Is there any cat owner out there that has not heard the classic ‘hairball hack’ and made the unsuccessful dash to try to control the resulting product? For those of you that know what we are talking about, April 29th is National Hairball Awareness Day. Hairballs may not complement your white rug – but they develop as a result of your cat’s healthy and fastidious grooming routine. When your cat grooms himself, that rough tongue catches loose hair, which is then swallowed. The majority passes through the digestive tract with no problem. But if some hair stays in the stomach, it can form a hairball. Ultimately, your cat will vomit the hairball to get rid of it. Nothing can be done to totally prevent hairballs but, there are things you can do to reduce their frequency.

Groom your cat regularly. The more fur you remove from your cat, the less fur that will end up as fodder for hairballs in her stomach. Two great products to accomplish this are the Zoom Groom and the Furminator.

High fiber food. These formulas encourage hairballs in cats to pass through the digestive system.

Use a hairball product or laxative. There are a number of different hairball products on the market today, most of which are mild laxatives that help hairballs pass through the digestive tract.We have a couple options including treats and food additives. Cats that cough up hairballs more than twice a month should be checked by your veterinarian. Cat hairball becomes dangerous if the hairball causes intestinal blockage.

On any recent trip to Leash on Life you may have participated in or overheard a conversation on nutrition. Whether it is food, treats or chews, what makes up the diet of our four-legged friends is essentially up to us, as their supreme hunters and gatherers. One misconception we hear is about the word “meal”. Sometimes conscientious pet parents have wanted to stay away from anything that contains the word meal. There is no need for concern so let’s break it down.

For cat and dog food, high quality animal proteins should be specified on the label and listed as one of the first ingredients. Salmon, duck, chicken or lamb are examples of these proteins. Ingredients on the package are listed by their weight before cooking. So fresh chicken is an excellent ingredient, but once cooked that fresh chicken losses 60-75 percent of its weight to water and may no longer be the top ingredient. However, chicken meal is the meat, skin, fat and bone that is cooked down, fat skimmed and moisture evaporated. This meal is then added to the food. By weight, the meal contains a much higher percentage of protein than fresh meat. A chicken meal is only 10 percent water, so the meal provides greater protein content and is a quality source as opposed to using corn filler which you will see on lower quality foods. Look for foods that contain some lamb, duck or turkey meal, it provides more meat proteins for Fluffy after cooking. The rub comes when you read “by product meal” as opposed to a named meat meal. By-products include the heads, feathers and feet. Often “meat by-product meal” is indicative of lower quality meats and may not have been stored as carefully. Please stay away from the un-specified “meat” ingredient in general. If you wouldn’t eat “mystery meat” in the high school cafeteria, why feed it to your dog/cat now?