There's never any discussion in here. It's time for furball updates. good,
bad sad, ugly, tell us what your furpeople are up to, or upchucking, I guess.

42 responses total.

It's been a little while since any serious hairball barfing.  I guess that
means it's time to start forcing the hairball grease on Dave.  Conan rarely
has a problem, though.

the hairball treats are so much nicer if you can get your cat to eat them.
The malted petroleum makes *me* want to barf.

Alas, Dave has to be cornered in the bathroom and the goo stuffed into his
mouth.  Conan likes it, but doesn't need it.  :(

that's the way it always is.  Do they like to be brushed?  If Tragedy sees
the brush out she will stand there and stare at you like Eddie from Frasier
until you brush her.....and she won't let you stop. I have a zoom groom. She
loves it.  If I get out the slicker brush she will hide under the futon at
first sight of it.

Sasha, the brat, hates being brushed... Even bought a special comb for 
long haired cats... Now what's this about a 'treat' that's helpful for 
hairballs?  It's molting season... and I'm getting sick of hairballs...

look in the cat treats section at Meijer Anne.....they have treats with
hairball meds right in them....food too if it's a chronic problem.  Mine
<short haired anyhow> gets them so infrequently I just use the malted
petroleum when she starts hackin'.  But if you are getting sick of them, the
treats are a pretty safe bet, jules uses them with no problems. I hate
hairballs.

<nods> Will definitely have to look into it.  Being that she's a long-
hair it's more of a problem than with a short hair.  It's not like a 
weekly thing, but often enough to be annoying.

in the middle of the night is the worst cause you don't want to get out of
bed and then you forget and step on it in the morning on your way to the
bathroom. Beh.

<nods> Ahyup

but you can't even get mad beause you know what it's like to have to throw
up, and they always look so sad and pathetic after. :(

I know.  =(  Gomez looks ashamed and tries to hide.  Poor thing thinks I'll
get mad at him.  

it breaks my heart sometimes.

Pounce makes _Hairball TREATment_ treats. Both of our monsters love 'em, and
they work.

My Maine Coon cat used to have bad hairball problems. I started giving him
a "treat" of that catfood that comes in the tiny cans each night before
bedtime. He still has occasional hairballs, but seems much less trouble
gacking them up. I still occasionlly wake up from a dead sleep hearing that
"huk! Huk!" sound and have to get up to get him off the bed or the desk, but
not nearly as bad as before.

My cat hardly ever has hairballs. I guess that is a good thing. 

Sasha has them occassionally (being mostly Maine Coon she's got the 
long hair) but I have this malt-paste stuff that I put on her paw (she 
licks off, no hairball problems).  It's supposed to be a treat that 
cats will love... but no, Sasha won't take it as a treat so I have to 
put it on her paw.  Luckily Sasha never horked them up on furniture... 
just carpeting.

I tried putting that malt-paste stuff on my cat's paw. She flung it off 
her paw onto the wall. 

Heh, cute.  This stuff is too thick for her to fling off, it has to be 
licked off.

Precious licked it off, but hated it...however tanis flung and walked around
the house so I was picking it up off the carpet, walls, and anything he came
near.  He'd lick it up, and then fling the bulb, and then fling it again...

Well luckily they're shorthairs and it's not as big of a concern as it 
is with Sasha.  What kind of stuff did you try?

Funny enough, Precious is the only one who got hairballs, making it her task
to clean tanis.  I'm not sure what it was, having not found the bottle since
I moved, but it was a "malt" ribbon in a pink and white container.

Hmm, I have the 'Four Paws' stuff, I think... it is in a tube and has 
malt flavoring, I think.

You have to sort of rub it in to the fur on the top of their front paws
that works a lot better than just squeezing a glob out on them which they
immediately fling against the wall.  It took me a lot of trial and
error to come up with this solution.  Heh.  "There's got to be something
more to the instructions than just squeezing this stuff out like it reads!"
she says exasperatedly after having to clean up multiple balls of malted
petroleum up off the walls for a time.

Haven't had hairballs in a while, but there's honestly nothing quite like 
waking up in the middle of the night to a vomiting/hacking noise coming
from your cat.  You usually forget until morning when you step directly 
into it.  Yuck.

I know what is more gross than that. I never step into hair balls 
anymore because my dogs eat them up. YUCK!!! If I hear the cat yacking, 
I try to get to it before the dogs do. 

Ewww... better then the dogs going for litter box treats... <wrinkles 
her nose>

I usually squeeze the malt stuff onto my finger and then rub it on 
Sasha's front paw... she doesn't get very far before she stops to clean 
it off.

<sighs> She still gets fur mats though.

Poor Sasha.  I've given up on the hair ball thing.  I haven't seen one or
heard the hacking for a long time, since I moved, and she's stopped cleaning
tanis (because he considers it wanting to play and she runs away)  I would
rub it into their paws too, but while she just looked at me meanly and licked
it off...  he'd just fling and try and rub it on the floor.  Tanis has no
tolerance for "uckies"

Poor Ric is very wooly. He A) has hairball troubles and B) is completely 
miserable in the heat.
He has an appointment on the 27th with the ONLY groomer in Kalamazoo who 
does cats. (believe me, I called tham all) He will be getting a lion cut. 
It is usually done on long-haired breeds, but his chest is wide enough to 
carry the cut. I will post photos.

lion cut?

They trim the cat's body but leave hair around the head and at the tip 
of the tail so the cat looks kind of like a lion. 

<grins> Really? Huh... about how much this cost? I think Sasha would 
look wonderful like that... (she's a long-haired grey beast...)

She might look good like that, but would she ever TALK to you again if you
did?

Heh... of course she would, to scold me. <grins> Besides *I* wouldn't 
trim her, so the groomers would be the evil people, I'd comfort her 
afterwards. My roomie says I shouldn't do it though. :(

Probably for the best...even though my beasties are short haired, so the lion
cut wouldn't be on my mind, I try not to do things I KNOW will upset them,
esp Precious, because she has a MEAN revenge streak.  Once, I did something
to her, when I was in the process of trying NOT to wake up, I don't remember
what... but she went onto my shelves and ON PURPOSE knocked over a water-globe
music box that had been a present.  tanis isn't so vindictive, but he does
do things he's not supposed to in order to wake me up, because he wants to
play with his momma.  <sighs>  Children :)

Sasha isn't really vindictive like that... the only time she does 
anything 'bad' is times when, for example- her litter box isn't up to 
her cleanliness standards so she pees right in front of it- not on my 
clothing or anything- but right in front of it.

Basically, I'm not really worried about her doing something in revenge, 
except maybe taunt me by ignoring me and cuddling up to my roommate. 
Which would be fine.

Re resp 28:
The cut usually starts at the shoulders and leaves sort of a short wedge 
on the back, which points toward the tail. Front legs are left intact, as 
is the tip of the tail.
I will drop him off at 8:00am and they will call me when he is done, 
probably around lunchtime. Dependng on his attitude and willingness to 
cooperate, he may be given a mild sedative. I was asked to clip his nails 
(front and back) the night before, but that happens every week anyway, so 
no big deal.
I forgot to ask about the cost, but have a note in my planner to call 
tomorrow and find out. Since the groomer is in our vet's office, and most 
of their services are surprisingly low-cost, I figure it won't be 
horribly expensive. ($30.?) I'll let you know...

P.S.
I expect that Ric will be extremely angry with whoever does this to him, 
which is why we've decided to remove Kenn from the entire process.
In anticipation of a reaction, I have stashed away all the breakable 
items from my dresser and in my office. Ric is very communicative, and 
one of the ways he expresses his anger/irritation is by pushing my (and 
ONLY my) things onto the floor from high places.

re #35- Kae, thanks for the info. :)

I figure Sasha would be upset with the person doing the clipping, not 
necesarily me. I called a place here in Ann Arbor, and they knew 
exactly what I was talking about and said the base is $40, but 
depending on the trouble the cat gives them, it may go as high as $50.

So now I'm saving cash here and there and planning to pay $50.

Just called the vet. Their standard rate for grooming short-haired cats 
is $37. to $42.

So what I heard is about right, given that Sasha is a long-haired cat. 
Good to know.

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