Many cat owners are wondering if it’s OK to give their cat beeswax to help them pass their hairballs. This would represent an all-natural way of going about the problem, but it still is not recommended.
This may seem like a natural thing to do for your cat, but upon closer consideration it’s clear that this is not natural for a cat. While it may not give your cat trouble in the way of hurting them directly, it also isn’t something you’d want them to consume, as it might disrupt their digestive system and cause further complications. It wouldn’t make sense to fix the hairball problem only to have a new problem surface.
Make it a point to prevent your cat from getting hairballs, and leave the beeswax out of the equation.
Can I Give My Cat Beeswax? Answer: Not Recommended
Even though it’s not expressly toxic for cats, beeswax is not recommended to give to your cat to assist them with hairball removal. First you have to consider that hairballs are part of a cat’s being, and not exactly something they need your help with unless it is causing severe blockage. If that is the case, beeswax is not the answer and you should bring them to the vet to have it removed. But since this is an extreme case, most of the time you can let your cat pass it on their own, either out the front end or the back end.
There are things that you can do to make sure that they never struggle with a hairball. The first is to make sure to keep them well brushed if they have long hair. This will reduce the amount of hair that they intake. The next is to make sure that their diet consists of foods they an digest easily, so they keep regular and never have to worry about a hairball plugging things up.
It’s All About the Food
The food you give your cat is the number one way you impact their health, which is why you want to make sure that they’re getting a diet that is well-suited for their makeup. Unlike us humans, cats are obligatory carnivores. They need to eat meat and animal proteins to be at their best, and they do not thrive well on a diet filled with things like grains and vegetables. While we humans need plenty of fiber in our diets to keep things moving, a cat by comparison does not need as much. Their digestive system functions at its best when they are given meat and animal protein. It’s a hard concept to grasp at first, but different species require different foods.
Prevention is the Best Cure
The easiest hairball to pass is the one they don’t get, so you have to make sure that your cat doesn’t have to wrestle with getting a hairball out of their body. In most cases they’ll yack it up before it has a chance to make it through their digestion. That is, if it’s big enough. If it’s small enough it might make it all the way through and you may notice signs of constipation if they have to poop it out. But as stated, if they are being fed a diet that closely resembles what they’d naturally be eating, they shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping things running smoothly, and you won’t even notice them having hairball issues.
Not Natural for Cats
Beeswax is a natural substance, yes, but cats would not naturally seek it out and ingest some for any reason. The closest thing they’ve been known to do is eating grass if they are having digestive troubles. Since beeswax is something we humans seek out and employ in various roles, it’s not an ingredient that will give cats the same experience it does for us. Plus, we are better able to keep it where we want it, such as on our lips in the case of lip balm. There is less likelihood that you’ll be able to apply it with the same precision when it coms to your cat.
Better Remedies Exist
Go with something like canned pumpkin if you have to, but leave the beeswax to us humans.