My cat spits out hairballs, is this normal? Many feline owners ask themselves this question, especially when they witness the exact moment when their cat is vomiting the hairball. The doubt arises from how natural this process seems to be, the kitten licks itself, swallows the hair and then expels it, and although in general dyes can be considered normal, it really is not.
But why is it not normal if it is a logical and apparently common process? To understand why, it is essential to know the 2 reasons why hairballs in cats are not normal; for only then will you get a real understanding of what the presence of a hairball in your carpet means.
Reason 1: how and why hairballs are produced
It’s no secret that cats spend much of their time grooming themselves and making sure their fur is completely clean. This is when they ingest the hair that falls out and the dead skin residues, which are then passed into the stomach with the food remains and expelled in the feces.
This is usually the natural process by which cats get rid of the hair they swallow, however, there is another way for the body to expel it from the body: through vomit and in the form of hairballs. This second method only occurs when the ingested hair accumulates and causes irritation in the gastrointestinal system, causing the kitty to expel the foreign body in this way.
But hairball formation is very unusual, especially in short-haired cats, and is usually due to a larger cause: something is preventing the routine passage of hair through the intestine or hair consumption is increasing to levels that the cat cannot handle.
Reason 2: the problems behind the appearance of hairballs
A healthy, balanced-fed, perfectly happy cat rarely spits out a single hairball in its entire life. The most common exceptions are long-haired cats, such as Persians and Maine Con, and this occurs at most three times a year or is concentrated in the moulting season.
If hairballs begin to appear frequently, regardless of the type of coat the cat has, there is a problem and one that can be serious for the life of the animal.
The presence of hairballs in a kitten’s life is due to different factors, being mainly a poor diet (especially with regard to fiber), allergies, external parasites or skin diseases; psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression, and the dreaded gastrointestinal diseases such as lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
For this reason, the appearance of hairballs is a warning sign of possible health problems in the cat once they begin to appear more than twice in a row.
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