No Hairball Vomit In Months - Is This Natural?

solomonar

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My 3 years old integer tomcat never vomits a hairball. He is not constipated. He eats normally (free meals).

Three months ago he vomited twice, yellow liquid, but no hairball. Vet said it can be just a result of not feeding for more than 12 hrs (no reason identified). No medication given.

I also noticed that the my cat does not lose hair. At all.

I could not find any clear reference whether not vomiting hairballs is natural/normal.

I highly appreciate your opinion and/or links.
 

daftcat75

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Vomiting hairballs may be common for some but not normal or natural. Natural is ingested hair simply passing in the stool. Vomiting hairballs can be a sign of a problem with the diet. Or worse, it could be the first signs of a developing issue with digestion or gut motility.

Likewise yellow vomit is not good either. That’s bile. That’s probably too long between meals. Cats will eat up to 12 times a day in the wild. Offer a midnight meal. It doesn’t even have to be a large one. Just something in his stomach between dinner and breakfast.
 
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solomonar

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Vomiting hairballs may be common for some but not normal or natural. Natural is ingested hair simply passing in the stool. Vomiting hairballs can be a sign of a problem with the diet. Or worse, it could be the first signs of a developing issue with digestion or gut motility.
Thank you!

Then no hairball vomit does not harm the cat's health, right?
 

MissClouseau

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daftcat75 is right. Contrary to belief cats aren't supposed to vomit hairballs. If they do it means there's a problem.

You're in Romania, right? Your cat already has his summer coat and that hair is thinner than their winter coat. Cats change their coats around late winter-spring to get ready for warm temperatures. They also shed more hair instantly if they are stressed/scared. Other than these, you would not see that much hair around. If you did it would mean there is a health issue. (Not necessarily a serious one. Some food also causes too much shedding hair and again fear/stress even if it lasted for 2 seconds leads to instant hair shedding.)
 
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solomonar

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MissClouseau MissClouseau
Thank you!

I attempted to pull his hair to see what happens and got only a "Mrrr!" - no hair :-).

I was a bit stressed because hair should go somewhere and I suspected it gets stuck in the stomach.

I saw a lot of shedding hair during a visit to the vet. That was really impressive - I was afraid my cat will get bold in minutes.
 

MissClouseau

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Haha, my cat is the same. Last week she lost like 1kg hair at the vet clinic out of anxiety :-( I had to brush the loose hairs when we got home.

Do you use malt paste? They help cats pass hair with their poop. I give her GimCat Extra Soft malt paste or BioPetActive CatiMalt once or twice a week. Three days a week if it's seasonal hair shedding time.
 
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solomonar

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To this time, my tomcat pooped once a day (actually, he does it during nighttime :-))

I was very stressed not to see any hairball and all websites I read giving instructions about what to do in case of hairball vomit. I think that way of presenting is misleading. For me anyway. They should have start by stating that no hairball vomit is not to worry about. My opinion.
 

solowars

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My long haired cat does not vomit hairballs. Not a single time since I’ve had her for the past 8 months. However, I’ve squashed her poop once (out of curiosity) and there is a TON of hair packed away in there. For your cat, i highly doubt his hair is getting stuck in his stomach - he would definitely be showing signs of being unwell a long time ago if that were the case.
 

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Isnt it hairball season? my persian boy made 3 huge ones within 8 days, he shed off so much of his winter coat, where all his fur go...
 

denice

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No hairballs is a good thing. If a cats digestive system is working completely right and there is no excessive grooming then no hairballs. The hair passes on through.
 
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solomonar

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denice denice - Thanks!
Burts Burts - perhaps it depends on breed to?
MissClouseau MissClouseau - is there any way to reduce anxiety at vet ? Set aside covering the vet in tuna can oil :dunce:
 

MissClouseau

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[QUOTE="solomonar, post: 4941751, member: 116312"
MissClouseau MissClouseau - is there any way to reduce anxiety at vet ? Set aside covering the vet in tuna can oil :dunce:[/QUOTE]

Pet Stages brand has this Swishy Fishy catnip-induced mat. (I'm not from the USA, just to show the mat :-) ) My Hima gets more hyperactive/playful with catnip actually but for the first 15 minutes. Then it calms her down. I place this mat on the carrier.

It's not available in my country but I read in some there are Feliway products. And there are some other "calming" products in tablet, spray, or gel form -- I haven't tried any of them and don't have much info about the side effects, etc

Nothing worked enough to calm her down but the biggest differences in my experience, with my cat,

1) Keeping the car ride as short as possible. This is why I don't even consider going to a vet in another neighborhood unless there's an emergency or something.

2) Clinic's design and location. Hima goes to two different clinics. One is located on a busy street and has more overnight patients. She gets more scared than she does at the other clinic because of the sound of cars both on the way and at the clinic, and all the stranger cats' meows inside.

3) Have a vet & vet tech who are gentle (by your cat's own standards), and will take the time and approach to befriend the cat. At the other clinic the vet tech is great on this but the vet didn't pet Hima even once. I really like her but Hima is a very affectionate and forgiving cat and she would certainly feel calmer if she got petted by the vet too.
 
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