All that cat hair!!

    No matter what kind of cat (well, maybe not the sphynx type), you probably have a whole lot of cat hair around. And it's no longer attached to your cat! It's messy and its everywhere. Healthy cats shed hair on a regular basis, and even more so when they're under stress. Unlike us humans, each hair follicle has up to 6 guard hairs and even more of the shorter downy hairs. Depending on the breed, a normal hair growth cycle lasts about 60 to 90 days.

    Believe it or not, short hair cats tend to shed more (though less noticeably) than longhaired cats, simply because they replace hair at a faster rate. Long hair breeds need more time to grow out the hairs, so they tend to shed less. Some breeds, usually the very long hair types, will have a "spring molt", while most cats will only have regular gradual shedding.

    Of course, all this hair usually ends up in some incredible places, including your cat. You'd think with all the hair that's on your clothes, your carpet, your furniture, your car, your hands, your computer (especially the mouse)...where was I? Oh! All that hair, yet some of it still makes its way inside your cat. And we all know that it causes problems. Some cats deal with it nearly effortlessly, others just don't. Even a partial blockage can cause serious damage and death in cats - and must be dealt with by a veterinarian immediately.

    Grooming is one of the best ways to help with the hair problem. But sometimes it's not quite enough. There are many excellent products out there now that can help this very common problem. Hill's Science Diet has a regular food formula that helps eliminate or at least lessen the occurrences of furballs. Additionally, a new product from "Pounce" is in the form of a snack treat that might appeal to more finicky cats that wouldn't take a hairball treatment from a tube. There are also many other items on the market that treat them orally.

    Long hair cats tend to have more problems with furball digestion. However, don't be surprised if a shorthaired cat that lives with a long hair gets them. Since they probably groom each other often, the short hair has more of a chance to ingest extra hair that its not prepared to digest well. At any rate, both cats should probably be treated regularly.

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