HAIRBALLS in CATS - Symptoms and Treatment Options

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[alsinakiria]

Nearly had to take mine to the vet. He is very food motivated yet wasn't eating anymore. He just lay on the bed barely moving. He was gagging for 2 days yet nothing came up. Gave him the mineral oil from the petstore and he coughed up the hairball within hours. I was so relieved. I did not have the money for emergency vet treatments because of the pandemic.

[fredalkent]

What REALLY works great. Twice a week, flick a click of butter on the floor. The butter lubricates the digestive tract and the hair ball is passed. Besides, that spot is the cleanest and shiniest spot in the house. After a while, you can get kitty to come to you, just call "butter" and he/she will come running.

[lorrayne]

After a hairball situation my cat stop eating and drinking. I took him to an emergency hospital, where they did a complete physical and blood work.   The results show he was a little dehydrated, and they  gave him some fluid under his skin.  They told me to follow up with his doctor if I don't see any improvement.

 2 days later I contact his doctor just to be cautious and get a second opinion.  His doctor review the sheet the hospital fax over to and everything was fine.

He base his decision on the test results the emergency hospital gave him.


Several days went by and I took my cat back to him  because he didn't improve.  The doctor  gave him another fluid injection shot and told me he was a little dehydrated.  Even though I explain to him my cat stop eating and drinking.  He gave me a syringe to feed my cat.  When I fed him by syringe he was eating it which gave me hope.  3 days later my cat die, under my bed. 


I went to my vet 3 times less than 8 days for help, and I didn't get it. Iam very disappointed

[garrykimovich]

I just recently used coconut oil to help a semi-feral cat I feed to vomit a big furball. She was retching/coughing but nothing would come out. I smeared about half a teaspoon of coconut oil on the top of her paws every day for a week, and she eventually vomited the furball out. Other websites say olive oil or even vaseline or petroleum jelly will work also.

[alexandracenuse]

My little 6 month old kitten is passing his first hairball and has a hard time with it🥺 i really hope it won't develop into something more serious
He vomited a few times today and with each vomiting sesh he seems to be getting better

[nithin.i.t]

Why am I watching this.
I don't even have a cat😂

[a_chosenGeneration]

How long does it usually take for cat to remove hairball? My cat is on 2 days so far I'm getting anxious.

Update: ok it took my cat a few days. The vet gave him hairball removal gel and one day I saw a juicy hairball on floor I almost stepped on 😂 so my cat is good now

[leannepaxton]

I have 2 cats. One female shorthair, who loves being brushed. And one male longhair, who despises being brushed. My little man, Nico, for the first 3 years of his life, didn’t even like to be stroked! I got him as a 4 month old from a rescue centre and I believe he was a wild cat or a farm cat, simply not very used to humans. Unfortunately he became very unwell, lethargic, wouldn’t eat etc. After a couple of days of this and seeing that he was getting worse, not better, I brought him to a vet, who after examining him, said he had an obstruction in his intestines and that he was becoming hypothermic, sent me to the emergency animal hospital. He had to be operated on to have this hair ball surgically removed, immediately. He had always previously vomited them up before. Plus I gave him wet and dry food especially for hair balls.
Because he had been so unwell and didn’t come round from surgery the way that they had expected, he had to stay in an oxygenated chamber in their ICU for a few days. Then discovered to have a heart condition that would probably only give him 3 more years to live. He was only 3 at the time and this only happened about 8 months ago.
Anyway, after being in hospital for 4 days, he came home, still quite unwell, but recovering. He finally allowed me to give him some TLC! Unfortunately however, he only improved for 3-4 days and then he began to get unwell again. This time I could also feel that he had a fever, he was so hot to the touch. So I brought him back to my regular vet, who told me that he was extremely unwell again, and that he also had a new obstruction! So, I had to bring him back to the emergency animal hospital for the 2nd time in about a week.
They had to do a second surgery on him for exactly the same reason, it was done at about 2am and they called me before they brought him round from the anaesthetic, to ask for my permission to shave him completely! Of course I said yes, even though I loved how beautiful he was as he had the most beautiful coat. But him being alive is way more important to me.
So after a couple more days at the hospital and a $15, 000 bill for both surgeries and treatments, stays at the ICU, I finally got to take home a very skinny, bald cat, that looked nothing like my boy Nico!!
He has recovered thankfully, I also have pet insurance, again thankfully! And his fur has now completely grown back.
I have been stirring the hair ball paste into his wet food every night, as he doesn’t like the taste of it. But I have been able to see that his poos are a lot more fur filled!!
I will have to get him shaved again very soon, as where I live, it is coming into the hotter months again, so the shedding will be so much worse and I can’t allow my baby boy to ever go through that again.
However, I will say that the hair ball paste is wonderful and really does work. I highly recommend it.

[Shadow_]

My cat spits out a hairball once or twice a month. But luckily he’s able to continue to eat normal and drink water and do other activities. But sometimes I do get worried though.

[rx-]

i miss my cheerful baby boy :( he was just fine and healthy the other days, until mom took him to bath and forgot to dry him off that he keeps grooming. he barely had hairball issues, this probably the serious one. he looks so thin that i feel like to tear up, but im pretty glad at least he keeps his body hydrated. hopefully i can find the solution tmr at petstore (can't afford vet)

[Shinobi]

00:42 looks like a payback revenge moment. Lol

[aabidamn]

Fun fact: The voice of Gollum on the Lord of the Rings was inspired by Andy Serkis' cat coughing/choking on hairball.

[LauraShadle]

My cat has a grooming habit, mowing, and usually she is able to expel hairballs without issue. Right now, she is retching a lot, not constantly, but she retches, swallows and moves on. Then I see her retching again. I brush her daily, she loves that. She is a happy cat and gets exercize, play time with me and with siblings, and is allowed out on the screened in back porch where she lays around or watches birds. I don't know why she mows...but this hairball is stuck. I am going to try malt paste, thank you, @AnimalWised

[warhstory]

Not used to the comments moved at the top and I have o get used to it

[qwerty]

I raised 2 cats and they never had hairballs. now my new kitten seems to have one! I'm so scared and feel un prepared. I'll ask her vet about malt paste asap !

[NoName-yfqx]

Could you do an asthma v hairball video?

[Stuplik]

One of my cats started having bad hair balls about a year ago, he gets them about once every 2 months. After the ball comes out he falls over as if he was to faint and can’t stand up for a few seconds (those seconds feel like like hours every time). We took him to the vet after the first time and after the second time but both times we were told he’s absolutely fine and that there’s nothing to worry about which is obviously rather hard. Anyway, has anyone had any similar experiences of cats “fainting” after passing a ball?

[Joytotheworld]

Well, our cats eat grass and regurgitate it later.

[earache]

My cat throws up hairballs once every 2 to 3 weeks, but hates being brushed. So far, he has also hated every kind of hairball treat or gel I've tried. Any suggestions?

[princekds]

Mine is a girl, 7yrs old. She having what I think maybe a hair ball but she actually has a physical reaction. She has a desire to eat but you can tell she is afraid to. After she has the reaction she normally sits in bed most of the past. She has lost weight, but she is not actually vomiting. I have to take her to the vet again to have bloodwork and ultrasound done, but every time I show I professional I video of her episode they are always puzzled at to what it might be. I was told that it could be a bad tooth as well, or maybe even neurological. She cleans herself, but I haven’t visually seen her spit up a hair ball, though during her episodes she sometimes chews and tilts her head to the side.