Celebrate National Hairball Awareness Day The Last Friday in April

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If you’ve ever doubted that there’s a special day for absolutely everything, this should convince you. It’s National Hairball Awareness Day.

Seriously. Anyone who’s ever been owned by a cat is plenty aware of hairballs. Especially in the spring, when our favorite little furballs seem to hack up hairballs on a daily basis. Often right where you’ll step in it. Yuck!

In fact, that’s sort of the point of the day. Kitty doesn’t like having hairballs any more than we like finding them or cleaning them up.

The good news is we can reduce the number of hairballs our feline friends have to deal with. And that’ll make all our our lives easier.

Kitty doesn’t have uncomfortable hairballs and doesn’t have to work at hacking them up. You know that can’t be fun … The horrendous noises they make in the process should make that real clear! And we don’t have to find unwelcome “presents” outside the bedroom door at 3 a.m.

But life gets busy, and who wants to think about hairballs anyway?

So National Hairball Awareness Day serves as a reminder to pay attention to your cat’s hairballs and try to help her have fewer of them. The day happens on the last Friday in April every year.

 

Why Hairballs Happen

Isn’t it obvious? It takes a lot of work to look as fabulous as your cat looks at all hours of the day! So he grooms himself. A lot.

And every day some of his hairs are loose. Just like yours. But yours end up in your brush or in the sink. Kitty’s hairs end up in his mouth, where he swallows them.

Now, much of it does pass through the digestive system and end up in her poop. But not all. Some stays in the stomach and over time more collects until it becomes a hairball. When it gets big enough, it comes back up.

 

Hairballs Can Be Dangerous

But sometimes it doesn’t. Hairballs can get stuck in both the intestines and the esophagus. Both can be dangerous if they don’t get moving again. Kitty might even need surgery.

When to worry? Basically if your cat’s acting different than normal:

• Not eating (or eating less). Especially if she usually loves food.
• Acting lethargic
• Has either constipation or diarrhea
• Keeps trying to hack up a hairball without success.

 

Now a day or two of this isn’t necessarily anything to worry about. You don’t have to run to the emergency vet the first time she hacks but fails to produce a hairball.

If it lasts more than a day or two, though, see your vet. Go sooner if she seems to be getting worse.

Hairball symptoms can also be similar to other illnesses. So don’t wait too long to have anything unusual checked out.

And frequent hairballs can be a sign of other health problems. If your cat really does seem to be hacking up a hairball every couple of days, or you notice the hairballs are more frequent than they used to be, have her checked out by your vet.

 

Reducing Hairballs

Brushes are a cat’s friend … Even if not all cats agree.

Regular brushing gets rid of loose hair. And the less loose hair he has, the less hair he’s going to swallow. And it logically follows that the less he swallows the fewer hairballs he’s going to have.

So even if your cat’s not a fan of the brush, sit her down and get rid of that loose hair. How often to brush depends on how badly she sheds. Long-haired cats need more frequent brushing than short-haired ones.

But even some short-haired cats shed a lot. So pay attention to the amount of shedding and the number of hairballs. Then adjust your brushing schedule accordingly.

There are also foods specially formulated to reduce hairballs. And hairball lubricants help fur to pass through the digestive tract without forming hairballs.

And pay attention to her grooming habits, too. If she starts grooming more than usual, she could have skin problems or other issues that need treatment.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this somewhat icky unofficial holiday.

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Celebrating National Hairball Awareness Day

You could try to encourage kitty to upchuck any hairballs he may have in honor of the day, but that’s probably not an effective use of your time. Any cat parent knows they’re notorious for doing the opposite of what you want. :)

If you don’t regularly brush your cat, today might be a good day to start a new routine. You’ll need a nice brush. If your furbaby truly hates brushes, a grooming mitt might work better for you.

For long-haired cats, and even short-haired ones with thick coats, a FURminator or similar deshedding tool can dramatically reduce loose hairs.

Figure out what kind of hairball remedy he’ll prefer. You can get treats, tablets and gels/pastes:

• Pet Naturals Hairball chews (not really treats, but can be fed similar to treats)
• Feline Greenies Smartbites, Hairball Control Treats (Tuna)
• Vet’s Best Hairball Relief, Chewable Tablets
• Nutri-Vet Hairball Paw Gel, Salmon flavor

 

If the problem’s really bad (and your vet has ruled out any other problems), you might want to consider hairball control food. Many different companies make hairball control formulas. Most are dry foods. Hills Science Diet also makes a canned version.

• Hills Science Diet Hairball Control Dry Food
• Hills Science Diet Hairball Control canned food (chicken flavor)
• Purina ONE SmartBlend Hairball Formula (dry)
• Nature’s Recipe Grain Free Indoor with Hairball Control (dry)
• Eukanuba Cat Indoor Weight Control and Hairball (dry)

 

And for a little humor to end your Hairball Awareness Day, check out the song about hairballs at the end of this post on Catster. It’ll make you laugh so hard you cry.

Finally, watch this video too see how much hair the average cat ingests in one year (hint: it’s more than you think!)

 

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