If you spent as much time grooming as your feline friend, you wouldn’t get a whole lot else done. They often spend as much as a third of the time they’re awake on sprucing themselves up. That’s a whole lot of licking and can lead to a whole lot of hairballs.
If your cat is coughing up hairballs more than once a month, you should consult your vet. A hairball every four weeks or less may be nothing to worry about, but it still may be a symptom of some minor underlying issue. And, whilst brushing your cat more regularly can certainly help alleviate the hairballs, a change in diet may be required to treat the real problem.
Food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease are two common causes of excess hairballs, which in turn can lead to symptoms such as :
- retching
- vomiting
- constipation
- diarrhoea
- lethargy
- loss of appetite
These things don’t make for a very happy cat, as you can imagine. Fortunately, for most cats, a simple change in diet is enough to help send the hairballs packing.
So, what’s the best food for cats with sensitive stomachs who’re coughing up more than you bargained for? Well, the first thing to consider, is fibre. Insoluble fibre can help keep fur moving in the right direction and exiting at the right end (eugh!). Soluble fibre helps maintain overall gut health and as a result helps your cat process the fur he or she swallows properly.
When you’re in the supermarket or pet store wondering what to feed your cat, start by looking for a product with a single major protein source. Then stick to feeding them that, and only that for at least 8 weeks. This will give you time to monitor the hairball situation and figure out if that particular food is right for your particular feline. Dry foods with a crude fibre percentage of 8-10 as well as just one key protein source, are spot on.
All Applaws recipes are naturally hypoallergenic and the dry foods are enriched with healthy fruits, vegetables and natural extracts. The natural plant extracts help your cat to naturally digest any fur that finds its way into their system, preventing the build up of hair balls in the first place. Applaws ingredients provide both soluble & insoluble fibre, making them an ideal choice to help your cat battle hairballs. Click here to view our dry cat food range.
