1 year old cat tries to vomit a hairball, but nothing happens.

Hey all,

I just wanted to see if anybody else has experienced this issue, and what they have done to resolve it. I own 3 cats, 2 of them are 2 years old, and the third one is just under 1 year old. My older cats have occasional hairballs which is pretty normal, and although they are brushed several times a week seeing a hairball once every month or 2 is fairly common. Our youngest cat has been doing a lot of grooming and I have not seen him pass a hairball yet, so when I first saw him begin to heave it looked exactly like my other cats trying to vomit a hairball, except nothing happened and he just continued about his business. This cat has been doing this for about a week so far, and I have scheduled a vet appointment 2 days from now (the soonest they were available). He has no other symptoms or problems that I can see, he is still eating, sleeping, drinking, and going to the bathroom normally, as well as not changing his very active lifestyle at all. 

I have tried giving him some hairball control medicine, which is pretty much just fish flavored petroleum jelly, as well as a small amount of coconut oil to try and ease out the hairball. One of the more frustrating things that I have noticed is that it looks like when he is heaving, he is about to pass a hairball (or something), and then I can see him immediately re-swallow whatever he was about to vomit. My older cats had a similar problem of not wanting to vomit, but their hairballs passed within a few days. I will be taking him to the vet the day after next to see if there is anything they can do, but I just wanted to check on this forum if any similar behavior has occurred with your cats and what the resolution was?

To be clear, the only symptom is that my 1 year old cat will dry heave about 2 or 3 times a day for maybe 30 seconds at a time, without producing any vomit, although he usually takes a few big gulps after an episode which leads me to believe that he is just not wanting to vomit something and purposefully re-swallowing it. There are no other symptoms or changes in behavior that I have noticed, with activity levels, eating, drinking, bathroom time, and sleeping all remaining normal.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice!

Hmmm, honestly, I don't know what else you could try, since you've already tried hairball medicine AND coconut oil.  It's good he's acting normal...good sign. 

I've got two medium length haired cats, and they've never had problems expelling hairballs.  BUT, I try to remember daily to give them Vets Best Hairball Relief.  I used to give them Temptations Hairball Treats.  With those you give EXACTLY 10, no more, no less.  But I don't think anything like that works once you're in the situation your little one is in.  Sounds like it's just so big that it can't get expelled via either end.  You know that hairballs are meant to go out the back end, don't you?  That's how cat's digestive systems are designed

Could your cat be coughing? It can sound a lot like trying to vomit a hairball without results.

momto3cats said:

 
Could your cat be coughing? It can sound a lot like trying to vomit a hairball without results.

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This is what I wonder, too, particularly because coughing that looks like a failed attempt at hairball expulsion can be a sign of asthma. (There's a video of a cat having an asthma attack here.)

One of our cats coughed several times like this not long after we adopted her... but she stopped after we switched the cats' litter from Fresh Step to Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief. Ireland really digs a lot in the box and I suspect she had some sort of sensitivity to the perfumy dust in Fresh Step. Ireland had no other asthma symptoms or other health issues and she was (and still is) very active.

About hairballs: neither of our two cats has thrown up a hairball in the year and a half we've had them and I don't think I've ever seen an actual hairball in their poops.

To be honest his symptoms do seem similar to the cat asthma video that you have posted. Unfortunately, I am not sure what might have caused any sort of asthmatic reaction, since he has been living in the same house, eating the same food, and using the same litter for 6+ months with no ill effects, so having sudden asthma symptoms develop with no change in the environment is unlikely. Hopefully the vet will have some answers. We may end up needing to witch their litter so thank you for the suggestion!  

marbear56 said:

 
To be honest his symptoms do seem similar to the cat asthma video that you have posted. Unfortunately, I am not sure what might have caused any sort of asthmatic reaction, since he has been living in the same house, eating the same food, and using the same litter for 6+ months with no ill effects, so having sudden asthma symptoms develop with no change in the environment is unlikely. Hopefully the vet will have some answers. We may end up needing to witch their litter so thank you for the suggestion!  

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Could the change be related to pollen? (The pollen counts have been outrageous this spring where I live!) Given that nothing has changed in your house, perhaps that's the issue? Either way, it's great that you're going to see the vet soon. Good luck!

Might not hurt to keep on eye on him for a few more days then consult a vet. But I'd look at his gums and eyes to make sure he wasn't pale, and feel his tummy to make sure it feels ok and that he's not in any discomfort. It could be that as a growing boy his esophagus isn't quite as big as it needs to be, or it could be asthma. My cat did the same thing around that age, and it took a couple weeks of the hartz hairball gel before he finally coughed up a couple big hairballs, one so big it scared me. (Seeing that, I did regret not bringing him to the vet, though I am a worrywart.) After that, I put him on hairball formula food, and give him the hairball stuff regularly, as well as brushing him a lot more often, which sure beat stepping in cat glurp at 7 am, or worrying.