hairballs?

Ok excuse my ignorance, I have had many cats in the past but this is the first one that lives with me. All my previous cats have been strictly outside. This one is indoor/outdoor and I hope for him to be all indoor as soon as I live somewhere that allows it. I notice now and then that he'll have hacking fits, where he gets down and stretches his neck out and looks like he's trying to cough something up. I'm assuming this is a hairball? Is there something I should give him for this? I did a search and found some things that were mentioned before.. What's easy for slightly neurotic cats to take? He doesn't do it too often, but today he went into a fit that lasted over a minute and I felt soo bad, at the end he didn't even stand anymore, he just laid down and hacked.. He never coughed anything up but he's up and running like normal now. He eats rabbits and birds and stuff so I figure he ate something today and that's why he was freaking out.. Is there anything to worry about? Is it normal for kittys to hack like that now and then? I don't want him to croak or anything, he's my little ro-ro :/ TIA

If possible, make sure he's going to the bathroom okay. Sometimes hacking with nothing coming up can be a sign of a blockage. There are a few other things that can cause the hacking along with hairballs such as asthma, allergies, or a cold. You can try putting some fish oil in his food to try and get any hair moving. If he continues with the hacking, I would get him into be seen by the vet.

so it would be better to use fish oil rather than hairball remedy stuff? I'm headed to the pet store tonite, he's out of food almost so I thought I'd get him some hairball formula. So is hairball formula food an everyday thing or just a certain time of the year thing or an every other day thing??

I don't kno if kitty is poo-ing right, he's definitely not in the litter box, but then he's outside for around 12 hours of the day.. I try to keep him in longer, but he can't stay in the main house because I don't own it, he stays in a detatched garage that isn't used for cars anymore. It doesn't have AC and it's fine at night but can get pretty hot during the day so I don't like him to be in there. I am trying to find a new place so I can have him indoors all the time, but first I need to find a job so I can see where I'll have to live.

The hairball remedy brands do work, it's just (most of the time) easier to add the oil to thier food. Then you don't have to chase them down and force feed it to them. The hairball formula food you can keep them on all the time. If you go with the hairball formula, try to make sure you stick with the same brand, and gradually mix it in with the food he has been eating

Hi Anna, I hope your boy's doing OK.

It sounds like he might need to go to the vet, but if it is hairballs, I have a great recipe.

My mom told me this is what she uses, and it's worked even for my barfiest girl. Feed a half & half mixture of Science Diet hairball control (dry) and Science Diet nature's best (dry). Once every day, give a tablespoon or so of a quality fish-based canned food. An oily fish like salmon, tuna or sardines is best, and read the ingredients to make sure the food is actually fish-based - some of the foods that say fish actually have chicken or whatever as a main ingredient.

I was never able to get my barfy girl to take a regular hairball remedy without a huge battle, and she's a finicky eater & turns her nose up at oils, but this is easy and she loves it.

Also, regular brushing to cut down on the amount of hair swallowed can be a big help. Good luck!