5 days. I think she probably has a hairball. She brings a doozy up once in a while, and I think she's due another one.
I use the IAMS hairball dry food but it doesn't seem to work.
Any DUers with a long-haired cat who can give me some tips?
Thanks - here's my baby

[zanne]

1. Have you tried the malt hairball remedy?

It comes out of a tube; you only give them about 1/4 inch at a time. They like the taste and it usually works pretty well on my cats.

[MissMillie]

2. I second that

kitty is a beauty. Just love her pink nose.

[WCGreen]

3. It works for all four of our cats....

No more squissy suprises in the middle of the night...

[zanne]

4. Yecch!

"Squishy surprises"!

[mikeytherat]

5. Laxatone

All three here take it, and they love it (they now have one that's Tuna Flavored, or so says the box, but my cats do seem to like it more than the regular flavor).

mikey_the_rat

[GCP]

6. Thank you everybody!

I'll try the Laxatone tuna flavor - she loves her fish-flavored treats!

[bridgit]

7. consider this as well...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3570&N=2002+113756

[GCP]

8. Thank you

I think most of them are vaseline-type base with flavoring. I'll see what the vet's store recommends.

[mockmonkey]

9. One of our 4 cats has more trouble with

hairballs than the others. We use Petromalt. Cinnamin is very finicky and getting her to take it could have been difficult. One trick we have to get her to take it is to scratch her on top of her body just before her tail begins. Many cats have that reaction of wanting to lick when you do that. Try that if your cat won't take it on their own.

Some people put the malt on top of the cats front paws where they will lick it off themselves in an effort to clean it off. We have one cat that would just shake most of it off and throw it around the house. Lil bugger!

You also might want to warm the tube up a bit under some warm water to make it easier for them to lick small amounts up at a time.

[raccoon]

10. Vaseline will work. Get a little on the end of your finger and

rub it on her paw. She'll clean it off.

[borlis]

13. LOL/My deceased cat Dusty used to lick Vaseline

right out of the jar. He used to love it.

[SOteric]

11. My StirFry has hair about that length and a hairball problem as well.

His vet recommended a product called Vet Solutions. It, too is a petroleum jelly based preparation flavoured with tuna. However, the thing he recommends about it is that it has a more favourable melting point.

It hasn't completely resolved StirFry's hairball issues, but it has made them far fewer and much more easily dispatched.

He used to go off his food for a few days and yowl pitifully trying to expel the hairball. Now he never goes off his food and seems to cough up the rare hairball relatively quickly and without the Sturm and Drang.

[elocs]

12. I have a 13 year old domestic longhair female.

I feed her Purina Pro Plan Senior Hairball Management dry food and she very rarely ever gets a hairball and I do not have to give her anything for hairballs. Also her coat is in very good condition.