In popular media and in cartoons, cats and hairballs go hand in hand. But, are they really normal? Or are they a sign that there’s something wrong with your kitty?
That’s exactly what’ll we will be going through in this blog post!
Cats don’t really cough up hairballs, they vomit them.
Hairballs or trichobezoars are a combination of undigested hair and digestive fluids such as stomach bile. This is why hairballs have a yellow hue to them. The shape is circular or cylindrical because it comes out of the esophagus.
Cats are clean creatures.
They clean themselves several times a day with their tongues that contain backward-slanting papillae. This is how cats swallow dead or loose hair while grooming.
Most of the hair pass through a cat’s system and are easily eliminated.
Hairballs can be dangerous if they pass from the stomach to the intestine rather than being vomited. Hairballs can create a blockage in the cat’s intestine which can be life-threatening.
It is a good idea to brush your cat regularly in order to make sure that she doesn’t swallow the hair.
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