The Joy of Hairballs?
By: Jo Singer
Have you ever been rudely awakened in the middle of the night from a delicious dream, with that ever so familiar sound made by your cat hacking- up a hair ball? Worse yet, have you at one time or another stepped upon a cold and slimy ball of fur embedded in the carpet, which frequently squishes between your toes? Well of course you have if you live with cats.
You thought they were hairballs, but the technical name for them is trichobezoars. Tricho refers to hair and the meaning of bezoars is "rock". This is made by partially digested or undigested tightly packed material found in the stomach or other parts of the feline digestive tract. The hair which often binds with undigested fat, forms a tight ball inside the tummy, waiting for the cat can hack it up. Too much information? Yuck!
Hairballs are formed as cats groom themselves. Since cat's tongues have a texture similar to sandpaper, and are unable to spit out the fur which clings to it, cats must swallow this hair which is not digestible. Most of the time the hair passes harmlessly out the other end, but if that hair builds up in the tummy and cannot be expelled; cats must cough up the offending material.
While these furry projectiles are often the object of humor, hairballs that cannot be eliminated one way or another can become impacted in the cat's gut which can become a serious medical problem which may require surgical removal.
There are several ways in which hairball problems can be recognized. The most obvious one, of course, is seeing cigar shaped masses on the floor or furniture. Trust me; once you have seen one of these objects they will never be forgotten. Observing hard formed stools with hair in the litter box, or frequent constipation is another possible clue to hairball problems.
If your kitty is coughing frequently, or is hacking, mostly after meals, hairballs may be suspected. Poor appetite and depression may also be a sign of hairball woes. Since these symptoms may also be a sign of another medical condition, it is crucial to bring your kitty for a vet check as soon as possible.
For an excellent article about Hairballs, visit: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/hairball.html
Of course, your veterinarian will be able to provide you with the best information, suggest products to handle hairballs, and also tell you how to recognize signs that indicate other conditions that are more serious.
What do you do to prevent or treat hairballs? Leave a comment and let us know.
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Comments (7)
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Anonymous February 19, 2009 3:04 PM
On my Ragamuffin group, mostly breeders but all owners of Muffins, they had 2 recommendations, feeding the cat a spoonful of pumpkin every day and the other is a syrup of slippery elm. I have a recipe for making that, if you want it. I got it from the breeder of My Baby, who is my ragamuffin.
Anonymous February 19, 2009 3:53 PM
I got the hairball treats for cats and she did vomit up hair balls then I got he dry cat food for hairballs no more promblems
Anonymous February 19, 2009 5:15 PM
Having 7 cats here I know all about the hairballs. It doesn't ahppen to often here unless they try to scramble to eat all the treats before the others do. But then they let us live here and we "humans" have to be extra careful. I would never think of not having them here.
Anonymous February 20, 2009 3:08 AM
lol thats the best description of hairballs I've ever seen. Yes having had cats for 35 years now,we've had the 'pleasure'of having them stuck under the foot many a time.We have some gooey stuff from our vets called KATALAX which is supposed to be a flavour cats can't resist ....ours CAN resist it lol What we do is every now and again, give our boyz a finger or 2 of best butter,say when we are having some toast, they love it,OK too much isn't good for them and if they had a hairball problem they'd have to take the Katalax....but touch wood, this seems to keep ours right.
Ruth,England
Anonymous February 20, 2009 6:27 PM
Hairballs...what you inevitably step on in the middle of the night...ewwww. Did you ever launder a hairball? I have. Those puppies stay knitted together through washings AND dryings! As much as I hate to admit it ::::grins:::: I have on that was bestowed upon my by my late beloved Clifton.
Hair balls is one thing, but do you have a puker-picker-upper? A couple of my older cats will vomit a little of their dry food if they eat too fast in the morning. Let the retching begin, and Mouse is there...just waiting for his warm treat of the AM. Now THAT is something to EWWWWWW about!
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