160 Bear Christiana Rd
Bear, De 19701
302-322-6488
Dr. Jim Berg
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Hairballs
Dear Dr. Berg,
My 8-year-old female cat (she’s never outside) spends a lot
of her waking time grooming. How do I
know if she has “hairballs’? She seems
fine. Also, she digs a lot while she is
grooming with her mouth.
Thank you.
Mrs. R. P. V.
Landenberg, PA 19350
Dear R.P.,
Hairballs are an extremely common problem seen in cats
causing vomiting. When a cat licks
himself with his rough tongue to clean his beautiful fur coat, he will often
pick up pieces of shed fur on his rough tongue and swallow them. The problem with hair is that it does not
digest but, rather, tends to collect in the cat’s stomach and form a large wad
of hair---the “hairball”. This wad of
hair tends to act as an unwanted valve within the stomach, getting in the way
of normal digestion and may also irritate the lining of the stomach and
esophagus (as it is swallowed), and can cause irritation to the stomach and
vomiting.
Often when a cat has hairballs, they will tend to just gag
or cough and nothing comes up or perhaps just a small bit of saliva. At other times, a long sausage-shaped mass of
undigested food may come up (have we had our breakfast yet??). Other times, a cat may, indeed, vomit the
hairball up, getting rid of the offending problem.
I find that 90-95% of the vomiting I see in cats may be due
to hairballs. If your cat feels just
fine and is acting normally except for occasional vomiting, I usually recommend
that owners try treating for hairballs as a first step to diagnosis. Hairball medication usually will not hurt
anything if vomiting is not caused hairballs, and the owner stands a very good
chance of curing the vomiting.
To treat for hairballs, you can use a small amount of
petroleum jelly given either directly in the mouth or else smeared on the paws
or body. Most cats will anxiously clean
themselves off to get rid of the petroleum jelly and in doing so will swallow
it. Petroleum jelly will tend to
lubricate the offending hairball and allow it to pass safely out the rectum. It is important that you give enough medicine
to be effective, and this usually means ˝ 1 teaspoon full for 2 to 3 days in a
row. Mineral oil is NOT recommended as a treatment, since it is much easier for
a struggling cat to inhale the material, potentially causing pneumonia.
An easier way to treat for hairballs is to purchase a
commercial preparation (which is mostly petroleum jelly if you read the
ingredients) that tastes good and the cat enjoys consuming. I’ve seen beef, chicken, tuna fish, malt, and
vanilla flavors, so take your pick. You
can also find hairball formula treats and foods that contain added fiber and
lubricants to help hair pass safely through the digestive tract, and many of
them really do help.
If two to three hairball treatments do not solve your cat’s
vomiting problem, you should have your cat examined by your veterinarian, since
there are a wide variety of serious problems that may also cause vomiting.
Once in the stomach, the fur can form a large wad of hair
that does not digest with the food and will tend to get in the way of normal
digestive processes in the stomach. Food
that enters the stomach may have a hard time exiting because of the hair
blocking its path, and the hair may irritate the stomach and esophagus, causing
a gagging reflex.
Sometimes a cat with hairballs with simply gag as if they
want to bring something up, yet nothing will come up, or perhaps just a small
amount of digestive juices from the stomach will come out (which can thoroughly
stain a carpet!). Sometimes a cat will
vomit up food that appears only partially digested. And other times they will vomit up the
offending wad of hair.
I find that 90-95% of the vomiting/choking in cats is caused
by hairballs, so it is always worth trying treatment if you suspect a
problem. Hairball medicine usually comes
in a toothpaste-type tube and looks like sticky jelly. Flavors I have seen are malt, tuna fish,
vanilla, beef, and chicken, so if you can figure out what your cat likes, he
may enjoy his medicine, making you job much easier. If he doesn’t really care for the medicine,
try wiping it on his paw or on his side, then he may lick it off to clean his
coat (and he’ll swallow it). If
hairballs are the problem, usually the cat will be better in 2-3 days. If this does not help the situation, you should
take your cat to your veterinarian for and examination to find out what is
wrong.
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