Hairball/hairsausage

First time I came upon a hairball I thought it was stool. It was shaped like a sausage and not a "ball".
But due to the consistency and smell of cat food I determined that is was in fact a hair ball. I have never come across it before, and today I just cleaned up number 3. The first one happened a little while ago... Maybe a month, but the next two was monday and the next today.

So after a bit of reaserch apparently a cat should only experience abot 2 hairballs a year! So I am now a little bit worried! I have two cats, and it was only today that I more or less happened upon Pepsi right after, so I know it was him this time.

Should I be worried? I also read that spring will make things worse, and I have noticed that he is shedding a bit more than he did before. But he is about 1 year 3 months old (they both are), so last year at this time they were both tiny kittens, so this is really unfarmiliar terretory.

I know that taking him to the vet is something that will be recomended, but since he really seems fine, normal apetite, normal energy and everything is normal I am not sure if I want to spend money (that I kind of almost don't really have, living on a student loan :S) that I could really use for other stuff (like cat litter and food), and I wanted to ask online first. At any sign of discomfort on his part I won't hesitate to call, but he is really fine

So is it possible that seasonal shedding is the cause of more than normal hairballs?
When should I start to worry? (I already am kind of :S but really?) as I said, he seems really fine, his normal goofy self

Just wanted to ask for any advice! People who have experience with stuff. I freak out about anything! They once got bitten by a spider and I totely freaked out!!! In my country (Norway) there are no dangerous spiders, but all spiders do have venom to kill their prey with. I called the vet and they kind of laughed so I am really a mama bear but the vet is so freakishly expensive! Now I whish I got a vetenary education instead!

Yes, hairballs often do look like poop, with that sort of long, skinny shape and gross color! 

Shedding season can bring an increase in hairballs, as cats swallow more hair during frequent grooming. You can help by combing and brushing your cat a little every day (or more, if they like it... it's a great way to bond!). This will help get rid of a lot of the loose hair and keep it out of your cat's belly so it can't become a hairball.

Hairballs are usually just a gross nuisance, but they can become more serious if the hair becomes impacted. If your kitty's appetite and activity level are okay and pretty normal, you have no need to "worry", but you do need to help so it doesn't turn into a problem. At this point, combing and brushing as much as your kitty will allow (or your arms can stand, if your cat is a brush wh*re like mine are!), feeding a hairball diet and giving a hairball laxative a few times a week might be all you need.

Hairball laxatives come in many formulas. Some are based on petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and glycerin with some flavoring and maybe some vitamins. Others are "Vaseline free"-- I use one from Vitamin Shoppe, which has no Vaseline in it. They call it a 'paw gel' and the idea is to put it on the cat's paw for him to lick off. My experience is that they just make a mess of my house and wipe that stuff on my carpets, furniture, etc. They won't lick it off the paw. But the stuff nonetheless seems to be tasty to them, so they will sometimes lick it out of the tube. Usually, though, I just fill up a 3 ml syringe and gently squeeze it in the corner of their mouth. They'll lap it right up, like eating frosting out of a decorating gun, LOL! 3 ml is just over half a teaspoon, and I have them on that twice a week for maintenance. If they have more than usual on hairballs, I give it two or three days in a row, then back to twice a week.

Another option is to add some plain baked sweet potato or PLAIN canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling!) to the kitty's food. Oddly enough, many cats actually like sweet potato and pumpkin, and it's a wonderful natural fiber source. Fiber helps control hairballs, and the types of fiber in sweet potato or pumpkin, (or even acorn or similar kinds of squash) help to balance moisture in the gut and regulate gut motility and stool bulk. That's a fancy way of saying that you can use sweet potato, pumpkin or acorn/butternut/similar squash for hairball control, constipation OR chronic diarrhea. Just roast your veggie of choice until it's nice and soft... with NO butter or salt or seasonings. Let it cool, peel, then mash and portion out into ice cube trays. Freeze the mash, and bring out one cube per day. The daily dose of sweet potato or pumpkin is 1 tablespoon per day. You can divide it among 3 meals if you feed that way-- 1 TEAspoon per meal, 3 TEAspoons is one TABLEspoon (sorry, I do the same caps thing in recipes. I teach developmentally disabled people basic cooking and grocery-shopping skills as part of an semi-independent living program, so you'll see this a lot, out of habit!) 

Hairballs are a fact of nature for cats.  Technically though, they are supposed to go out the backend, IN their stools, rather than out the front end.  However, most cats will thro them up once in awhile, probably because they don't eat enough roughage or fat or fiber or for whatever reason. 

I have been told that feeding them an all wet diet helps, plus adding egg yolk lecithin to their food DOES help, for sure.  I give my cats 1/2 capsule (mixed into their wet food) daily to keep their hairballs passing thru their intestinal tract.  I also give them Vet's Best Hairball Relief Tablets (1 a day) for the same thing.  They eat them like treats.  And IF they happen to have a hairball that is forming in their tummy rather than passing, the Vet's Best helps them throw it up without it getting bigger.