Expert: Ali - 11/26/2008

Question
Can the acid in a cats stomach and fur balls ruin a carpet? It seems our long
haired persian cat likes to cough up fur balls only on the carpet.

Is there something to help him with the fur balls .. only about once a week at the
most.


Answer
Frank,

As far as I know fur balls don't normally do damage to rugs other than leaving a stain if they are improperly cleaned. I would urge you to use an enzymatic cleaner (I use one called Petzyme which is sold in gallon sized jugs at Petsmart for about $22 CAN in the dog section of the store) to clean up any hair balls and add more fiber to your kitty's diet through cat grass, canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) or even greens like lettuce or spinach. The added fiber to the diet will help to get the fur balls headed in the right direction. Persian cats also require extensive daily grooming so upping the number of grooming sessions you do on a daily basis and using a de-shedding tool will certainly help with the hair balls. You can have your Persian kitty groomed professionally or you can save the financial cost and stress on your cat and do the bathing and grooming at home. A set of appropriate brushes and an electric clipper will run you around the price of a couple of trips to the groomer, but the long term savings are well worth it and at home grooming sessions twice a day will also help to nurture a bond between you and your kitty.

If you plan to add things like veggies to your kitty's diet then I would highly recommend that you cook and puree them prior to mixing them with some special treat like tuna or salmon. The reason that I recommend cooking the veggies and being sure to puree them prior to serving them to your cat is that cats aren't designed to digest whole raw veggies beyond greens like grass, spinach, romaine lettuce, etc. Contrary to popular belief cats eat veggies when they eat the internal organs of their prey, it's important to realize that these veggies have already been chewed by the prey animal and partially digested within the stomach prior to the cat consuming them which explains the need to lightly cook and puree any veggies your kitty gets. Canned pumpkin or things like butternut squash, sweet potatoes and other squash type veggies seem to be well tolerated in small amounts by some cats provided of course that they are mashed and cooked prior to giving them to the cat. Canned pumpkin makes things simple and most cats like it - there's little work for the pet parent beyond opening the can and freezing portion sized pumpkin cubes for later use. If you want to try canned pumpkin out on your kitty I would suggest that you only give about a tablespoon per day. If you find that your kitty likes the canned pumpkin then she will likely have fewer fur balls because the fiber will help to move them through the digestive system.