ls84
Going Natural
Posts: 102
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Post by ls84 on Dec 22, 2009 22:38:46 GMT -5
I am very into using the most natural and chemical free products for myself and my animals. I am currently looking into a hairball remedy brand I can give my cats and possibly my ferrets if they need it during shedding season. I was looking at Naturvet and Vetbasis. The Ingredients for Naturvet are:
Soybean oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, cod lover oil, flaxseed oil, d-alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), sorbitol, soy protein, chicken flavor, lecithin, tuna flavor, maple flavor, beeswax, methylcellulose, chamomile, catnip.
And the Vetbasis:
Canola Oil, Glyceryl Monostearate, Beeswax, Cod Liver Oil, Taurine, Cocoa Butter, Chicken Flavor, Carnauba Wax, Mixed Tocopherols
I think the Vetbasis looks better, does anyone else have any experience or opinions?
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Post by Lynxie on Dec 23, 2009 12:28:00 GMT -5
Vetbasis looks the best. No sugary substitutes.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Dec 23, 2009 13:34:52 GMT -5
Personally, for cats and ferrets alike, I tend towards using pumpkin and/or oils instead of any packaged laxatives. Even the best and petroleum-free hairball remedies are sugary and full of fairly useless things, in my opinion.
Plain canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) can be mixed with water to thin, and frozen in ice cube trays, then stored in plastic baggies. One cube split between two servings of soup seems to do the trick for my kids!
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Post by weloveourweasels on Dec 23, 2009 17:15:33 GMT -5
All the petroleum free brands are sugar free that I have seen. The maple flavor is not actually maple syrup it is just natural flavor. Both of those brands are fine to use but the catnip paranoias me a bit. I have heard it neither negatively or positively affects ferrets and I have heard it should be avoided. I have also heard people using that Naturvet with no problems for their ferrets. I really wanted to get my hands on that vetbasis but it seems to ALWAYS be out of stock and I can only find it online. I use Natural Defense Hairball Remedy from petsmart for mine. www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751724&lmdn=Cat+Health+Care They seem to have jacked up the price $4 since I last bought a tube but maybe the in store price is cheaper. At least $12.99 would be cheaper than ordering it online and paying for shipping. In the most recent Drs Foster and Smith catalog I got it was selling a new all natural sugar and petroleum free cat lax with ingredients similar to the vetbasis. I can only find it on various online stores. I ordered from this site before and they have good service www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/641-Laxatone.aspx?feed=TheFind&gdftrk=gdfV2457_a_7c543_a_7c1842_a_7c23341_d_911The stuff in a tube is pricey but its good to have on hand. |
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Post by Kerit on Dec 23, 2009 17:50:54 GMT -5
In the most recent Drs Foster and Smith catalog I got it was selling a new all natural sugar and petroleum free cat lax with ingredients similar to the vetbasis. Which catalog was that? The last sugar-free stuff I remember was called "Lickables," which disappointingly was discontinued by the manufacturer. I've been looking for a decent alternative myself. |
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Post by luci on Dec 23, 2009 23:05:45 GMT -5
I second the use of pumpkin instead of manufactured hairball remedies. My cats have never horked up a hairball. A lick of butter for hairball prone cats during shedding season works well.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 23, 2009 23:14:39 GMT -5
I go with the pumpkin as well for all normal sheds, or if I think they've eaten something they shouldn't have!
What I don't like about the first one with the maple flavouring is you never know what it's made with. Some maple flavouring is made with fenegreek(no idea of how it impacts ferrets), some with brown sugar, some with corn syrup.
The second one doesn't look too bad for a premade, though.
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Post by weloveourweasels on Dec 24, 2009 15:30:55 GMT -5
In the most recent Drs Foster and Smith catalog I got it was selling a new all natural sugar and petroleum free cat lax with ingredients similar to the vetbasis. Which catalog was that? The last sugar-free stuff I remember was called "Lickables," which disappointingly was discontinued by the manufacturer. I've been looking for a decent alternative myself. I'm not sure I think it was a cats & dogs catalog but it was a christmas one. It has since been recycled. Maybe if the companies were contacted that use the maple flavoring they would tell us what its made of. The brown sugar won't be a concern because all the brands I have mentioned say somewhere in their description sugar free. The tomlyn stuff said sugar free in the catalog but not on any of the websites it is sold at. They say sugar free on the tube too. Of course the pumpkin does work very well but sometimes it is more convenient for people to use the tube stuff.  |
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ls84
Going Natural
Posts: 102
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Post by ls84 on Dec 24, 2009 15:59:15 GMT -5
I agree, I really want a product in a tube to use because its more convenient. I always have pumpkin, olive oil, salmon oil and sardine oils on hand. My cats and ferrets both eat raw. So far, I have not had any hairball issue with the ferrets, but my cats are medium haired and they constantly are coughing up hairballs even with brushing them regularly. I just want a tube on hand to let them lick it up because they need it on a daily basis. I can stick with the pumpkin in the ice cube trays for regular use, but I want something to give them quickly when I forget or dont have the time to defrost the pumpkin.
For now I'll stock up on some more pumpkin and freeze it, and look for the Vetbasis or something similiar..
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 25, 2009 1:04:42 GMT -5
I'd be really leery of giving something like that on a daily basis, just in case they became dependant on it. I know with any lax, the bowel motility can slow right down if they have relied on an artificial laxitive for too long a time.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Dec 25, 2009 20:31:27 GMT -5
I second that motion - dependency to a lax can be just as debilitating as the buildup of hairballs in the first place.
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ls84
Going Natural
Posts: 102
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Post by ls84 on Dec 25, 2009 21:16:11 GMT -5
I never thought of it like that, becoming dependent on a lax. It makes sense though. I will just stick with the oils and the pumpkin.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 3, 2010 1:28:30 GMT -5
Still keep the lax around for emergencies, though. When Lucrezia had a blockage, we alternated pumpkin and lax til she passed it.
With one of my cats, he refuses to cough up the hairballs, so he gets weekly pumpkin, and lax if his litter box visits stop being as productive as they should.
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