Don't know what to do about my cat's hairball and vomiting problem

[whisperwolf]

Hi. I have a approx. 13 y/o DSH female indoor cat named Mozi. She has been having troubles with sensitive tummy all her life so after trial and error I finally switched her to Natural Balance LID Grain Free Salmon (She would not eat the Pea and Duck). The problem is, now she is vomiting up food with hairballs in it. I have tried giving her hairball medication, brushing her, bathing her. I noticed she is shedding a lot and now she is itching so much that she is starting to have sores.  That started when the dog brought fleas in the house, but fleas are gone from both pets. I have tried adding a bit of Natural Balance wet food to her evening supper and make sure to change the water daily, hoping the added moisure will help with hairballs, but nothing is helping.

I don't really know what else to do. If I put her on a food with grains, she barfs it up, but if I keep her on the grain free she gets really bad hair balls and vomits up hair balls and food. :( Now she has these sores on her skin. I really can't afford a vet now because I just spent $500 on a vet to have my horse put down last month.....Any other advice?

[Bkitty]

I had the same problem with my cat Beener,,ever since i started getting him shaved every 3 months it cut way down on the hairballs. I also would add some "liqui-lax" the vet gave me every 2 weeks or so to keep his intestines "lubed" so as to pass the hairballs. Iams has a hairball control food as well.

[whisperwolf]

Hello. I wanted to give an update on my cat, Mozi. I gave her a bath in her normal oatmeal shampoo and the itching and sores went away. I think maybe she had some residual flea shampoo in her hair.

As for the hairballs. We switched her food to the Natural Balance indoor cat dry food which has brown rice for added fiber. Also at night she gets 1 spoonful of wet food by the same company.

So far her vomiting and hairball issues have nearly  cleared up. I think the additional fiber and moisure in her diet have helped.  

[LivingInHope]

She's probably grooming a lot with all those sores and hair balls.  Unfortunately, this is the cold season, but I went to a vet who mentioned shaving cats I think a couple times a year or something.  One was for the summer.  Now this didn't appeal to me as cats love to groom and I love to pet soft fur.  But if hairball medication (or a little 100% pure pumpkin, NO spices mixed with her food) is not causing the hairballs to pass, I wonder if it could be an option until things settle down?  Help me out, veteran cat owners?

I also wonder if she has some kind of blockage, if it is always coming out vomit and she is not passing hairballs through her stool at all.  

Do you think she could be allergic to the flea medication if she still has it in her system?  

I give our cat a little pinch of flaxseed meal on her food, since I know flaxseed oil anyway, is good for inflammation, having some good omega fatty acids.  Is this latest food switch you mentioned a recent one?  Could she be having a problem with the newer food, do you think?