Question About Hairballs

Came home tonight to hairball vomit. Actually my bare foot found it first. Franz has hacked before but has never brought up anything. He gets laxatone and some olive oil in his food when he is not in the mood for the laxatone. My question is this: How can I tell if it's hairball vomit vs regular vomit.? I was under the asumption that the hairball vomitus would be kind of "cigar shaped". However, since I stepped in it, I flattened it out into a hairball pancake. I did examine it throughly (nursing skills sure do come in handy) and did find pieces of hair (though not a lot, amongst the undigested food particles) so is it safe to assume it's a hairball, not vomit? My two previous cats were short hairs, and never had a hairball. He just ate, so he is not off his food. Please help!

Vomiting can be indicative of many things. It can be a food allergy, a health issue, the start of an illness, the beginning of dehydration, or the wrong food. I would push fluids and just watch the cat for the next 24 hours and see how he does.

Originally Posted by hissy

Vomiting can be indicative of many things. It can be a food allergy, a health issue, the start of an illness, the beginning of dehydration, or the wrong food. I would push fluids and just watch the cat for the next 24 hours and see how he does.

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Thanks Hissy...I so wanted it to be a hairball...yes, I'll watch him and push fluids, so far he seems okay. But I know looks can be decieving.