Hairballs!

Hello! New cat owner here, and I hope somebody can put my mind at ease!

My DSH cat has (I think) been trying to hack up hairballs lately... He has short fits of high-pitched coughing and deeper hacking sounds, during which his stomach muscles contract. My partner says it's hairballs, and that it's normal, but he never actually hacks anything up and that makes me nervous!

This has happened maybe three days out of the last two weeks (and he is shedding a LOT right now). Otherwise he's acting perfectly normally.

We've tried brushing him often and feeding him hairball relief treats... Sometimes we see hair coming out in his litterbox, if you know what I mean. Maybe I just worry too much?

Lots of cats are  having problems with hairballs, it's that time of year.  I adopted Ritz 3.5 years ago, and this is the first time she's ever thrown up hair.  Normally, hair is excreted through the feces.

Since the treats don't seem to be working, you could try Egg Yolk Lechthin.  Science not being my forte, the way I understand it, the lecthin dissolves fat and lets the hair pass through the intestinal tract.  Start out with 1/2 capsule a day, and if still problems, increase to one a day.

He may have a hairball blockage. Is he eating? I am dealing with a hairball problem myself and here is my thread on what I have done with my cat (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/259470/vomiting-bile-possible-blockage-in-ragodoll-what-to-ask-vet)

I've been trying to figure out whether my cat's coughing was "just hairballs" and found watching you tube videos helpful.  If this keeps happening and you never see a hairball produced, I'd consider a vet visit. Spring and shedding made me think hairballs at first too.  But from what I've read, asthma is more problematic in spring too.   After watching the videos and considering this has been going on for at least two months with my cat, I made a vet appt.  (Hers resembled the asthma cat cough you tube videos much more than the hairball videos.  And the one hairball video her cough resembled had no hairball produced and everyone in the comments was telling the lady it was asthma...lol.)  If you decide to go to the vet, capturing a video of the cough on your cell phone might be helpful. 

Thank you all so much for your help!

Franksmom, he is eating/drinking/acting normally otherwise. Since the hacking has only been happening for a week or two (and rarely), I got him some Laxatone to see if that helps. If he keeps coughing, I'll take him to the vet to check for asthma.

I am pretty sure this isn't the problem with your cat but wanted to get this out there because it is something I wish I had known.  A few years ago my cat, who was 13, started acting like she was trying to throw up a hairball (hacking with nothing coming out except sometimes some bile).  I tried hairball remedies and then took her to the vet.  It turns out her liver was failing.  The vet tried several things but it was too late to save her.  The vet told me that one thing you should look for is if the skin in their ears or their gums are yellowish.  This means a liver issue.  I wish it was something I had known to look out for because I still regret not getting her in sooner.

Oh, wow. Thank you for sharing and I will, of course, keep an eye out. Were there other symptoms like not eating or tiredness that you noticed as well?

I didn't really notice anything else until right before I took her in but cats are good at hiding that they aren't feeling well.  Also, since she was older, I didn't notice any huge drop off in activity.  Right before I took her in to the vet, I had noticed that she wasn't eating very much.  Also, another huge redfflag that I learned about was her grooming wasn't what it used to be.  She was my first cat that I had from kitten to death so I didn't know as much about poor health signs as I probably should have at the time.  The grooming thing is huge so if your cat's grooming starts going downhill, get him to the vet pronto.

That makes sense. While we're talking about red flags (just in case anyone else is reading!), I learned something similar after losing our first cat as well: rapid breathing, a constant dry nose, and increased lethargy can be signs of FIP and are always cause for a vet visit.

In several of our cats, the hacking is hairballs. In one, it's asthma. So in your shoes, I'd treat for hairballs. I'm going to reiterate the use of egg yolks and egg yolk lecithin again, link to thread discussing their use here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/250653/egg-lecithin-for-hairballs

If your cat likes egg yolks, feed a couple a week for now - see what happens. If the coughing doesn't stop, or hairballs don't come up, then it's time for a vet visit.