The tablets contain a blend of digestive enzymes and probiotics thought to improve digestive health, along with papaya extract, which may be able to reduce inflammation and support digestive health. If you see your cat retching or coughing then it is nothing to worry about; fur balls are natural. Most are passed through just like their food, but occasionally it will build up.

Although it’s difficult to watch your cat struggling and gagging, the best thing you can do to help them with hairballs is to give them plenty of space. It’s perfectly normal for your cat to gag several times to be able to vomit the hairball. It's important to make an appointment to see your veterinarian if you suspect your cat is having an issue with hairballs. Harper says that cats that get frequent hairballs may have some kind of underlying skin condition causing them to over-groom themselves, and as a result, develop hairballs. Red rashes or areas with very short hair or no hair at all are all cause for concern and should be shared with your veterinarian, explains Harper. It’s normal for a cat to bring up occasional hairballs. You should only start to worry if the cat is vomiting up a hairball every few weeks or consistently for more than 48 hours at a time – it’s a sign too much hair is ending up in the gut.

Types of Hairball Remedies for Cats

Furballs are a completely natural part of a cat’s grooming ritual. They are a mixture of the loose hairs and digestive juices which have formed in your cat’s stomach.

Warning: Use only as directed. If symptoms of hairball persist, consult a veterinarian. Do not administer to kittens less than six months old. Keep this and all medications out of reach of children and pets Hairball treatments come in many different forms. You can buy hairball remedies in a tube, try homemade remedies, grow a pot of cat grass, or groom your cat to keep him from ingesting his hair at all. These products are not absorbed into the cat's gastrointestinal system and will pass right through, so there is no danger posed to the cat's health," Whittenburg says, emphasizing that all hairball products should be given according to the directions on the label. However, regular grooming is always the first line of defense for avoiding hairballs. When your cat has hairballs, it’s common to wonder what treatments are available. There are lots of home remedies online, especially for oils and lubricants. However, we don’t advise trying these. Most hairball remedies are strong laxatives that help a cat clean out their bowels. According to Galaxy, “they're all a combination of petroleum jelly and a lot of time, mineral oil and flavoring” and therefore all work according to a similar method—encouraging clumped hair to pass through your cat’s feces so your cat doesn’t have to cough it up. Some foods and treats help mitigate hairball creation by further easing digestion with omega fatty acids and other oils.When a cat is trying to bring up a hairball, they may start retching, gagging or acting like they are dry heaving and trying to vomit. Sometimes the sound they make is called a ‘cough-gag-retch’. This is because your cat can appear to be coughing from the lungs, gagging with their throat and retching from the stomach. Hairball food: Specially formulated hairball diets contain extra fiber to support digestive health and help push hair through the digestive tract. Both dry and wet hairball diets are available. Hairball foods are complete and balanced and are intended to be used as your cat's regular diet. Egg yolks have interesting properties for hairball control. They contain choline and lecithin, which work together to, respectively, encourage GI contractions and emulsify the fat that binds hairballs together. With desiccated pork liver as the first ingredient, this supplement has a flavor cats seem to find appealing. Rice flour and sweet potato powder offer dietary fiber but also act as prebiotics, providing food for beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Some cats are, by nature, more fastidious than others in their grooming habits. And the development of hairballs is more frequent in seasons of the year when cats normally shed their coats. To minimize the development of hairballs and their complications, Dr. Goldstein recommends that owners get into the habit of brushing and combing their cats’ coats daily.

Other Hairball Remedies

Many hairball gels contain white petrolatum, which is the same ingredient found in Vaseline — a semi-solid gel derived from oil. Although petrolatum is a safe and effective hairball remedy recommended by veterinarians, some pet owners prefer to avoid petroleum products.

We simply recommend choosing the remedy that the cat is most likely to accept and eat," Whittenburg says. "Some cats refuse the treats. Some cats don't like the gel. Some cats won't eat the food, or have medical conditions requiring a different diet. All the remedies are similar, but the delivery method is different."Nutri-Vet Hairball Paw Gel contains natural non-petroleum ingredients to lubricate your cat's digestive tract and it supports healthy skin and coat. Most hairball treatments contain similar ingredients, such as malt, animal derivatives and vegetable derivatives so the flavour appeal is there and doesn’t taste ‘off’ from what they usually eat. Typically, this would mean giving your cat a high-protein food made primarily from meat and animal fat. You want as little plant matter as possible. A moisture-rich diet is ideal. Additionally, a small amount of dietary fiber can help keep the digestive system functioning smoothly, correcting hairball problems at their roots. Fiber-Based Hairball Remedies