Hairballs in cats

Re: Hairballs in cats

Sammy82 — Mon, 26 May 2014 22:10:48 GMT

There is a distinctive difference between vomiting hairballs and other vomiting. Only one of my 2 cats sometimes brings up a hairball. And that's not some hair in a puddle of bile or food, but just clump of hair, sometimes shaped like a bit of cat poo. Very simimar to the pellets owls bring up, one time it even was a featherball. Not containing any birdmeat, just the undigestable remains. He never vomits food or bile. And he is the one who tries to take my hand off when I try to brush him. The other one loves being brushed and hardly ever has hairballs. If you look at the ingredients of hair ball paste it's really just expensive flavoured paraffin, guess it helps hair and other undigestable material to be passed trough rather than being brought up, so it's less obvious to the owner.

I believe hairballs are a physiological reaction, but vomiting food/ bile is not.

Re: Hairballs in cats

John Flynn — Mon, 26 May 2014 14:27:54 GMT

I remain skeptical of the concept of "hairballs" and even more so of "hairball pastes".

I suspect there is cross-over between cats that genuinely have a lot of hair ingestion that may be a factor in them vomiting up clumps of it, and those that regularly vomit and happen to have hair in their stomach.

I personally rarely hear of or am presented with anything that convincingly sounds like the former.

Re: Hairballs in cats

Stephen Courtney — Mon, 26 May 2014 14:19:57 GMT

I believe that all cats get hairballs, and when these reach a certain size they cause intermittent / partial obstructions, that cause intermittent signs. Food that doesn't reach the stomach gets regurgitated. Food that doesn't leave the stomach gets vomited. I don't consider it particularly abnormal for a cat to throw up - i.e. vomit or regurgitate - once a week. Other problems like gastritis sand or food intolerances result in more persistent signs, and these animals are usually somewhat unwell.

Cats will attempt to rid themselves of fur balls by deliberately retch/ coughing in the classic posture, and eventually getting them out, but not before a fair amount of spattery vomit may occur, as well as more typical regurgitations, which eventually will prompt a visit to the vet.

Cats with hairballs are otherwise well, not off food and are willing/ eager to eat. They may seem a little out of sorts immediately after a good vomit, but are otherwise fine. Some cats are more prone to getting fur balls, others may be more discrete about them, and certain diets are good at preventing them. also owners who groom their cats regularly will also help to reduce the frequency.

If a cat fits the picture and I can't find anything else wrong, I usually recommend a hairball paste and the use of a hairball control diet for prevention in the long run. If that doesn't resolve the matter then I'll start looking for something more interesting. i always discuss options and warn that it might need to be investigated, but I generally prefer to do the simple stuff first.