An occasional hairball, roughly monthly or less, is normal in a cat who grooms a lot. Weekly hairballs are a sign rather than a quirk, because frequent ones usually mean a cat is swallowing more hair than they should or moving it along more slowly than they should. Repeated retching that produces nothing may not be a hairball at all.
Why they increase at this time of year
Two things change together in October. The coat changes over, because day length rather than temperature drives the cycle, so there is simply more loose hair in the coat to be swallowed. And cats spend more of the day indoors and asleep, and a cat who is awake and bored grooms.
So a modest increase through the autumn is expected. What is worth paying attention to is a change in the pattern rather than the fact of it: a cat who produced one every couple of months now producing one a week, or a cat who has started retching and bringing nothing up.
What a hairball actually is
Cats have backward-facing barbs on the tongue, which is what makes it such an effective grooming tool and also means swallowed hair cannot easily be spat out. Most of it passes through and leaves in the stool, which is the normal route and is why you do not see most of the hair your cat swallows.
A hairball is the portion that stays behind in the stomach and gathers into a wad. When it is brought up it is usually cylindrical rather than round, because it takes the shape of the food pipe on the way out rather than the shape of the stomach.
That is the whole of it, and in small numbers it is unremarkable. The useful question is not how to stop hairballs but what a lot of them is telling you.
The important distinction: hairball, or cough?
This is the single most useful thing in this article. A cat making a repeated hacking, gagging noise and producing nothing is often described as trying to bring up a hairball, and quite often is not. They are coughing, and in cats a cough usually points to the lower airways, most often asthma or chronic bronchitis.
The two look similar from across a room and differ close up:
- Bringing up a hairball: back arched up high, head pointing down toward the floor, obvious heaving from the belly, often shuffling backwards, and hair arrives at the end. The cat then usually walks away and carries on as normal.
- Coughing: crouched low with the elbows out and the neck stretched forward so head and back make a straight line close to the floor, a dry repeated hack, and no hair. A cough can still bring up a little clear or white foam and the cat often swallows hard afterwards, so foam is not a hairball. Only hair is. It may happen in bouts, several times a day.
If what you are seeing is the second picture, that needs looking at rather than managing at home, and it is worth filming a bout on your phone before you come in. A thirty second video tells us more than any description can, and cats reliably refuse to demonstrate in the exam room.
When frequent hairballs are a symptom
A cat producing hairballs weekly or more is doing one of two things: swallowing too much hair, or not moving it through properly. Both have causes worth finding.
Swallowing too much hair, because they are overgrooming. Cats overgroom for a reason, and the reason is usually itch, pain or stress. Fleas are the classic, and a single flea can keep a sensitive cat grooming for weeks. Environmental allergies do it. So does pain: a cat with a sore hip or a sore bladder will groom over the area, and a cat with sore teeth may groom more because they are unsettled. The tell is a thin patch, broken stubble rather than bald skin, usually on the belly, the inner thighs or along the back, and it is easy to miss because cats do this privately.
Not moving it through, because the gut is slower than it should be. Inflammation in the intestine, a reduction in normal gut movement, or constipation all mean hair that should have passed stays put. The clues are hairballs alongside other changes: less or harder stool, straining in the litter box, intermittent vomiting of food rather than hair, gradual weight loss, or a cat who has gone off their food.
Either way, the hairballs are the visible part of something else, which is why the answer to a cat with weekly hairballs is a visit rather than a product.
What is worth doing at home
- Brush more, and brush properly. Hair you collect is hair that is not swallowed, and this is by far the most effective thing on the list. A long-haired cat benefits from daily; a short-haired cat from a few times a week. Reach the skin rather than gliding over the top.
- Watch the water. A well-hydrated cat moves things through better. Several bowls in different rooms, away from food, refreshed daily, and a wide shallow bowl rather than a deep narrow one. Many cats drink more from a running fountain.
- Consider wet food as part of the daily ration if it suits your cat, because it brings water in with the meal.
- Keep parasite prevention going through winter. Fleas do not stop in a heated house, and flea itch is a leading cause of overgrooming.
- Give a bored cat something better to do. Two short play sessions a day, something to climb, and a window to watch. Grooming fills empty time.
- Deal with mats rather than cutting them. Skin lifts into the base of a mat and scissor wounds from this are common and deep.
- Do not buy a product on a guess. If what your cat needs is flea prevention, or something for a slow gut, or pain relief for a sore hip, a general hairball product will not touch it and you will lose a month finding that out.
When to come in
- Hairballs weekly or more often, or a clear change from your cat’s normal pattern
- Repeated retching, gagging or hacking that produces nothing
- Any coughing, in any pattern
- Vomiting food rather than hair, especially more than once a week
- Thin patches, broken stubble or a cat grooming one area obsessively
- Hairballs alongside weight loss, reduced appetite or low energy
- Hard stool, or no stool for more than a day or two
- Straining in the litter box with little or nothing coming out, repeated trips to the box, or crying in the box. This can mean a cat cannot pass urine, which is an emergency the same day and overnight, not something to wait on
- Open-mouth breathing, or breathing that looks fast or laboured at rest, which also does not wait for opening hours
- A cat who seems uncomfortable, hunched, or who has stopped jumping
Come in through our urgent care if your cat is retching repeatedly and going quiet, or has not passed stool for a couple of days. Our pet diagnostics team runs the bloodwork, imaging and skin sampling that separate an overgrooming cause from a gut motility one, which matters because the two lead in opposite directions. Our medical services team manages what follows, and our wellness program is the right place to sort out year-round parasite prevention rather than guessing at a product.
We are open 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Sunday, and 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM on statutory holidays. That is a long day, so most of this fits comfortably inside it. The window to plan around is overnight and early morning, plus Sunday evenings after seven. Hairballs themselves almost never need an overnight visit, but a cat who is retching repeatedly and cannot settle, or who is breathing with an open mouth or visibly struggling, should not wait: go to the nearest open emergency veterinary hospital and phone ahead before you leave. Open-mouth breathing in a cat is always urgent.
Autumn brings a second, much faster-moving hazard in the Okanagan: our guide to antifreeze and the first frost covers the one where minutes matter.
Questions we are asked
How many hairballs a month is too many?
As a working rule, more than one a month deserves a conversation and weekly is a reason to come in. But the number matters less than the change. A long-haired cat who has produced one every three weeks for years and still does is probably fine. A short-haired cat who never had one and now has them every couple of weeks has changed, and that change is the information. Bring the pattern rather than the count.
My cat retches most mornings but nothing comes up. Is that a hairball trying to come?
Possibly, but that pattern is at least as likely to be a cough, and in cats a cough usually points to the lower airways, most often asthma. The distinction is in the shape of the back: a cat coughing holds head, neck and back in a straight line close to the floor, while a cat bringing up a hairball arches the back up and points the head down. Film it if you can and book a visit. This is the presentation that gets managed at home as a hairball problem for months when it is something else entirely.
Do hairball products work?
They can help a cat whose only issue is volume of hair, and they do nothing at all for the more common situation, which is a cat overgrooming because of itch or pain, or a cat whose gut has slowed down. That is the problem with reaching for one first: it is not harmful, but it postpones finding out what is actually happening. Brushing is the intervention with the best return, and after that it is worth knowing what you are dealing with.
Can a hairball cause a blockage?
It is uncommon but it does happen, and it is one of the few hairball situations that becomes urgent. The picture is repeated unproductive vomiting, no appetite, lethargy and sometimes a tender belly, building over a day or two rather than easing. That needs imaging and sometimes removal. If your cat is retching repeatedly, not eating and going quiet, do not wait it out.
My long-haired cat will not let me brush her.
Start much smaller than feels useful: thirty seconds, in the place she already likes being stroked, and stop before she objects rather than after. Build up over weeks. A soft rubber grooming mitt is often accepted when a comb is not. If she already has mats, nothing will go well until those are dealt with, because brushing a mat hurts and she will remember it. Let us sort those out first.
Is there more hair swallowed in winter because of the heating?
Indirectly, yes. Dry indoor air makes skin flaky and itchy, and an itchy cat grooms more. It also makes a fine coat cling and tangle, so there is more loose hair sitting in the coat. Around thirty to thirty-five percent relative humidity suits most Canadian homes in winter, and lower again on the coldest nights. Above about forty you start getting condensation on cold windows, and above about fifty you start favouring house dust mites. An inexpensive hygrometer tells you where you are.
Should I shave my long-haired cat to stop hairballs?
It is rarely the right first step and it is not a small undertaking for a cat, since most need sedation to be clipped properly. For a cat who is badly matted and cannot be brushed out, a clip is sometimes genuinely the kindest option, and that is a decision to make with us rather than at a grooming counter. For a cat who can be brushed, consistent brushing achieves more with less.
Speak to the team at Peach City Animal Hospital
If your cat is bringing up hairballs weekly, retching with nothing produced, or has a thin patch you have not been able to explain, phone us and book a visit. Outside our hours, go to the nearest open emergency veterinary hospital and phone ahead before you leave.
Published by the team at Peach City Animal Hospital.
This article is educational in nature and is not a replacement for hands-on assessment of your own pet by a veterinarian.
Peach City Animal Hospital
#102 – 402 Industrial Ave E, Penticton, BC V2A 3J1
Phone: (778) 900-0111
Hours: Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM; Sunday 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM; statutory holidays 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM