Are these hairballs?

twirlagig

Ok, I recently rehomed a cat, have her about 5 weeks now. She is settling in fine, Thank God! But the last 2 or 3 days she has been throwing up during the night - woke me up to hear her heaving, the poor thing!
But this doesn't look like vomit.... it's more like a long sausage, first time I saw it I thought it was a big poop on the bed! :eek: It's quite solid too, I could pick it up in one piece quite easily with some tissue. I looked at it - while there was definitely some hairs present in it, it didn't look like it consisted purely of hair alone.
Does this sound like hairballs? Am worried about her and was going to take her to the vet, but a friend that I was chatting to today (who has 2 long-haired cats) said these 'sausages' are a regular occurence in her household every few weeks, and that as long as she's happy and eating/drinking well, going to the toilet as normal and sleeping well, not to worry.
Am I just being over-protective in my new Mammy Role??:o
Oh, I do try and groom her everyday to keep the hairs away but I notice one thing - the more she seems to be settling in with me, the more she's grooming herself... It's like she's more content as time goes on and she's just sitting back there on the couch cleaning herself away.
Been looking at those furminator things on the internet and another thing called a Zoom Groom - anybody try these on cats?
Any advice appreciated

Rommie

Yup, those are hairballs so nothing really to worry about. You can get pastes like De-furrum that breaks down the hair so it doesn't end up getting coughed up all over the place, otherwise plenty of grooming is a must. I use the furminator on long and short haired cats and find it great

twirlagig

Rommie wrote: »

Yup, those are hairballs so nothing really to worry about. You can get pastes like De-furrum that breaks down the hair so it doesn't end up getting coughed up all over the place, otherwise plenty of grooming is a must. I use the furminator on long and short haired cats and find it great

Thank you @Rommie - Phew! Feel a bit more at ease now!
Where can I get De-furrum? Was in a local vets yesterday and that name was not on the shelf - only thing I could see (and bought) was Johnson's Hairball Remedy - not wowed by it, but of course I've only had it about 24hrs or a little more!
....about the furminator... how often would you use it and for how long each time? Would you rely on it totally as a grooming tool or do you alternate between it and a gentler comb at times? Just watched a video of it in action on a dog and it was quite scary how much hair it took off! :eek:

Gloomtastic!

An alternative is to put a couple drops of liquid parafin on it's front paws. The cat will then lick the lp and it will dissolve the fur balls.

Pumpkinseeds

twirlagig wrote: »

Thank you @Rommie - Phew! Feel a bit more at ease now!
Where can I get De-furrum? Was in a local vets yesterday and that name was not on the shelf - only thing I could see (and bought) was Johnson's Hairball Remedy - not wowed by it, but of course I've only had it about 24hrs or a little more!
....about the furminator... how often would you use it and for how long each time? Would you rely on it totally as a grooming tool or do you alternate between it and a gentler comb at times? Just watched a video of it in action on a dog and it was quite scary how much hair it took off! :eek:

You can get Defurrum from most vets and pet shops. You can get alternatives as well. One of my cats loves the defurrum and won't won't touch it.

twirlagig

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

An alternative is to put a couple drops of liquid parafin on it's front paws. The cat will then lick the lp and it will dissolve the fur balls.

For a second, at first glance, I thought your username was Groomtastic!
Liquid Parafin - Would I get that in the vets place or the chemist?

Gloomtastic!

twirlagig wrote: »

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

An alternative is to put a couple drops of liquid parafin on it's front paws. The cat will then lick the lp and it will dissolve the fur balls.

For a second, at first glance, I thought your username was Groomtastic!
Liquid Parafin - Would I get that in the vets place or the chemist?

You get it in any chemist.

Gloomtastic!

twirlagig wrote: »

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

An alternative is to put a couple drops of liquid parafin on it's front paws. The cat will then lick the lp and it will dissolve the fur balls.

For a second, at first glance, I thought your username was Groomtastic!
Liquid Parafin - Would I get that in the vets place or the chemist?

You'll get it in any chemist.

pinkdaisy

The best thing to use for a cat that has an issue with hairballs is a paste called "katalax". You can buy it online and I think you can buy it without a prescription from a vet.