How to Prevent Hairballs in Cats

Hairballs are gross, but they're not something that you or your cat have to live with. Follow these simple tips, and you'll greatly reduce (or prevent completely) hairballs in cats.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A budget to try different cat foods
• Cat grooming tools
• Contact with a pet groomer you trust
• A vet that you can visit on short notice

1. Hairballs are usually a problem with long-haired cats. So for starters, if hairballs are something that you just can't deal with for some reason, avoid adopting a long-haired cat.

2. Hairballs in cats can occur when a cat is overgrooming. Believe it or not, this can be due to stress. I know it sounds odd, but if your cat doesn't normally hack up hairballs, and suddenly does, ask yourself what has changed. If you just moved homes or brought home a new baby, the hairball phase may actually pass naturally!

3. Third, hairballs collect in a cat's throat or esophagus as they groom themselves. This is actually a natural occurence. Typically, a cat will eat grass in the wild in order to prompt themselves to vomit. Obviously, there's no grass in your home. So the key to helping your cat deal with this is to prevent the hairballs from forming.

4. Groom your cats! Many people think that cats don't need anything ever, that they're completely self-sustaining. But just like any other pet, they need to be cared for. Brush your cat at least once every few days. This will remove the excess shedding hair that would otherwise end up in your cat's mouth.

5. Also, bathe your cats. Overgrooming can come from not only stress, but also a lak of proper care. Cats are very clean animals, but they also can't get to their skin. So they need to be bathed at least once every few months.

6. Get your long-haired cat groomed regularly. Some people feel comfortable cutting their own cat's fur with clippers or scissors. But if you're worried about cutting your cat's skin, or if your cat is extra squeamish and bucks during a hair cut, take them to a professional groomer or a veterinarian.

7. If the problem with hairballs is persisent and regular, talk to your vet about hairball medicine. Yes, it exists. But you have to use it according to the directions and in concert with grooming. It's not a cure-all. It's a last resort.

8. Your cat could be overgrooming due to having a skin condition. (Ours has chronic dandruff and dry skin!) So have a vet check their skin as well, not just their throats and mouths.

9. Buy hairball specific food. We use "Purina One Advanced Nutrition Hairball Control". Initially, this caused our long-haired cat to hack up a couple of hairballs. But that was good! Because it cleared them out once and for all. With regular grooming and appropriate food, hairballs are no longer a problem at all.

10. Finally, know that it just happens! It's actually fairly normal, even though it's kind of gross. It can also happen around spring time, because it's normal for a cat to shed their winter coat at that time, which means they'll essentially be eating more fur. Gross, but true.

Tips & Warnings

• Cats don't hack up hairballs just to spite you. You'd be shocked at the high volume of people who actually think it's their cat being, "bad". Think about it, when was the last time you threw up to punish someone? It's just a symptom of a problem.

[ScarlettOHairy]

on 3/22/2009 I second that. MEOW! I give my Scarlett Vaseline to help prevent hairballs. Works great and is much cheaper! Thanks!

[mralarcon]

on 3/21/2009 meowwww thanks