Cat Hairballs - A Sickening Problem

Hairballs - a problem for modern cats

Most cat owners will encounter the problem of cat hairballs, particularly if they have an indoor cat.
For shorthaired cat the problem is generally mild and infrequent.
But for longhaired cats it can be a curse giving rise to vomiting by the cat.

If you've never seen a cat's hairball before, it can come as quite a surprise, and you may not recognise it at first, because it won't really look like a ball.
It might more accurately be described as a dark slimy sausage of matted cat hair, varying in size, from the size of a human's little finger to something quite substantial if the cat has ingested a lot of hair.

Hairballs are largely a consequence of modern life for today's domesticated cats
In the wild a cat's fur will vary in thickness during the year to adapt to the changing seasons.
The coat will naturally shed in summer, and grow thicker as winter approaches.
In the wild loose fur will tend to fall off by itself with little active intervention by the cat.
However, today's domestic cats tend to live almost entirley inddors in a relativley constant environment.
Consequently, fur does not shed with the change of seasons, and it will tend to shed lightly all year round.
Cats then tend to lick their coats to groom themselves and get rid of loose hairs, and often ingest hairs in the process.
This loose hair if swallowed in large enough quantities will be unable to pass through the intestines and will form a hairball.

This will often pass through the cat's system and be eliminted when it goes to the toilet.
However if the hairball is too large, the cat may choose to vomit it up.

The first signs that your cat might be feeling a little unwell is when you see them eating grass, which means they are trying to make themselves sick.
Another indication that something is wrong is that your cat may stop eating for a day or so and may even start to retch a lot, without anything coming up.
Usually the cat will be able to regurgitate the furball by themselves after a few days.

After which they are usually back to their old selves and famished.
In some very rare cases the fur ball may become so stuck that the cat cannot vomit it up themselves, causing an obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract.
In these cases it will have to be removed by a vet surgically, thankfully this is a very rare.

If you do see your cat trying to vomit, there is no need to be overly concerned.
It is a common occurrence and your cat will return to normal once it has eliminated the hairball.
That siad, there are steps you can tak eot alleviate the problem...

Hairball Control

Luckily, there are products available that can help you to reduce the problem of hairballs for your cat.

Prevention is the best course of action, and Grooming and Diet are the key issues.

Groom your cat(s) at least once a week, or, if the cat is long-haired, daily if possible, using a slicker or curry brush on the fur to remove loose hairs.
The fewer loose hairs there are for your cat to swallow the better.

As for Diet, both Royal Canin and Hills Science Diet have food specially formulated for Hairball Control/Indoor Cats, which will help any ingested hair to pass more readily through the intestines and prevent a hairball from forming.

Finally, if your cat is in distress, you might try adminstering a cat laxative to help the cat to pass a stubborn hairball.