11 March 2021
Hairballs are a completely natural occurrence for cats, though they can be quite the nuisance when your cat vomits up a chunk of hair and mucus onto your new carpet. Hairballs occur when cats groom themselves and ingest loose hair. Most of this hair is excreted in the feces, however, occasionally it will clump together and form a hairball when the ingested hair cannot move easily through the digestive tract and is instead regurgitated. Luckily, there are ways to reduce them and a diet like Nutrience Care Hairball Control can be part of the solution.
While most hairballs do not pose a health threat to your cat, if they cannot be passed through regurgitation or through the feces, there is a risk of a blockage. Some of the signs to look out for when a blockage occurs are lethargy, anorexia and trying to regurgitate a hairball with no success. You should always consult your veterinarian if one of these signs appear in your cat.
Some cats may be more prone to hairballs such as long-haired domestic cats, Maine coons, Persians, Himalayans, and Norwegian Forest Cats, while others are not, such as the Sphynx, Cornish rex, Devon rex and Oriental. There are specific grooming techniques and customized diets that can be helpful in reducing the number of hairballs your cat regurgitates.
In addition to regular grooming, one way of reducing hairballs is to feed your cat a specialized hairball formula. Diets specifically formulated to prevent hairballs, such as Nutrience Care Hairball Control rely on high amounts of insoluble fiber and enzymes to help break down the hairball and help eliminate it through the feces rather than through regurgitation.
Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and maintains its integrity as it moves through the digestive system, which allows it to pick up the hair along the way and carry it to the intestines where it is eventually excreted in the feces.
Sources of fiber commonly used in hairball diets include psyllium, sun-cured alfalfa, miscanthus grass, and cellulose. Nutrience Care uses a combination of miscanthus grass and sun-cured alfalfa for their environmental sustainability.
Another way to help pass hairballs is by breaking them down so they can easily be swept through the digestive tract. Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple extract, that breaks down the proteins that form the components of a hairball including mucus, keratin (the protein that forms hair) and food proteins that often get trapped in the hairball. The broken-down hairball is more likely to pass through the feces than to be regurgitated.
Nutrience Care Hairball Control is also rich in essential fatty acids. Ingredients like salmon oil and coconut oil help reduce shedding by contributing to a healthy skin and fur quality.
As part of its promise to support pets’ general wellbeing, Nutrience Care Oral Health is also designed to promote optimal gut health with DIGESTIBOOST, an inclusion rich in soluble, insoluble, and prebiotic fibers.
