How Do I Know If My Cat is Choking on a Hairball?

Hi Everyone,

Today my little girl did what she does about once every couple of months. She'll hack for 5-10 minutes and nothing will come out. I've only seen her actually hack up two hairballs in her three years (she's a short-hair), but each time she starts hacking, I start worrying.

First of all, how often do cats actually choke on hairballs. And second, how can you tell? Is it fairly obvious? Or will it still look like hacking?

Finally, and most importantly, is there anything I can do for my cat to help when she's hacking? And is there ANYTHING I can do, if she chokes?

Any response is welcome, she is my first cat and I have much to learn.

As always, Thank you!
KatKat

If it continues I would go to the vets and get them to check. Do you have any hairball paste you can give? It`s also worth feeding a food specificly for easing hairballs if your cat does this a lot.

You can tell by the position of her body when she is hacking. If she is standing low on the floor with all four feet bent and head sticking out then it's a hairball. If she is pretty much sitting or has her front feet standing and is hunched down while coughing then it's actually a respiratory problem that she is having. I think you can also tell by the sound that comes out, but not always. Choking and coughing are different. If she is choking you do need to do something, such as open her mouth see if there is any object and try to get it out....I don't think there is anything you can do if she is just coughing..