Cats and The Dreaded Fur Balls…Does a Raw Species Appropriate Diet Help?
It doesn't really matter what your personal opinion is on who created us and our beautiful beasts but whom ever did why in the world would they design a creature that wears a fur coat, eats prey that wear fur coats but can not digest fur!? The answer is they wouldn’t.
So then what's up with this wheezing and hacking and coughing? Not to mention the lovely feeling when you are walking to the washroom in the middle of the night and you step on that squishy mess that seeps up between your toes :(
Many cats including large wild cats get fur balls but the major differences are how often, their the ability to evacuate them and do they cause them stress, discomfort or “ dis-ease”…
If your cat is plagued by fur balls then more often than not he or she is over shedding. This can be caused by many things like excessive bathing, allergies, fleas, hormone imbalances, medications, stress…but in my experience the number one reason is not feeding s species appropriate diet.
The consumption of healthy fur from your cats prey of rodents etc.. is actually very healthy, it contains amino acids, keratin, melanin, and protein!! This builds healthy skin and hair coats.
Most cats nowadays are not going outside, therefore they are unable to hunt and eat what they were built to consume. There is hope for them still and that comes in the form of a species appropriate raw diet. The amino acid profile in raw meat is very similar to your cats cell receptors allowing them to produce healthy skin and fur cells which lead to less shedding equals less fur balls, it also creates a more acidic ph in the gut leading to an easier breakdown of the fur that is consumed. This means that if they do get a fur ball now and then, it is easily evacuated and does not cause them discomfort. Its a win-win situation! A raw food diet can also aid in the other issues that contribute to fur balls such as over-grooming, allergies, stress and poor nutrition that can be caused by processed food diets, even the “high quality” ones.
If raw food is just not going to happen for your feline friend then the next best thing is a good quality canned with NO grains to provide hydration. This is vitally important for cats because their means of hydration is though digestion of blood in their food - NOT by drinking water! Look for a canned food that uses human grade proteins (and NOT slaughterhouse waste!) and no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy.
Next, get yourself an awesome digestive enzyme and a pre and probiotic … add it you your cats canned food each time he or she eats. This will help to assist with your cats ability to digest and easily move the fur he or she is consuming.
Allowing your cat to eat like a cat can make their life so much happier and healthier - not to mention less stress for you!