Do all cats puke,or have hair balls? my step mom says they dont

Question

she says that because she had a cat for 7 years who never puked,and she had another one he only puked when he got old.so please prove her a point

Answer 1

long haired cats have more hairballs and puke more often than short haired.Probably the only cat that wouldn't would be one of the hairless varieties (anybody else think those cats look like alien monsters?LOL)

Answer 2

Today one of our kittens played with a grasshopper until he killed it, then ate it. Then he went to drink some water to wash it down and puked up the grasshopper in the water bowl, and walked away to puke some more. Luckily his sister came along to clean up after him. YUM.

Answer 3

well all cats do sooner or later. and alot of  the time you dont even know.

my cats barely ever do it. but it has to happen. because when cats groom and clean them selves hair comes off there fur and basicly collects and it comes back up.(hairball)

Answer 4

No, shorthaired cats don't get hairballs as much, and cats that are regularly brushed and healthy sometimes don't get hairballs at all. My long haired cat is 1 1/2 years old and only had 2 hairballs in her life.

Answer 5

ALL cats do

i meen its the same with us

all humans puke

all cats puke

i have 2 cats

AND THEY HAVE HAIRBALLS ALL THE FREAKIN TIME

Answer 6

Actually, becca, that's not true.  My vet says that short-haired cats often get the most furballs because they SHED more often---my short-hair has a bad furball problem that has to be treated with medicine.  The hairballs are also not caused from the fur being stuck in the throat...one of my aunt's cat's had to get a humongous one surgically removed from her stomach because it was so big she could not cough it up, the poor thing!

If your mom says she had a cat who never got furballs, LA, I doubt that's TOTALLY true.... but she might not have seen any because some cats do  get them more often than others.  If you keep them extremely well-groomed, for example, the stray hairs don't have the opportunity to get into their mouths. If they also don't shed that much. it's equally true.  Also, there is a breed of cats called Sphynxes who have no fur at all.   If you've seen Austin Powers, the 'naked' Mr. Bigglesworths were played by Sphynx cats.

Answer 7

I think the vast majority of cats clean themselves and pass the fur balls by puking. It is disgusting. It took the longest time to get used to it. I would start retching when I first saw it. I'd cover it up as soon as possible, but I couldn't go near it to remove it without retching. So, I can't prove her point.  

Answer 8

Yes they do. She just didn't spot it. If you give your cat about a quarter of a teaspoon (definitely no more or it will poo everywhere) of pure olive oil once a month mixed in with it's food, it helps the animal to pass the hair ball throught their gut. Try it.  

Answer 9

Longhaired cats are mostly the victims of hairballs but any cat can get a hairball. A cat's tongue is structured to pull away dead/loose hair from the body when it is grooming itself. This hair goes down the esophagus and into the stomach and sometimes it forms a giant mass and cannot pass through so the only way to evacuate it is by puking it up! :P yummy

Answer 10

my cats puke all the time.

Answer 11

No.

Not all cats have hair balls believe it or not! That's usually the most recognizable thing on every cartoon that just signals that a cat has come into the show.  Usually, only cats with longer hair. My cat has fair length hair and he's never had a hair ball in his life.

He has, however, thrown up but this may just be him. I can't say if there are cats who don't ever throw up. They may throw up for different reasons. Maybe that ate something that wasn't good for their diet. I know my cat has thrown up for eating styrofoam before. I guess she might've just gotten lucky!

Answer 12

My family has had many cats and NONE of them ever puked

now when i say many i mean more then 20 (not more then 3 at a time though)

Answer 13

Every cat is different... some get hairballs and some don't. Some are constipated all the time, and some aren't. Some shed more frequently than others, or have more hair per square inch than other cats... It's like humans...everyone has different hair and skin types....

For example... I have 4 cats... they are all short-haired cats, they all eat the same food and water, they all get brushed regularly. All are spayed/neutered. They are all indoor cats.

One is a light grey tabby, male and he gets hairballs occasionally (1 a month maybe) and never has issues with constipation.

The second one is a  cream coloured, petite female...she weights only 9 pounds, and she is chronically constipated. She has hair balls all the time (every other day). We give her "laxatone" daily (a hairball remedy), and she gets brushed all the time. She has always been this way....even as a kitten...we've tried every kind of food, hairball food, soft, dry, high fibre, low fibre, etc etc... and this is just how she is.

The last 2 are brothers from the same litter. One is an orange tabby (from the dad) and he has very rare instances of hairballs... 1 every 2-3 months. The other one is solid black, with super sleek, shiny fur like the mom... and he has never had a hairball.... His fur is so obviously different from the other cats, that if i ever found a solid black hairball... I'd know who it's from. Neither of these two have constipation issues, either.

My vet tells me, that some cats are more predisposed to hairballs than others (due to digestive differences or more hair). Some cats may never develop hairballs because they produce a lot of oil that lubricates everything when they groom (like my black cat). Some cats suffer from a type of OCD and groom excessively, causing hairballs (like my little cream colored female). It's unique to each cat.

Answer 14

She's right.  The only cats that puke up hairballs are those with lazy owners who never groom them.  

Hairballs are caused by a cat ingesting hair that it licks off its coat.  When there's a large accumulation of hair it creates a ball of hair in the stomach that is quite irritating and the cat may vomit it up.  Hairballs can also get so large that they block the intestines and can cause death.  

So groom your cat regularly and give it a hairball remedy or feed it a food with built in hairball remedy.  These help break down the hair in the stomach so they're eased out of the cats system - not hacked back up or stuck in the intestines.

Edit: FYI - longhaired cats do NOT shed more than shorthaired cats - it's the other way around!  Longhaired cats should also not be brushed - they should be COMBED.  Brushes do little to remove the dead hairs of the undercoat and can break and pull out the topcoat hairs.  A good quality steel-toothed comb will gently remove the dead hairs of the undercoat and leave the topcoat intact.

Answer 15

she is wrong all cats puke in some point of thier life its unnatural if a cat doesnt puke

Answer 16

i think they do. She just didn't witness it

Answer 17

no typically only longhaired cats get hairballs. since hairballs are caused from hair getting swallowed or stuck in the throat when a cat cleans itself, it makes sense that longhaired cats are the ones that get affected.

as for puking, that only happens if something is wrong. so if they're not, great!

Answer 18

my kitten is one of 3, my friend has the other 2, they both get hairballs, and mine doesnt. it all depends on teh genes the kitten recieves, or how much it licks its fur, etc.  

Answer 19

All cats do. You probably don't see this but outdoor cats just eat grass to make themselves sick and puke it up. Indoor cats just do it on your carpet.  

Answer 20

Most cats do, I can say that for sure.  I think that of 6 cats I have owned over the course of 25+ years, there are only two I don't remember having to clean up after.  To be perfectly honest with you, though, just because I don't remember it, does not mean it did not happen.  

Edited to add, for the shorthair/longhair count - only one of my cats has had long hair.  So that's one longhaired cat with hairballs, 3 shorthaired cats with hairballs, and 2 shorthaired cats who may not have had a big issue.  All of my cats got brushed, and the one that got the most brushing (because I would brush her, then she would go and beg my dad to brush her too) was shorthaired and had hairballs.  The longhaired cat, not only do I brush her at home, but also take her to the groomers regularly.