Long-haired Cat Can't Keep Food Down After Hairball.

The short version: Each time our cat has a hairball, she can't keep food or water down afterwards, no matter what we try. We are at a loss what to do. We've tried waiting a few hours and starting small, both with dry kibble, wet food, and baby food. These things might stay down for an hour or two before coming back up. It's like her stomach won't stop sending a signal that it needs to vacate a hairball. There is no hair in the puke once the initial hairball is out. Has anyone experienced this, and if so, have you found a solution?

The long version: We found a severely emaciated cat in our backyard whose fur was balding and matted. We nursed the poor thing back to health, and after many vet visits and thousands of dollars in bills, two years later she's doing great. To our surprise, the filthy little scrapper turned out to be a gorgeous Norwegian cat with fluffy white fur. I've never owned a long-haired cat before, so there was a learning curve. I didn't know that she needed to be brushed daily, for instance, to prevent matting. She's also on a hairball formula kibble (Royal Cannin), and gets hairball treats daily. I'd rather she eat canned food or raw, but once she got past starvation, Delilah became an exceedingly picky cat. She won't eat most things. I've had a few cats before, but trust me, this one is abnormally stubborn. Anyway, we brush both her normal coat and the undercoat regularly now. I asked the vet about this vomiting issue last week, and she suggested we put Delilah on Pepcid (an antacid) multiple times a day. That seems weird to me, because I don't know of any humans who take Pepcid for nausea. I'm tired of cleaning up puke, but mostly I just feel bad for her. What can we do?

Hi. Just trying to get a better understanding of the hairball issue. How long has she been having hairball issues? And, if multiple times, how long before she can eat again without throwing up?

If you don't do anything in particular to resolve the vomiting, but it eventually stops on its own might be why the vet prescribed Pepcid - to escalate the eventual settling of her system after the hairball has passed. It is obviously upsetting her system and Pepcid would help to provide a settling of her digestive tract to help stop the vomiting, not to mention helping prevent ulcers in the stomach from the additional acid being produced by the stomach being upset.

I would try giving her some butter/margarine to lick from your finger or her paw on a daily basis. I have even used Vaseline when Tawny (RIP) had trouble with hairballs, as he loved it. Other cats - not so much. Others on this site have recommended egg yolks (not whites, as they must be cooked), and some have even said they use plain canned pumpkin (no additives).

If this issue with vomiting after a hairball is more recent, I would consider having an x-ray done of her digestive tract to make sure there isn't hair lodged somewhere that is causing the vomiting - especially if there are any changes in her stool amount/quality/consistency.

FeebysOwner said:

Hi. Just trying to get a better understanding of the hairball issue. How long has she been having hairball issues? And, if multiple times, how long before she can eat again without throwing up?

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Hi! Thank you for your response. I'd say the hairball issue has been happening for about a year now. She came to us in the autumn and grew back enough hair to go through a full shed the following spring. It seemed like previously it only took her a few hours to bounce back, especially if she slept during that time. Only recently has the issue been more drawn out. She had a hairball last night for instance, and even though I gave her baby food (turkey) very slowly this morning, she still puked it back up an hour or so later. I'm willing to try Pepcid, although I would rather do so as needed instead of daily. Your explanation of how that could give relief was much more helpful than the vet's. It encouraged me to search for more information on the topic, and this page in particular has me thinking that I need to make a bigger effort to change her diet. On that note, Delilah does like egg yolk and butter. We'll start giving that to her more often. Pumpkin is worth a try too. She seems to prefer turkey, but I've never bought that raw to prepare for her. I will now. Thanks again for your insight!

Hey. No, I agree that the Pepcid should only be used on an as needed basis - just when she has an event and pukes thereafter, and stop it when it is resolved.

As far as egg yolk, butter, and/or pumpkin - goes easy and try one at a time. The combination might be just too much! I hate to put her through a trial and error process, but it will hopefully result in you finding a solution for her without having to give her too many different things not knowing which works for her.

Hairballs are very irritating to a cat's GI tract. Over time, this irritation can lead to decreased digestive motility as the intestinal lining becomes thickened.

Chronic vomiting may be a symptom of IBD, which in some cats progresses to lymphoma. Vomiting two or more times a month for several consecutive months is abnormal and justifies an ultrasound.

I had a cat who, like yours, was a chronic hairball vomiter, then could not keep food down afterwards. A GI ultrasound revealed severe IBD. This was followed by endoscopic biopsy which revealed severe scarring of the intestines to the point of fibrosis.

I would be cautious about masking a hairball problem with hairball diets, fiber supplements, Pepcid, or GI lubricants in that it just delays getting a diagnosis.

A very good article about hairballs can be found here.

Catster Magazine - July/August 2017 - page64

Since your vet has only recommended Pepcid, I would take your cat to an Internal Medicine vet, who will most likely recommend an ultrasound and further diagnostics to get to the bottom of this hairball issue. Don't wait.

jayfool said:

Hi! Thank you for your response. I'd say the hairball issue has been happening for about a year now. She came to us in the autumn and grew back enough hair to go through a full shed the following spring. It seemed like previously it only took her a few hours to bounce back, especially if she slept during that time. Only recently has the issue been more drawn out. She had a hairball last night for instance, and even though I gave her baby food (turkey) very slowly this morning, she still puked it back up an hour or so later. I'm willing to try Pepcid, although I would rather do so as needed instead of daily. Your explanation of how that could give relief was much more helpful than the vet's. It encouraged me to search for more information on the topic, and this page in particular has me thinking that I need to make a bigger effort to change her diet. On that note, Delilah does like egg yolk and butter. We'll start giving that to her more often. Pumpkin is worth a try too. She seems to prefer turkey, but I've never bought that raw to prepare for her. I will now. Thanks again for your insight!

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How did it go since May ?

My cat, 1 year old, is having the same problem


He vomited 2 hairballs in the last 3 months and after expelling the hair, he vomited for the next 3-5 days

Mrcclms said:

How did it go since May ?

My cat, 1 year old, is having the same problem


He vomited 2 hairballs in the last 3 months and after expelling the hair, he vomited for the next 3-5 days

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3-5 days of puking afterwards sounds extreme. I would take your cat to the vet, if you haven't already. That's step one, of course. For me, what helped the most was finding something to help settle her stomach. We don't feed her for a few hours after she pukes a hairball. In that time, she might drink water that comes back up. I try to wait until things seem a little more stable. Then I give her greasy chicken, so Chicken McNuggets or more recently organic chicken fingers that you can bake at home. I strip the breading off and cut off bite-sized pieces, giving them to her in small portions and waiting after each to see if it stays down. So far, that's worked really well. I really believe the greasiness makes a difference. Otherwise chicken baby food would stay down too, which it doesn't. I know french fries make my stomach feel better when I've had a queasy stomach, or whatever. It sounds counter-intuitive, but that's what works for me and now for her.