Author Topic: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief  (Read 11035 times)

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Offline Middle Child

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Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« on: September 13, 2012, 09:34:45 AM »
I am trying this product in a desperate effort to get two of my cats off petroleum products.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002I9O84/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

However I won't be using it as the directions say.  The directions say one tablet twice a day, every day.  That sounds like way too much, to me.

The active ingredients are psyllium and slippery elm.  I am leery of using psyllium, though I know it is often recommended for hair ball problems.  Slippery elm I see recommended a lot, but it has a strong odor.

These wafers have no odor I can detect, but the cats got one whiff and went crazy.  Because they have psyllium in them I feel they need to be washed down, so I am giving them with food.  Simply crush a wafer over a small amount of wet food and watch it disappear, LOL.

I'll be using it over Sk's raw portions, since she still needs some kind of incentive to eat them, but like I said, not every day and not two a day either,at least not at first  I am starting with once a week with these wafers, and once a week with the Cat Lax, and see how it goes.

The person who recommended them to me feeds her cat Rad Cat frozen raw exclusively, and gives her kitty the wafers a couple times a week.

Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2012, 01:35:27 PM »
I thought I remembered starting a thread on this stuff! I was looking under the supplements heading, haha. So far I am happy with the Vet's-Best as hairball control for Struvite Kitty.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002I9O84/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00

http://www.vetsbest.com/products/cat-supplement-tablets.php

The was recommended to me in another forum, not the raw forum I'm using, but a forum where raw is mostly viewed with suspicion and skepticism.  funny2  There is one member who feeds their cat on 100 % rad cat.  He is a long haired cat and he still had trouble with hair balls and they use Vet's-Best, though they use a lot less than the dosing recommends.

I too am using it very lightly.  She gets at the most a quarter or half tablet a day (as opposed to 2 a day as recommended) more for raw incentive garnish than therapeutic reasons, but  even at that low dose it does seem to be helping, I have now cut her down to hairball remedy every 5 or 6 days.  This is a cat who has needed hair ball remedy every other day most of her life, even after switching her off the c/d she still had trouble with hair balls, and was getting it every 2 or 3 days.  But now she's down to once every 5 days and I am currently aiming for every 6 days now.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get her off the Cat Lax entirely?

While of course I want her to have as few unnecessary ingredients as possible, I think this is better than stuffing her full of petroleum products three times a week.



Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2012, 02:01:34 PM »
I (often) forget about the SEARCH feature on the forum.  lol  Anyway...thanks for the info.   :D  I have one that needs a little help with trying new flavors or foods.  I have tried Benito Flakes and some others...that don't come to mind at the moment.  Fortiflora (as much as I hate it) used to be a sure bet. 
« Last Edit: October 04, 2012, 02:03:54 PM by Lola »
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Offline DeeDee

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2012, 05:17:51 PM »
Ages ago before I became so allergic to cats, everyone I knew just sprinkled catnip on their food to prevent hairball problems. Dunno if there's anything in that or not, but I never had a cat to vomit in our house. I'd have hated cats if I'd have had to clean up vomit after them when I was younger.
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2012, 09:47:30 PM »
I never heard of cat nip for hair balls before, LOL. I grow it, so my cats always have plenty, if they want it, but it hasn't ever made any difference for the ones who have hairball trouble.

Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2012, 09:56:13 PM »
I read the ingredients, but... is there anything in it that is reallllly "scary?"  I bought it for our Roxy, who tends to not want to try new flavors.  She prefers chicken and... plastic. 
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2012, 10:04:48 PM »
I read the ingredients, but... is there anything in it that is reallllly "scary?"  I bought it for our Roxy, who tends to not want to try new flavors.  She prefers chicken and... plastic. 

Nothing that sent a red flag to my brain.   And I know slippery elm is often used for constipation/diarrhea and hair balls.  But psyllium you know....it creates bulk, and cats don't do well with bulky stool. I've allowed myself not to be too concerned since pysllium isn't the only active ingredient. And it has served well as a enticement powder for the raw transition.

Because of the psyllium I never give it dry, always over wet or raw meals.

Oooh, I hate it when they lick or try to eat plastic!  Does Rory like the Vet's-Best?

Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2012, 10:11:34 PM »
Nothing that sent a red flag to my brain.   And I know slippery elm is often used for constipation/diarrhea and hair balls.  But psyllium you know....it creates bulk, and cats don't do well with bulky stool. I've allowed myself not to be too concerned since pysllium isn't the only active ingredient. And it has served well as a enticement powder for the raw transition.

Because of the psyllium I never give it dry, always over wet or raw meals.

Oooh, I hate it when they lick or try to eat plastic!  Does Rory like the Vet's-Best?

I've only used it less than a handful of times.  I crush it up and put it on the food.  So far, she has eaten everything that I have used it on. 

She is a maniac when it comes to plastic.  I was cleaning fresh veggies tonight.  Didn't think about the produce bags being plastic... left the kitchen for a MINUTE.  Thankfully, she brought it back up a few minutes later. 
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2012, 10:15:13 PM »
Oh my gosh, she ate the plastic bag?  How scary.  Thank goodness she brought it back up.

Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2012, 12:46:59 PM »
Oh my gosh, she ate the plastic bag?  How scary.  Thank goodness she brought it back up.

She ate "just" a small section of the bag. 
Grocery plastic bags...she will eat the handles off of them, if she gets a chance.  When I buy groceries, I have to bring a few bags in...put all the items away, and then go back out and get a few more bags and do the same. 
She's not a cat that allows much touching.  That is why I don't just pick her up and lock her in a room, until I'm finished. 
Bread gets locked away.  Matter of fact, because of her, we have child locks on our pantry.  Never needed child locks for the human kids, but need them for the furkids.  Go figure!  BUT... I was a much better parent with my human kids, than I am with the furkids.   Bumpurr1     
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Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2013, 04:12:47 AM »
I have been meaning to tell you...
I have found Vets Best to work just as good as nasty Fortiflora.  It will now be my recommendation to people that want to transition their kibble addicts to wet.  
I used it to transition Jenkins to wet.  
I give it to our one cat that has furball issues.  
Lucy doesn't like one particular brand of food that is in our rotation... sprinkle a little Vets Best on the food... food is gone!
I reallllllly didn't like using Fortiflora ever (don't like the ingredients or the company that makes it), but it was the one product that always worked... and I tried a LOT of different products over the years. 
Sooooo, two thumbs up for Vets Best.  :)
« Last Edit: February 17, 2013, 04:14:57 AM by Lola »
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2013, 06:44:01 AM »
That's great Lola! That's exactly what I use it for, too. They get it most days, just a dusting, over one meal or another.  I have two who don't like krill oil so they always need it over their Krill meal.  Top Cat has learned that if she doesn't lick all her "powder" (egg shell calcium taurine, vit B, probiotic) off her plate when she has her raw meal I will dust some V-B over it for her to finish, so now she ALWAYS leaves some powder on her plate!  funny2

Offline Lola

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2013, 05:42:09 PM »
Nooooo, thank YOU.  :)  It is nice to have something on hand that will work for whatever maybe going on around here.  lol
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 07:13:53 PM »
The Vets-Best has been a MIRACLE for Mazy cat.  Mazy, as you may know is my cat who has severe motility issues resulting in frequent regurgitation.  I've had some success with diet change, but the hairball issue continues, and it is very bad this year especially.  She's getting egg yolk lecithin twice a day (a whole capsule in the morning and another at night), 1/8 tsp Slippery Elm bark in a meal daily, and raw egg yolk twice a week (raw egg yolk is rich in choline which improves motility)

Still it wasn't enough, she'd gone from regurgitating only 2-3 times a month to almost daily when her shedding started in February. After talking to some folks in the Raw feeding for IBD group, I finally decided to try using the Vets-Best for her as more than just an occasional incentive.

One of my concerns was that the psyllium would make her stools too large.  They are already a bit bigger than normal from the SEB. But I was getting desperate.

I started her on 1/2 tablet once a day, with her middle of the night meal. Because I got to bed so early Mazy gets a meal consisting of .25 ounce (one fourth ounce) around midnight or a little later )depending on what time I wake up to give it to her) I started mixing the 1/2 tablet into that meal a little over two weeks ago. (I gave her extra on the day I took them out and she ate grass)

The good news is, the V-B has not made her stools noticeably larger, but she is pooping more often, which is a good thing, means things are moving through a bit more quickly.  And every poop is just FULL of fur. (Yes, I am pulling her stools apart)

So I highly recommend this product for hairball control, but I will also continue to recommend the egg yolk lecithin.  Jennie and Queen Eva do not need Vets-Best or any other help aside from a 1/2 capsule of egg yolk lecithin every other day.

But I am so so so happy for Mazy cat.

Offline Middle Child

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Re: Vet's + Best Hairball Relief
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2014, 05:55:16 AM »
Me and my big mouth.  Projectile regurgitation this morning.  I guess the darn grass is still lodged in there.  I hadn't seen it in her poop but she was doing so well I thought I had just missed it.

Hopefully the heaving this morning has repositioned it in a way for it to start moving out.

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