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One of the scariest things to see and hear as a cat owner is your cat coughing and looking like he or she is choking in attempts to spit up a hairball. At that exact moment you experience feelings of both helplessness and concern, as you watch your cat try to release that stubborn hairball from their throat. If you have a cat or have had the pleasure of being in a cat's company for a day, you will notice that they spend a lot of time licking and cleaning their bodies to perfection.
Cats lick themselves not only to stay clean, this is the main purpose, but also because they enjoy their own scent, although they love a good petting from their human companions, a cat likes to smell like a cat. As cats lick and groom themselves, during the process they swallow all that excess hair. A cat's digestive system is designed to get rid of those hairs, both theirs and their prey's, through their stool. However sometimes due to an excess build up, some of these shed hairs comes out the opposite way, out of your cat's mouth.
Now this is where cat owners come in, regularly brushing and/or combing your cat's fur helps to get rid of some of those excess shed hairs, instead of your cat swallowing them, you end up throwing them out. Even with regular brushing cats are still going to swallow shed hairs, but regular brushing gets rid of hundreds even thousands of shed hairs, which drastically reduced the chances of your cat getting a hairball. How often is regular brushing you ask? If your cat is a long hair cat you should be brushing him or her on a daily basis, even if it's only for a couple of minutes, long hair cats are more likely to experience hairballs and therefore need that extra grooming time.
Short hair cats still experience hairballs, even with the low length of their hair, and should be brushed once to twice a week. If your cat is not used to brushing, start out slow, begin with a petting session and then introduce the brush, gently brush your cat for a few minutes and then repeat the next day. It may take several days or even weeks for your cat to get comfortable, the truth is they may never enjoy the brushing sessions, but will eventually get used to. Every time you brush your cat you will notice that some shed hairs are left in the brush, you just saved your cat from swallowing those hairs, which contributes to one less hairball.
Kerry-Ann and her husband have been cat owners for over twenty years. They have two beautiful healthy cats, ages 18 and 2. To learn more about helping your cat look and feel their best visit http://www.cat-health-101.com/cat-grooming.html Feel free to follow them on twitter, they enjoy tweeting with fellow pet owners. http://twitter.com/#!/cathealth101
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kerry_Ann_A_Crawford
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