Pet Haven

A furball, or trichobezoar to give it its fancy name, is nothing more than really matted chunks of fur. If you can picture a handful of hair pulled out of your hairbrush and rolled into a ball, then soaked – a furball is the feline equivalent to this.

Firstly, there is nothing to worry about. It is not dangerous and is infact quite normal. It won’t leed you to wiching you’d bought cat insurance, and believe it or not your cat actually tells you when she is about get rid of a furball. One of the most obvious signs is when you see your cat outside eating grass, or perhaps your plants. There’s something in the grass that calms the cat’s stomach and helps it to dislodge the furball so she can spit it out. If you have an indoor kitty, then you could consider having a pot of specially grown grass that you keep in a place easily accessible to your cat.

It is possible to reduce the possibility of furballs however. The main way is to make sure that you brush your cat’s fur regularly. This is especially helpful for cats with longer fur, and at times of the year when their fur is falling out – usually as the season’s change. Heat can also factor into a cat’s fur falling and so if you observe your cat is molting hair around the house, help her hygiene by brushing out the loose fur. Otherwise, when she washes herself, that loose fur goes into her mouth, down into her stomach and eventually it will have to come back out.

Occasionally you may find that your cat is unable to dislodge the furball. This is potentially dangerous as it could block off the passage to the intestines. This could create serious health problems for your cat so you need to be on the look-out for this possibility, especially if your cat seems as though they are going to throw-up but nothing comes up more than a little bit of vomit. If this happens a few times, you should have your vet examine your cat. It could be that the vet will prescribe some form of medication that will enable the furball to dislodge more easily. Some cats need to have this medication regularly as they have a permanent problem with furballs.

Although long haired cats look as though they will have an issue with furballs, keep an eye on your cat even if it has short fur. All cats groom themselves by licking and so any dislodged fur goes into their body. Observe your cat for signs of discomfort and if they seem to be eating more grass then it’s very possible that they have a furball to dislodge and so keep a careful watch to ensure that they don’t have a problem with it. As with humans, the best kind of healthcare is precaution and observation of anything out of the ordinary.