With desiccated pork liver as the first ingredient, this supplement has a flavor cats seem to find appealing. Rice flour and sweet potato powder offer dietary fiber but also act as prebiotics, providing food for beneficial bacteria in the gut. If you determine that your cat’s hairballs are caused by a digestive issue, you may want to consider treating the hairballs the same way you’d treat any chronic digestive problem. Hairball food: Specially formulated hairball diets contain extra fiber to support digestive health and help push hair through the digestive tract. Both dry and wet hairball diets are available. Hairball foods are complete and balanced and are intended to be used as your cat's regular diet.

Hello Eileen, thanks for commenting, and I apologize for the late reply! In 2022, there was a change in the products ranked here, but the rest of the article was not properly updated to reflect the change in recommendations. I will edit this! However, Cat Lax is made and sold by Dechra Pharmaceuticals, a veterinary product company. You can buy it on Chewy (linked). This is my original review: Nutri-Vet Hairball Paw Gel contains natural non-petroleum ingredients to lubricate your cat's digestive tract and it supports healthy skin and coat.These tablets are designed to relieve hairballs and support overall digestive health. They’re primarily made from psyllium husk, a source of soluble fiber. Marshmallow root can help lubricate the digestive tract while reducing inflammation. Slippery elm bark has similar properties and is a popular remedy for hairballs on its own.

Though hairball-specific cat foods usually focus on fiber alone, this isn’t always the right approach. Once a month normally is not as big of a deal, once a week is a little bit too much," says Harper. "When people tell me that their cat vomits every day or every week, it's a problem." Can hairballs be dangerous? Cats are very good at keeping themselves clean. They naturally know how to self-groom, and rarely need bathing. However, during the self-grooming process, they can swallow loose hair – and this leads to a cat hairball. Most cats get hairballs from time to time and it’s usually nothing to worry about. But if you are wondering what is causing them, what are the symptoms you should look out for and how to help a cat with hairballs, here is everything you need to know. We simply recommend choosing the remedy that the cat is most likely to accept and eat," Whittenburg says. "Some cats refuse the treats. Some cats don't like the gel. Some cats won't eat the food, or have medical conditions requiring a different diet. All the remedies are similar, but the delivery method is different." If you’d rather give your cat a treat than a gel or a tablet, these soft treats may be a good choice.One particularly effective treatment is hairball cat food. These kibble-based products contain lots of fibre to help take excess fur through the digestive system. They also contain vitamins and minerals to keep your cat’s fur in good condition and reduce hair loss. You can provide the anti-hairball power of egg yolks by feeding your cat fresh egg yolks or by giving him an egg yolk lecithin supplement. A safe and effective dose for lecithin has not been established for cats, and most supplements formulated for people contain much more than is present in hairball products for cats.

Hairball treatments come in many different forms. You can buy hairball remedies in a tube, try homemade remedies, grow a pot of cat grass, or groom your cat to keep him from ingesting his hair at all.

At a Glance: Our Top Picks for Best Hairball Remedies for Cats

Constant retching (with no sign of a hairball) and lethargy can also be signs of asthma. The vet should be able to discern the underlying cause. Either way, you will have identified a health issue in your cat and will have solved it before it gets worse.