Natural Hairball Remedies For Cats

This morning I found evidence that my two cats, a male and a female, were not feeling well. First of all, last night I found that their water bowl had been diminished a lot. Now I know that cats, as a general rule, do not drink a lot of water. Some weeks back our girl kitty had been drinking a lot of water for several days. A trip to the vet resulted in our needing to remove cat treats from her diet, due to finding of crystals in her urine. During this two week trial, I had also removed dry food, after conferring with the Holistic Moms Network.  Not the smartest time to remove the dry food, of course, because when her urine tested clean, it was impossible to know if it was simply from removing the cat treats, or if it had something to do with the dry food.

Fast forward a few weeks. I bought some more dry food. I did so because the cats are getting big, and are starting to eat us out of house and home. They eat Newman's Own Organics canned cat food. The cans are 3 oz - in other words, small. The two of them were eating five cans a day! At a dollar and change a can, it was getting ridiculous. So I did some research and bought some Organix Feline Formula Adult and Kitten dry cat food. This is, from what I can tell, good stuff. It is made from organic chicken, brown rice and flax, and is minus a lot of the stuff that other dry cats foods contain and are supposed to be bad for them. Anyhow. A few days ago we introduced the dry food in place of the canned for one meal, and they devoured it. Yay! thought I.

So then yesterday, the female cat was drinking, and I noticed the bowl was low. Oh no. But wanting to be sure, I decided to wait a day or two. The bowl was fine this a.m., but I could tell the cats weren't right. For one thing, there was wet food left over from their feeding last night, which has never happened since getting them. Then they left a fair amount of food this morning. Hmmm... Then my daughter stepped in something.... uk. Ok, so there were a couple of piles of cat barf on the carpet. And they were full of fur. Ok. So is the problem crystals in the urine? Or is it hair balls? Or is it both?

I know the solution if the problem is crystals. So I'll give it another day or two, and see if the girl kitty continues to drink a lot of water. Easy solution: no more dry food.

I didn't know the answer for the hair balls, so I did a quick Google search on "natural hair ball remedies for cats." The answer? Psyllium fiber. Metamusil! Wow! As I read about it, I found that it makes perfect sense. If it helps us, why not the cats? Here's one link I found. Though this link does not mention hair balls specifically, it mentions several other conditions for which psyllium fiber is recommended by vets for cats.

LINK

This website, and many others, recommend Psyllium Nigrum for cats, which is the same seed husk fiber source as is used in Metamucil. This is a neat site in general.

LINK

I'm gonna try it. Starting today, I'm going to mix a small amount (if you try it make sure you know the recommended doses) in with their canned food. I'll report back in a few days if I see any changes or improvements.

If anyone has any experience with this, I'd sure appreciate hearing about it!

UPDATE: I put a teaspoon of flavorless psyllium fiber in the cats canned food, mixed it very well, and gave it to them. Both cats took one sniff, and would not eat one bite. I replaced it with a can without the fiber, and they ate it right away. So much for that! I may try again with a much smaller amount, but I'm thinking this is not the remedy for my cats!

Now to try coconut oil.... trial in a separate post!

Green Your Pets

I am the proud new owner of two 8-week old kittens. Now before you say, "What the hell were you thinking??" let me quickly say that they have so far been a joyful addition to our home. They have been here for five days. The kids enjoy them, they enjoy the kids (mostly) and my husband and I have our quiet time with them after the kids go to bed. That being said.....

I am trying to live a more holistic lifestyle. So of course any being who moves in with me is going to feel the effects of that process. And that means the cats. They are using a combination of two eco-friendly cat litters, and eating "natural" and also organic cat foods! Their litter box is made from recycled paper, and is 100% recyclable. Their water (as of today) is filtered. There blankets are washed using soap nuts, and have been dried in the sun. And of course they live in a home which has no harsh, toxic cleaners of any kind.

So. The particulars? Sure!

The cat litters:

I did an online search on "green" and "natural" cat litters, and aside from making my own (a cool idea, but really, who has the time?) these were the top two favorites.

World's Best Cat Litter: The bag reads: Pet and People Safe: Because World's Best Cat Litter is 
made from all-natural ingredients - with no added chemicals - it's 
totally safe for cats (and the whole family.) There are no toxins in 
case it is ingested. And unlike clay litters, there's no silica dust 
for you or your cat to breathe." It goes on: Planet Friendly: WB Cat 
Litter isn't minced, drilled or artificially produced. It's precisely 
milled from renewable whole-kernal corn and 100% biodegradable. And 
because it disperses in water, it's also septic safe and flushable!"

Feline Pine:Feline Pine. The bag reads: Chemical- 

free: Feline Pine Scoop uses the odor-fighting power of 100% natural 
pine instead of harsh chemicals or synthetic perfumes found in other 
litters. When your cat grooms, you can feel assured that he isn't 
ingesting any chemical additives."

Another popular one is called sWheat (made from wheat, obviously) but many complained of the smell when it got wet. I have seen this one at Pet Smart and at the grocery store, so it's easy to find. The others seem to be, also.

The food:

I am waiting to speak with the kittens' new vet on Friday to see what he/she recommends food-wise, but I'm kind of in favor of Newman's Own organic canned cat food. The cats have been eating another kind, and heck, I can't think of the name. I'll add it later. But they ate the one can of Newman's I bought for them to try, so that's what I'll get until I'm told otherwise. I also bought them some dry food called By Nature, which appears to be pretty good. But I'll update on the foods after we've been to the doc. It does appear that there are others like me out there, enough of us that there is a market for healthy, balanced, organic pet food. Awesome. 

The litter box:

I did not buy the litter boxes from this company, but this shows a picture of the kind that we use: Scuse the enormous link here, but I didn't feel like typing it! (copy/paste doesn't work for some reason...)

http://www.petco.com/product/9960/Kitty's-WonderBox-Disposable-Cat-Litter-Box.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Cat-_-Kitty's%20WonderBox-_-770272&mr:trackingCode=0408EC15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA


More later...