Hairballs or Upset Belly?

[NatalieRyan]

It's been a very long time since my cat has hacked one of these up, but she did it again on my bed, so now I'm seriously curious. Furballs from what I've seen/heard are literally furry turds. But when my cat does this, it's like....food and it's a pink/orange/brown mush with a little bit of grass and hair in it and sometimes liquid. I don't know if this is her hairballs (she doesn't generally shed a ton) or if she just regurgitated food cause she ate too fast or was picked up too soon after eating? Any of you deal with it? I don't even know if I should call it vomit cause it doesn't quite look like it.

 

[NatalieRyan]

I should also mention that she was extremely lively before it had occurred and she was bouncing around the place like a maniac before slipping into my bedroom.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It could be both hairball and upset stomach. I have never fed my cats grass, although Feeby has taken a bite or two from my spider plants if we don't keep them out of reach! But, I have read numerous articles on the fact that both dogs and cats eat grass to provoke vomiting due to an upset stomach. Grass, also depending on the kind, can actually act as a laxative of sorts to help pass hairballs.
Even cats that don't shed a ton are still ingesting hair through their routine grooming - and, sometimes they don't appear to be shedding much because they are actually eating a lot of the hair when cleaning themselves.

Feeby doesn't cough up hairballs very often, but I have seen her do so when she just eaten and other times when she hasn't recently eaten. So, depending on when she does cough one up will determine what you find in the contents of the vomit.

You can always try giving her a dab of butter/margarine on her paw or from your finger a couple of times a week to help her more easily digest the hair. A few drops of olive oil in her food a couple times a week should work as well as the butter/margarine.

 

[NatalieRyan]

Hi. It could be both hairball and upset stomach. I have never fed my cats grass, although Feeby has taken a bite or two from my spider plants if we don't keep them out of reach! But, I have read numerous articles on the fact that both dogs and cats eat grass to provoke vomiting due to an upset stomach. Grass, also depending on the kind, can actually act as a laxative of sorts to help pass hairballs.
Even cats that don't shed a ton are still ingesting hair through their routine grooming - and, sometimes they don't appear to be shedding much because they are actually eating a lot of the hair when cleaning themselves.

Feeby doesn't cough up hairballs very often, but I have seen her do so when she just eaten and other times when she hasn't recently eaten. So, depending on when she does cough one up will determine what you find in the contents of the vomit.

You can always try giving her a dab of butter/margarine on her paw or from your finger a couple of times a week to help her more easily digest the hair. A few drops of olive oil in her food a couple times a week should work as well as the butter/margarine.

Okay, thank you! My cat is outside in the day and comes in to sleep with me at night and I see her eat grass every once in a while. I was definitely wondering if she just didn't eat super fast and regurgitate because before she came into my bedroom, I made sure to feed her cause she was darting under my feet. I'm definitely going to watch her closely because the last time she started hacking these up, it was almost happening once a week for a period of time.