BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cats shedding and hairballs

I have five cats. Four are from the same litter and the other one was given to me by a friend. My babies are inside/outside cats, but mostly inside. What can I do to help with their shedding. My two long hair cats cough up hair balls a lot. Is there something I can do to solve this problem without spending a lot of money. Im pretty broke right now and don't know a cheap way to help my babies.

comb them everyday--you don't need a special comb, just use a human one. I use "kitty drain-o" or Hairball Remedy you can get in a tube--it is not too expensive, it is gelled oils and malt/beef flavoring and a little glob on their tongues is all them need. (You can put it on their fur and have them lick it off but mine are tricky and rub it off on the couch so I have to put it in their mouths.)Some brands of cat kibble comes in a hairball prevention formula now too. I also pick a handfull of grass when I walk the dog and cut it up in small bites and lt the cats have it--it will make them throw up the hairballs, but that is what they are supposed to do. Make sure it is actually grass and not a mixture of weeds as somethings are poisonous. And make sure it has not been sprayed with pesticides or anything.
Ravyn

I have three, strictly house cats. If you allow your cats to go outside, which I know they love, they are prone to all kinds of catastrophies. Mainly getting run over, a neighbor's cat was recently killed by a car, and we live on a quiet street. Mine have never been outside so they don't know what they are missing. I had a beautiful, sweet, Maine coon cat, Poo Bear, in my earlier days. He was allowed outside of an evening. He was big and fat and suddenly he became very thin and ill. He was diagnosed with feline aids. I didn't know there was such a disease. A few years later I was talking to an old neighbor who had lived near us when I had Poo Bear, and she said her cat Tommy had died of feline aids. Tommy used to come over in our yard a lot, so I am sure that is where Poo Bear got it. I remember Tommy got to looking very ill, long before my Poo Bear got sick. My other cats didn't get it, because you have to have a scratch or a bite to get it in your system. And Poo Bear always liked to scrap a little, so Tommy must have scratched or bitten him. No more outside cats. I bring in grass too for the hair balls. They really like the grass that is rough and course like, I believe they call it saw grass. It only grows here and there in clumps in our yard. I have a terrible time with the hair ball medicine, it is even tuna flavored now. Every one of them puts up a fight and runs away. There must be a better way. Mary Jo

My 2 longhaired cats get hairballs no matter what I do. Daily brushing, giving them the "Hairball Remedy" food, slipping a chunk of the tube medicine into their favorite canned food a couple times a week, and feeding them a generous pinch of catnip every few days. Still they reward me with a hideous glob every now and then. I guess it comes with the territory. At least they have learned to jump off the bed or couch when a hairball is immanent. The hairballs are a natural phenomenon, they bother us a whole lot more than the cats.

The first time I saw a hairball I thought my kitty had pooped on the window ledge... Now with 3 of them I see them every now and then. I grow my own kitty grass..I use an organic chemical free potting soil, and some wheat grass seeds. It's easy to grow, much less expensive than buying it at the pet store and I don't have to worry about pesticiedes.