Hairballs

Furballs, also known as hairballs, come with the territory when it comes to owning a cat. Most cat owners have had the experience of stepping out of bed to find the regurgitated mound of cat hair awaiting discovery in the hall or, better yet, behind the good sofa on the new carpet.

Furballs come from the hair cats swallow while self-grooming. The hair forms into a tightly packed ball in the stomach and is expelled from kitty’s system, usually accompanied by a myriad of alarming-sounding, “Hack! Ack-ack!” noises.

Self-grooming is an essential part of a cat’s life and not something you want to discourage. In fact, I’d be much more concerned over a cat that didn’t groom regularly than I would be about a cat with frequent hairballs.

Still, hairballs aren’t pretty and probably not much fun for your cat to cough up. The best thing you can do to offset hairball frequency is to brush your cats regularly-especially in the spring and summer months when cats often shed more. The longer the coat, the more often kitty needs brushing-even as often as once a day. Brushing doesn’t have to last long-even 5 or 10 minutes may do the trick.  (Bonus: Most cats love to be brushed and this is a great way to bond with your pet.)

There are also common hairball products available that are petroleum based and flavored with malt or other pleasant flavoring.  Place these products in your cat’s food dish to help control hairballs.  Many of these products are quite tasty and cats usually love them.

lf for some reason your cat doesn’t love the product, don’t give up. Instead, get them to eat the product by placing a small amount right under their nose, just above the upper lip. They’ll usually lick it right off.  Paws are another hot spot. Cats hate stuff on their paws and will lick anything put there right off. (Beware though, that sometimes kitty will first shake her paw, sending hairball product flying through the air.)

Other options are to rub the product along the roof of your cat’s mouth or on their tongue. If all else fails, you can always try one of the new hairball prevention cat foods.

Help your cat combat his or her furballs and you’ll all feel better-and less cautious about getting out of bed-in the mornings.

Article by Dr. Jeff Werber, DVM