Worried about hairball prevention

[SnowyShiloh]

Hi everyone! My gosh, I don't even have Rory home yet and I'm already worried about him getting a hairball. I wonder how I'll be when I have human children!

Cinnabun had two bouts of hairballs during his life. One of the times he was 6 years old and the vet gave him a 50 percent chance of surviving. Thank goodness he did... Cinny was fed lots and lots of timothy hay and got a stripe of the kitty hairball preventer every week, but he still got the 2 hairballs. I bought Rory a tube of cat Petromalt today, but read in one thread here from a while back that maybe it's not so good for them. I've also read about feeding them pumpkin, but do you only do it if they're having problems? I've also read about the pineapple and papaya, but I've been under the impression for years that those enzyme things don't really work.

So, could someone please help ease my concerns? What can I do to lessen the chances of Rory getting a hairball? I bought him timothy hay, orchard grass and alfalfa hay today in addition to the Petromalt and a double sided brush to keep down on the excess loose hairs. He has a lot of fur, too...

Thank you!

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

I think you are very correct in being concerned about "hairballs". Truth is, rabbits rarely get true hairballs and they are not properly treated by using the cat treatments.Thisresults in a condition known as stasis and another condition known as ileus. The "hairball" is really an obsturction caused by ahardening mix of hair (which ingesting hair is normal for a rabbit), foreign materials such as carpet fibers or other things they should not have eaten and undigested food.If theGI starts to become dehydrated, the larger particles will start to dry out andcombinewith the mucus in the gut and form an obstruction.

You have obviously already done your homework on this. The best cure for stasis is prevention. Highfiber (unlimited grass hays), low protein foods,green leafy veggies and overall good health including frequent brushing but also keep a check on the teeth and for intestinal parasites. But regardless...stasis will happen at some point for no reason.

You mentioned both the Petro Malt type stuff and the papaya/pineapple issue. Both are still out to jury. I do deal with stasis and GI problems a lot with incoming rescues. I have found that the "hairball" rememdies don't work and do make things worse. Theobstructionin a rabbit is totally different than a cat. Since the mass must pass thru some very narrow and twistingrabbit gut, the gel type hairball rememdiesseem to bind to the mass further dehydrating and compacting it more..not what you want to do. The idea isto break up the mucus thatbinds the ingesta together. I do use papaya and fresh pineapple (not the frozen, bottled or canned....important to use the real fresh fruit) I have had excellent results in using it with a combination of pineapple juice mixed with Critical Care along with an aggressive fluid therapy using lactated ringers SQ. Canned pumpkin (not the pie filling..the canned pumpkin) is a great choice to offer...lots of good nutrients and high fiber. We have also found that lots of oat hay is good for treating rabbits with chronic stasis.

I will make a comment that it seems that most people on this forum catch a stasis event early on. That is great and makes things much easier to resolve. Many times we have resolved early stages of stasis just by offering a large handfull of wet leafy greens and having the rabbit run around for a while. Hydration is the key in most situations and why I would like to see everyone be trained to administer sub-q fluids....there is no doubt that learning this simple medical treatment will save your rabbit's life one day....it has saved many here.

Randy

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I get dried papaya at my local organic food market. I give the bunnies both a little slice (the size of a pineapple tidbit but not as thick) each day when molting. I forgot to get it this time around and could be why Bo had troubles! (Just realized this!)

What's nice is you can take one sprig out and seal the bag. Put that piece in a different resealable baggie and it all will stay very fresh for a long, long time. I think it took about 6 mos for the papaya in the original bag to start getting all sugary looking and that was when my daughter left that bag open a couple of time and before I started using a separate baggie for the one I was currently using.

BRUSH! I brush mine each day a little when they are molting. I have SEVERAL brushes.

I have a zoom groom for cats:

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:CUIO3A1W3gfVzM:http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GADoSp-eL._AA280_.jpg

I have to be careful with this one cause it can pull hair pretty good - I only use this over them a couple of swipes or they can get sore - but BOY does it get the hair out!

I also have a slicker combe which helps with the butt hair that gets all fuzzy and won't come loose!

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:8PpfH-pBWsMedM:http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/1001/10021651.JPG

Again, this will pull mats so you have to be careful not to pull too much or too hard.

and I have one of these and Bo absolutely loves this combe/brush. He will purr when I use it on him! He actually likes for me to brush him backwards slowly and gently with this one.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:bW8It-18zCJFhM:http://di1.shopping.com/images/di/38/37/61/556f482d35765f6c6f33745079786a494c4751-100x100-0-0.jpg

 

[tonyshuman]

i am a beleiver in papaya. i have never had stasis problems with Tony, but he poops out so much hair when he's molting! it makes me really nervous, but maybe because he's young, eats a lot of hay, and get his papaya the fur just passes through. i always feed him papaya during a big molt. i have been thinking of getting the dried stuff too. as for brushing, i have one of those slicker brushes but it doesn't do much. it works better for me to pluck him if it's bad (he HATES it, but what can you do), and/or pet him against the grain of the fur. i get these big chunks of fur on my palms when i pet both up and down his body.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the replies! I'll return the Petromalt to the store, I wasn't sure whether I should use it (I read some conversations about it on here), but thought I'd buy it since I was there. I will try the dried papaya thing. Should I only give it to him when he's molting? Also, how often should I give him pumpkin and how much? I plan to buy a can of it and freeze it in small portions. I am going to check out those brushes! The brush he has is a two in one.

 

[pamnock]

Here's an excellent article by Dana Krempels about GI stasis and the "Hairball Myth".

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Blockages consisting of hair are a secondary symptom of another problem - not due to ingesting fur. Intestinal slowdowns can be due to hereditary problems with the intestinal nerve endings as well as illnesses such as viral infections.

Fiber is vital to good GI function. The enzymes of supplements such as paypaya do not break down mucous or hair, andsome brands are very high in sugars.



Pam

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Good deal! Most bunnies are like cats I think with Brushing. They either love it or hate it but if you really are gentle and make it nice they will allow it and usually end up liking it.

If I can get a few sweeps with a brush during molting, I feel I've at least helped them along.

Clover is actually hard to hold/catch she actually loves being brushed but is so afraid when you hold her and stuff that we don't do it much. I usually wait until she has a good start and brush her once then let it go for a few days to a couple of weeks if it's a big molt, and then I brush her again. She's always been fine. I mainly have to help her because of her bad leg. She can get everything except the hip area there.

 

[pamnock]

Here is an older thread where I had posted about the hairball myth . . .

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=8443&forum_id=1&highlight=the+hairball+myth