Feline Hairball Medicine for Buns?

[MoosMa]

Hi All, I am experiencing my bun's molting for the first time. We're at the end now, butBOY was I a nervous wreck seeing those strings of pearls!I can't believe how thick some of them were!

I started giving him GNC Malt flavored cat hairball medicine. These are the ingredients:

Vegetable Oil, Psyllium Seed Powder, Malt Syrup, Glycerin, Lecithin, Catnip, Silicon Dioxide, Guar Gum Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Fiber (max) 13.0%, Moisture (max) 30%

He absolutely LOVES this stuff. He actually will try and climb me to get the tube and beg beg beg!!! One time, he flung it out of my hands, took it and ran under the bed trying to open it.

Has anyone else used a hairball med on their rabbit? Looking over the ingredients, I really don't see anything that's harmful. Not even the catnip since it's part of the mint family.

I have to say, this helped him SO MUCH, but I want your opinions of this product.

 

[missyscove]

I don't know if any of the ingredients themselves would be harmful, but my general understanding is that things that are intended to lubricate hairballs don't really work well in rabbits .

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

hmmm I don't know to much about using kitty hairball prducts in bunnies but I would be interested to find out for use with our buns. Ripley's almost done molthing this time, but he has recently had a horrible time of it with so much fur and many "strings of pearls", as well as GI stasis/GI slowdown.

 

[Mariah]

I was told to never use hairball medicine for cats on rabbits. You need a fresh pineapple (nOt from a can) and give the juice from it.

 

[MiniLopHop]

The hairball stuff for cats can be dangerous. It can coat the outside of the mass and prevent water from getting in and breaking it up. So if it is little strings it could theoretically help move them, but if it is a mass like a hairball then it makes it worse. It's not a good idea to guess.

The fresh pineapple juice or papaya tablets have enzymes that break down the hair and are much safer for rabbits.

 

[MoosMa]

MiniLopHop wrote:

The hairball stuff for cats can be dangerous. It can coat the outside of the mass and prevent water from getting in and breaking it up. So if it is little strings it could theoretically help move them, but if it is a mass like a hairball then it makes it worse. It's not a good idea to guess.

The fresh pineapple juice or papaya tablets have enzymes that break down the hair and are much safer for rabbits.

I read somewhere that if it has petroleum in it, it can certainly do that. The lubrication used in this is veg oil.

He's got a hearty appetite, and drinking normally - and is in the best of spirits.. Not mopey like he was. Poops are coming out fine, just a little glossy.

I will certainly try the fresh pineapple juice. How much and how many times would you recommend?

 

[MiniLopHop]

Any oils could act the same because they repel water. The thicker it is the more likely to happen(petroleum is very thick, vs vegetable oil is relatively thin).

Whenever mine shed I give them a chunk of fress pineapple with dinner and a syring of the juice with breakfast. They gobble it right down. For Panda who is prone to tummy troubles I give him a papaya tablet every morning, shedding or not. He hasn't had any issues since I started that.

 

[MoosMa]

Thank you so much! I'm looking around for the Oxbow Papaya Fruit Plusto see if I can get it locally - looks like I'll have to buy it online.

Silly question maybe, but can rabbits safely eat the stem of the fresh pineapple? I was just reading that's where all the enzymes comes from.

 

[LakeCondo]

I saw that too, that the pineapple core is the best part.

A little light vegetable oil would be good for a rabbit, but not psyllium. It swells up in water, so potentially could cause a blockage.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I get a whole pineapple and feed the middle to them, but not the outside hard part. They love it.

I would be a little hesitant about giving streight vegetable oil. If they need more fat in their diet then seeds (pumpkin or sunflower) would be better.