Question?

I have had cats for more years than I am going to admit too I have never seen a hair ball or seen a cat cough up anything hairy, why? Do some cats get them and some don't, I have always had short haired cats does that make any difference?

Some cats never get hairballs. In fact I never actually saw one until last month when either Zoey or Saki threw one up (first time in 4 years!) and they are both short hair cats. It looks like a big sausage, pretty gross lol.

I have yet to see one either. But I am not hoping to see one either!

I very rarely see a hairball either, the only one of mine that get them on a rare occassion is Jinx, but then she's got more hair than Cousin It

My oldest has coughed up hairballs since I got her - 8 yrs ago. First time it happened freaked me out...this long slimy thick looking ewwwwwww....she's the only one.

My cat Alley used to get them a lot. She hated the hairball remedy and had to be "force fed" it, but even then she would get fairly regular hairballs. i could always tell when she was getting ready to throw one up because she would start meowing really loud like something was wrong. Sure enough, a hairball would follow within the hour. Her sister was also long haired, got the same treatment and same food and almost never had them. i think it just depends on the cat!

You know what, thats something Ive wondered a lot aswell!
Neither of mine have ever coughed one up and since they are indoor cats the seem to spend a lot of time grooming.
Nismo cat made a kind of hacking noise the other morning and I thought she was going to produce a hairball but nothing came of it!

Kandie gave me her first hairball at 15.5 yrs old... Zoey has a pelt yet without hairball control food would hack up a few a week

I think short hair does make a difference. They can get hairballs but are much less likely to. Jaffa has never brought up a hairball but his brother Magpie (long haired) was a martyr to them. Mosi has had minor hairball trouble but has only brought up 1 proper one. He's semi long haired but I give him de-furrum treats every day and they seem to keep everything under control.

Radar has had one, at least I think that's what it was judging by the shape of the vomit! He is shorthair, but he's a very fluffy shorthair if that makes any sense - it's short, but he seems to have an awful lot of hair per square inch of him, so it's very thick, especially at the moment, he has his winter trousers on.

Sho used to get them before I switched his food months ago. I believe he's only had one in the last three months? I've never seen him actually cough them up either, I'd find them the next morning when I step in cold wet hairball.... barefoot.

Originally Posted by Epona

Radar has had one, at least I think that's what it was judging by the shape of the vomit! He is shorthair, but he's a very fluffy shorthair if that makes any sense - it's short, but he seems to have an awful lot of hair per square inch of him, so it's very thick, especially at the moment, he has his winter trousers on.

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Sho's fur is like this too, very thick. Yet, it's his year round coat. I always suspected it was because his father looked like a huge maine coon, fluffy with long black ear tufts. Sho looks like a short haired version with very small tufts. Do you know if your kitty had a long haired parent?

Ellie is hte only one of mine that ever has them, and no cat I ever had before ever coughed anything up. Butlike you, I have only ever had shorthairs, and Ellie is a bit delicate that way - she sometimes vomits up her food too.

Neither of mine get them, thankfully, but when we lived with another couple and their two cats, both of their cats would get furballs quite frequently. One of the cats was a longhaired moggie, and the other was a calico who obsessively groomed all the cats in the house, so I suppose in both their cases the hairballs were not a surprise.

The only time my two ever throw up anything is when Oz eats too fast or when one of them eats my plants, and neither of these things happen very often. My parents' cat, on the other hand, has to be fed her food in very, very small amounts or she will overeat and throw it all up again. Since my father's retired and able to keep an eye on her, PJ gets about twenty tiny meals in a day, and this reduces the number of times she is sick. (She's 18 years old, though, so some coddling is to be expected!)

Tibby gets the odd fur ball from time to time - mainly because he grooms literally everyone!

We only received our first hair ball last year though and I have it in a bag on my pin board as a momentum!

Rosies coughed up a couple, but i've never seen Sophie cough one. I ususlly mix in some furball kibbles with their others so i don't know if that helps?.

Gray One hacks them up but hasn't for quite awhile. They seem to happen more frequently in the summer. She is short haired too.
I just gave her a 2" ribbon of hairball stuff this morning, she hates it.

That hairball stuff can also be used for feline constipation. A 2" ribbon 3 times a day for 3 days. My Vet told me that and it works.