Loki, who is long haired, hates being brushed. He regularly throws up hair balls and I wondered whether they are they dangerous to him ?? We bath him once a month ahead of fleaing (he has a nice silky coat and doesn't suffer with matting of his fur fortunately). He has wet pouch food & dry dental food from the vet.

The fur balls aren't dangerous to him if he's getting them up and shifted- the harm is if he doesn't get rid of them. If he doesn't get rid of them up or down then there's a possibility that they could cause a blockage, which is obviously not a good thing.

Thankfully there's something that you can do to help him to get the fur balls shifted. Have a Google for Katalax. It's a paste which cats generally love (to the point of licking it off your fingers) and it makes the fur balls all greasy so they don't get blocked anywhere, whether it's going up or down. There are a number of other similar pastes availabe, it's just that I can remember the name of Katalax!

If he has fur balls regularly then I'd recommend keeping him on a few doses a week of Katalax to prevent the small fur balls which are hanging around in his stomach from joining up together to make a big fur ball which he then has to sick up because it won't fit down his intestines.

plenty of hairball remedies in any good pet stores

Think jollys sell various paists i get it for ferrets just incase not that they have ever had any.Like Medusa said its rare but if they do cause a blockage then it may well be surgery.finger of Petrolium jelly helps

oh thats really helpful, thanks - will go and look for some Katalax or similar. Thanks everyone.

I've just had another thought- if Katalax or similar doesn't hit his spot, how about trying one of the Canin dry foods which is specifically to help furballs? I know that number 35, which is for indoor long hairs, has their hair ball reduction system, but I'm sure that others of their long hair will also have the same, so it's worth checking with them and other manufacturers who have breed and health specific food.

EDIT- just been on the Canin website and they also do a specific Intense Hairball dry food, which comes under their Feline Care Nutrition, for cats with specific problems.

Another EDIT- yep, and Hills do one for hairballs too, so I assume that other manufacturers will also do them. It appears that they include the oils or mucilage in the food which does the job that Katalax does, simply by making the hairs go out through the stomach into the intestine as they are ingested, rather than allowing them to hang about and cause a fur ball.