Hairballs

misslt

Hello

My cat has had a pretty large increase in the amount of hairballs she's been hacking up, 3 in the last 4 days. They've all had hair in them (ie not just vomiting) but I'm really worried.

Going to call the vet tomorrow but just wondering does anyone have any experience of this? She goes completely feral in the vets (her desexing surgery went really badly) so would like to avoid as much trauma as possible...though I don't think I'll have much choice

We live in the south of England, its super warm here at the moment (25 degrees all weekend) - could it be related to the heat? She's 4 years old and strictly indoor all the time.

Thanks.

ETA - no change in appetite or behaviour.

Pumpkinseeds

Sounds like she's moulting from the heat. All of ours shed more in Summer and get furballs. Usually regular brushing to remove the excess fur and some Defurrum malt paste we get at the vet or pet shops sorts out the furballs.

anniehoo

My current longhaired cat is also vomiting them up a lot. To be honest, it's better the hair is coming back up and not causing an intestinal blockage, so I'm not concerned plus he's shedding loads too. I wouldn't be overly worried (although it can sound quite traumatic when they're getting them up :eek:).

+1 to what Pumpkinseeds said.You can get actual hairball food that is meant to help too.

misslt

Thanks guys.

She just threw up only food so I'll be on to the vet asap tomorrow.

I'm so worried

SillyMangoX

A couple of years ago one of my cats was awful for hairballs, she was bringing 1-2 up a day, then the hair eventually stopped but she kept vomiting overnight so I brought her to the vet, they said that the constant vomiting from the hairballs just made her tum a bit sensitive which is why she kept getting sick, couple of days of ID food and giving defurrum once a week constantly has sorted her problem. Hopefully your little one will be the same

chamaid

Not enough wet food acc to my vet. If their diet is lacking in moisture, they are more prone to hairballs. Cats are meant to get a mix of wet and dry food.

ticklebelly7

You could try bringing in some grass for your mog. (The lawn type of grass, I mean, not Skunk - okay, so it might work but do you want a psychotic bundle of wool running round the front room at shoulder height and biting the curtains).

They need a bit of greenery, especially if they're indoor cats - this will help bring up the furballs, which are completely natural, by the way.
Also, if your cat is off its food, it could be because of a furball which won't come up. I give my lot a bit of butter how and again which helps bring up wool.

Good luck