Does my cat's vomit look "normal", hairballs?

[Miisu]

My cat is a little under 2 years old, spayed female. No health problems, acting normally.

I'm aware that cats vomiting is common and usually not dangerous, but still shouldn't be considered normal. My cat has thrown up 3 times since christmas, and all of them have included a small ball of black cat hair belonging to her, while being mostly food. The latest one that happened about 30 minutes ago was shaped really strangely, and got me a bit worried. The two previous ones have been more like the usual scattered style. At first I was worried she might be dehydrated, but the vomit is very moist, just held it's shape while being thrown up.

So main questions:
1.) Does this vomit (gross picture included below) look "normal" in the sense that it's not alarming?
2.) Can hairballs be a reason for vomiting in cats, or is there likely another reason and the hairballs just happen to be there?
3.) Would this be considered digested or undigested food? While doing some research I found conflicting answers on whether or not this is alarming, and a lot of it had to do with whether or not the food being thrown up is digested, and I can't quite tell which one this is.

Spoiler: Cat vomit warning!

 

[hillyy13]

Had your cat recently eaten? My cat once had this tube shaped vomit not long after eating, I called my vet and he said it was nothing to be alarmed about and the tube shape is a sign it was regurgitation. See below from this site:

“Regurgitation is a passive process that allows ingested material to move backwards from the esophagus to the mouth or nose. Regurgitus (the contents regurgitated – great word) usually exits the body in the shape of a tube, because of how much time it spends in the tube-shaped esophagus. This lovely material usually consists of partially digested food, saliva, hair, and/or mucus. When a cat regurgitates, it usually happens quietly and fast! This is a normal body function and is nothing to be alarmed about”

 

[di and bob]

I don't see a lot of hair in that vomit. It looks just like undigested food. Hairballs look like little torpedos of matted hair. Have you changed her food lately? Something is causing a stomach upset. Some cats just vomit periodically for really no reason. You might just SLOWLY change her over to sensitive stomach food and see if that helps. If she is trying to vomit up a hairball, you might try giving her a teaspoon of butter to see if it helps her to pass the ball. I would do that for 3-4 days. I give my cats a teaspoon every week.

 

[Miisu]

Had your cat recently eaten? My cat once had this tube shaped vomit not long after eating, I called my vet and he said it was nothing to be alarmed about and the tube shape is a sign it was regurgitation.

She had been sleeping on my lap for ~30 minutes, and before that she was just doing cat things, so quite likely she ate at least a little bit in the last couple hours before it. When your cat regurgitated food, did it look similar? In my mind this was the most likely option, but the food looked too digested for me to be sure, but I have no idea what counts as undigested or digested. I guess this is somewhere inbetween those too. Thank you for your response!

I don't see a lot of hair in that vomit. It looks just like undigested food. Hairballs look like little torpedos of matted hair. Have you changed her food lately? Something is causing a stomach upset. Some cats just vomit periodically for really no reason. You might just SLOWLY change her over to sensitive stomach food and see if that helps. If she is trying to vomit up a hairball, you might try giving her a teaspoon of butter to see if it helps her to pass the ball. I would do that for 3-4 days. I give my cats a teaspoon every week.

Haven't changed her food lately. Yeah, it's quite a small amount. There were two spots with a lot of hair packed into a small space, which are the black spots visible, the smaller one is at the top. I wasn't sure about it so when cleaning up I tried to see if there was more, and not really. So yeah, mostly food, but definitely two fur balls mixed in there. Thank you for your response!

 

[game misconduct]

looks normal(for graycie) to me one of the easier ones to clean up.i can usually expect another amonth or so later after a hairball that size probably more incoming with summer coming she will be shedding her winter coat