How to Stop Cat Hairballs with Petroleum Jelly
Cats ingest fur each time they groom. Over time, this fur mats together in the digestive tract, causing a hairball. Hairballs can cause a lot of problems, minor or major, for your cat. Vomiting from hairballs is hard enough on your cat but hairballs can also cause other problems, such as blocks in the digestive tract. If your cat has vomited a hairball, chances are she will develop new hairballs unless you intervene. There are many over-the-counter hairball remedies but you can also create your own at home with a few simple ingredients.
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Instructions
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Spoon out one tsp. (or more, if you are certain your cat will eat all of it) of canned cat food (use the smooth kind, not the chunky kind) into a bowl or saucer.
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Add one-half tsp. of petroleum jelly to the food and stir it in. This amount of petroleum jelly is recommended by animalvetcenter.com. The food makes this more palatable for the cat and you are therefore most likely to get the full dose in her.
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Let your cat eat the food on the saucer. If he won't eat all of it, refrigerate the remaining food and try to feed him the rest later. Animalvetcenter.com recommends medicating your cat with petroleum jelly for two to three days.
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Tips & Warnings
If your cat does not like the food and refuses to eat it, instead place the one-half tsp. of petroleum jelly on her paw. She should lick it off (although she probably won't be happy it is there). Smear it well, however, don't just drop a dollop on the paw or else she will simply flick it to get it off and the petroleum jelly will end up on your walls, furniture or floor.
This treatment will not only loosen the hairballs but may also loosen the bowels. Minor diarrhea is likely to occur during treatment.
Signs of hairballs include vomiting, bloated belly and sometimes constipation. However, these symptoms are not exclusive to hairballs. They can also indicate other disorders. If you have treated your cat for hairballs but he does not improve, talk to your veterinarian.
