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Question
I have a long haired black cat, about 3 years old. She is constantly vomiting up hairballs (along with the food she last ate). It is getting to be a big problem in our house as we are constantly finding piles of vomit and she is destroying our carpets ! We have her eating the Cat Chow formula for indoor cats. She is strictly an indoor cat. We have also given her the Hairball Remedy Plus by Hartz. Any suggestions in remedying this situation.
You might want to switch her to a food that is easier on her digestive system, such as Science Diet Sensitive Stomach or Indoor cat. All of the SD formulas are geared to help with hairball problems, but she has more than just a hairball issue if she is constantly vomiting.
This food will meet her energy and nutritional needs with much less food as well. The food she is eating is irritating her stomach and that is why she is vomiting up the food, instead of just hairballs. Any food by Purina is not high quality and some cats need a better diet. Some get by on low quality, junky diets like Purina but they are never as healthy as they could be.
When a cat is vomiting excessive hairballs it's a good time to get them in for a check up to make sure she doesn't have a large hair mass in her stomach, called a bezoar. These are hairballs that have grown too large to pass out of the stomach. They can cause a lot of symptoms and problems.
So a good, thorough examination from your vet is warranted with repeated vomiting.
Transition her slowly over to the Science Diet and within three weeks you should start to see the benefits of feeding it to her.
If that doesn't help, get her into the vets and have her looked over.
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Answers by Expert:
Jana Connell RVT, CVT
Expertise
PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!
Experience
I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina.
I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.
Organizations
Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.
Education/Credentials
Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT.
Certified Veterinary Dental Technician
Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).
Awards and Honors
Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.
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