Most people believe a cat with a hair ball problem is no big deal, you just need to clean up the mess and it's over.
But if hairballs become a chronic condition in your cat you need to take some steps to correct this or it may cause serious problem.
Hairballs can block their esophagus so your cat will have hard time breathing or block the intestines, which will then require surgery.
Some cats with a blocked intestine will not show any signs of something being wrong until they are close to death.
So what are you to do? Cats have to lick themselves.
They do this to keep themselves clean and it also regulates their body temperature.
Because their tongues have such a rough surface they tend to pull out all the loose hairs as they lick themselves and then they swallow the hairs.
This is not good for the cat.
If you see your cat gagging or hacking or they appear to be struggling to breathe your cat is probably dealing with a hairball.
After a while they may even stop eating because they have a blockage in their intestine.
People think that hairballs are just a normal part of being a cat, but if your cat has this problem more than once a month or if your cat has stopped eating, the first thing you need to do is take your cat to the vet.
If the hairballs are only an occasional problem, once or twice a year, there are still some things that you can do to clear up this problem.
First of all start brushing your cat on a regular basis, at least once a week.
If your cat has long hair then you need to do this even more often.
Buy one of those pet brushes that pull out all the loose hairs, these work best.
The amount of fur that comes out during the brushing is the amount of hair that you can keep out of your cats stomach.
There is also a lubricant that you can buy at any pet supply store.
These are flavored so that most cats will swallow it easily.
This helps move the hair through the cats digestive system without it forming into a hairball.
I personally have switched to a totally organic cat food with out fillers and this has made a huge difference in the hair ball problems they were having.
After 6 months on this food I stopped using the lubricant and neither one of my cats has had a hairball problem in well over a year.
There are also cat treat that are supposed to help control hairballs although I personally have not tried them.
As always check with your vet if the hairball problem is extreme.
But if hairballs become a chronic condition in your cat you need to take some steps to correct this or it may cause serious problem.
Hairballs can block their esophagus so your cat will have hard time breathing or block the intestines, which will then require surgery.
Some cats with a blocked intestine will not show any signs of something being wrong until they are close to death.
So what are you to do? Cats have to lick themselves.
They do this to keep themselves clean and it also regulates their body temperature.
Because their tongues have such a rough surface they tend to pull out all the loose hairs as they lick themselves and then they swallow the hairs.
This is not good for the cat.
If you see your cat gagging or hacking or they appear to be struggling to breathe your cat is probably dealing with a hairball.
After a while they may even stop eating because they have a blockage in their intestine.
People think that hairballs are just a normal part of being a cat, but if your cat has this problem more than once a month or if your cat has stopped eating, the first thing you need to do is take your cat to the vet.
If the hairballs are only an occasional problem, once or twice a year, there are still some things that you can do to clear up this problem.
First of all start brushing your cat on a regular basis, at least once a week.
If your cat has long hair then you need to do this even more often.
Buy one of those pet brushes that pull out all the loose hairs, these work best.
The amount of fur that comes out during the brushing is the amount of hair that you can keep out of your cats stomach.
There is also a lubricant that you can buy at any pet supply store.
These are flavored so that most cats will swallow it easily.
This helps move the hair through the cats digestive system without it forming into a hairball.
I personally have switched to a totally organic cat food with out fillers and this has made a huge difference in the hair ball problems they were having.
After 6 months on this food I stopped using the lubricant and neither one of my cats has had a hairball problem in well over a year.
There are also cat treat that are supposed to help control hairballs although I personally have not tried them.
As always check with your vet if the hairball problem is extreme.
Source...