Bad hairball that will not show its ugly face

My young (1 and a half) male cat has been struggling with what sounds to be (from the sounds of his hacking) with a hariball. Today is Tuesday, this started Saturday. Sunday morning we started giving him plenty of hairball remedy and have been since each morning. But still it persists. The coughing does not sound like symptoms of upper respiratory infection, and there is no mucus or sneezing. It's all like a hard hairball that just won't come up. He feels like crap, though he isn't particularly lethargic, but no playing. Mainly I am afraid that it is some kind of blockage due to something other than a hairball,which is of course possible but very unlikely as Hobbes has never been one to injest foreign atricles. He has hacked so hard that he threw up twice so far, and I want to do something other than jsut give him hairball remedy. Should I go ahead and take him to the vet? I am going to call my vet this evening and ask him what he thinks I should do also.

Since it's been a few days now and there's been a behavior change, it might be better to call the vet now while it's still office hours. If the vet thinks it's serious you can still get your cat in later or early tomorrow morning.

It's possible that it's a hairball, but I feel too many vets think cough or vomit always equals a hairball.


I hope your vet can figure out what it is and that your kitty gets to feeling better soon.

I'd get him to the vet too... it could just be a stubborn hairball, but it could also be a sign of asthma... after several days, I'd definitely want him checked out

VET... there is a URI here that is not showing up with any discharge my girls only symptom was coughing