{"id":717,"date":"2025-04-07T11:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/?p=717"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:39:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T17:39:42","slug":"managing-hairballs-in-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Hairballs in Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1061\" height=\"707\" src=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iStock-1322536985-1.jpg\" alt=\"Hairball Management for Cats.\" class=\"wp-image-718\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iStock-1322536985-1.jpg 1061w, https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iStock-1322536985-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1061px) 100vw, 1061px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Perhaps nothing sends cat parents sprinting toward the paper towels faster than the familiar sound of their cat  working hard to deposit a hairball on the floor. But what might seem like a minor inconvenience for us can become a serious health issue for our cats.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/\">Englishtown Vet MD<\/a>, we love helping our feline friends feel their best. While an occasional hairball just comes with the territory, chronic hairballs warrant a discussion with your veterinarian. In this blog, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/staff\/\">our team<\/a> shares some of our top tips for managing hairballs and knowing when hairball problems require a call to the veterinarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Causes Hairballs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats groom themselves frequently to stay clean and well-kept.\u00a0But all of this hygiene can come at a cost when cats swallow loose fur as they\u2019re grooming. If enough fur builds up in the kitty\u2019s digestive tract, it forms a nasty clump. And it\u2019s this clump that our cat friends will try to purge.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a cat&#8217;s digestive system functions properly, it can effectively handle the typical amount of fur ingested during grooming. However, certain factors can cause cats to take in more fur than usual, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Long-haired breeds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skin conditions that cause excess shedding (and therefore excessive grooming)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overgrooming due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/lights-camera-action-how-to-entertain-your-indoor-cat\/\">boredom<\/a> or stress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When Hairballs Become Hazardous<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the time, the fur that cats gradually ingest while grooming either passes through the cat\u2019s digestive tract, or it forms a clump that gets regurgitated on your new rug. In rare cases, the clump of matted fur can get too large. The clump then becomes lodged somewhere in the cat\u2019s digestive system. If it manages to pass into the small intestine, it can create a blockage\u2014a serious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/pet-emergency\/\">medical emergency<\/a> that requires immediate surgical intervention.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact your veterinarian if your cat is retching several times a day (whether or not anything comes up) or if your cat\u2019s vomiting or retching is accompanied by other symptoms such as lethargy, loss of appetite, constipation, or diarrhea. Digestive problems other than a hairball could be to blame, and a proper diagnosis is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Home Care for Managing Hairballs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats with frequent hairballs should be examined by a veterinarian. Underlying digestive problems could be causing hairballs to form faster than usual, and without treatment, the cat\u2019s health will not improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For cats that deposit the occasional hairball and then go back to business as usual, the following strategies can be helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/pets\/cats\/what-to-do-about-hairballs-in-cats\">Frequent brushing <\/a>can significantly reduce the amount of hair your cat ingests. This is particularly helpful for long-haired breeds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hairball control gels like Laxatone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hairball control cat food or treats<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chewable high-fiber hairball control supplements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keeping Your Cats Looking and Feeling Their Best<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cats love grooming their crowning glory. But if hairballs are disrupting your cat\u2019s quality of life (and wreaking havoc on your rugs), please contact our team at <a href=\"tel:+1-732-786-8877\">(732) 786-8877<\/a> to schedule an appointment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps nothing sends cat parents sprinting toward the paper towels faster than the familiar sound of their cat working hard to deposit a hairball on the floor. But what might seem like a minor inconvenience for us can become a serious health issue for our cats.\u00a0 At Englishtown Vet MD, we love helping our feline [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,29,38],"tags":[307,309,304,308,305,306],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-kitten-care","category-pet-boarding-grooming-daycare","category-pet-health-wellness","category-cats-meow","tag-brushing","tag-cats","tag-digestive-problems","tag-grooming","tag-hairballs","tag-long-haired-breeds"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Managing Hairballs in Cats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Managing Hairballs in Cats. Find advice on grooming, diet, and lifestyle changes to minimize hairball issues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Managing Hairballs in Cats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Managing Hairballs in Cats. Find advice on grooming, diet, and lifestyle changes to minimize hairball issues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Englishtown Vet MD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T15:55:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T17:39:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.englishtownvet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/iStock-1322536985-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1061\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Englishtown Vet MD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Englishtown Vet MD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Englishtown Vet MD\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a149393fa10716f5f5b1c1cd4305f4a\"},\"headline\":\"Managing Hairballs in Cats\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T15:55:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T17:39:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":491,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/iStock-1322536985-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"brushing\",\"cats\",\"digestive problems\",\"grooming\",\"hairballs\",\"long-haired breeds\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cat and Kitten Care\",\"Pet Boarding, Grooming, and Daycare\",\"Pet Health &amp; Wellness\",\"The Cat's Meow\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/\",\"name\":\"Managing Hairballs in Cats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/managing-hairballs-in-cats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/iStock-1322536985-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T15:55:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T17:39:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.englishtownvet.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a149393fa10716f5f5b1c1cd4305f4a\"},\"description\":\"Managing Hairballs in Cats. 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