Malt extract
Evidence: Traditional useHairballs
The classic base of hairball pastes, alongside oils and fibres.
Why this grade: In use for decades, without a controlled study. What is supported is fibre in the food: in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, a dry food with 4 % added cellulose cut hairball retching by about three quarters (Beynen et al. 2011). That trial added the fibre to the whole diet; a paste carries, if anything, a few percent of it in a few grams a day.
„supports the natural passage of swallowed hair“
Reference amount per kg per day
Products containing Malt extract
Why there is no amount here
Malt pastes have been in use for decades, but no study links an amount to a measured outcome. The figures on the tube are serving suggestions, not tested amounts.