Poor Hazel has been suffering from a hairball that wouldn’t come up…or go down. She’d hack her little heart out, but nothing came. This went on for a week and I started getting concerned. *insert neurotic pet owner here with vet bill looming* She was able to eat and poop so I knew there was no blockage but it had to be uncomfortable.
Hazel suffers from recurring diarrhea so I don’t want to give her anything that would encourage that. Many hairballs remedies have some sort of laxative in them. I stopped one of her poop meds and that’s all it took. She gifted me with a ginormous hairball. She didn’t deposit it on the new carpet but on the old one. What a cat. We are all relieved and she is very happy (and there weren’t any vet bills!).
In complete serendipity, Mollie tossed a hairball too. On a carpet but not the new one. I stepped in it. Yuk!
Hazel and Mollie are all better and wish you a great weekend with no hairballs.

Here is Hazel feeling much relieved. You can see that I put towels on her favorite spots until this resolved but she preferred to toss on a carpet.
I’m glad the new carpeting was spared! Hair balls are wretched things! The cats are sweet, though. 🙂
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The new carpet has a different feel. It’s very flat, almost woven like. I don’t think it has the soft feel that the other carpets have. Then again, they are cats so I have no idea why they chose what they chose.
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Glad to hear the girls are doing better Kate. I’ve never had a cat but I have heard plenty about hairballs. Glad you came up with a fix with no angst and no vet bill.
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Me too!
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It’s always a relief to fix the problem and not have to corral them and take them to the vet where they hate to go. The last few times I had my canary at the vet they had to use an oxygen mask on him as he was hyperventilating so badly. Sorry I am so behind responding to comments/post … my boss is getting ready to go on vacation and I was swamped and left work later a few nights and have had internet troubles as well. We had beautiful weather today – 43 degrees and sunny. It can stay like this til mid-April and I’d be happy.
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Sunny? We haven’t seen the sun in days. It drizzled today.
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We had fog again today but it lifted by 10:00 so I headed out then. I prefer going out earlier though – I’m a creature of habit. Amazingly it was nice today … we have no rain until Thursday and then the ugly weather starts … rain Thursday into Friday and all day Friday and maybe the weekend … they don’t want to put the forecast out yet as it is basically a holiday weekend. What a disappointing weather year this has been. We’ve had better weather in December than in October and November.
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Is there anything worse than watching a cat try to cough up a hairball?
It breaks your heart to see the poor things struggle so.
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It does and you can’t help them. They don’t like it when you thump them on their back.
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Hope your weekend is hairball and worry free, Kate! Hairball for the cats, worry free for you… 🙂
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Hairball free for me too! Hate cleaning those suckers up especially when they have food and a lot of spit in it.
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Ewwwwwwwww!
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So glad Hazel and Mollie are feeling better! It’s always good when these things can get resolved without going to the vet – bills, stressed cats, stressed owner…
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Especially before the holidays. My cats are notorious for getting ill on weekends and holidays.
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Oh, they can all definitely sense when the worst time for a vet visit would be!
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So glad that Hazel and Mollie are feeling better. And no vet bill!! That’s a win-win-win!
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Definitely! With aging cats it’s rare to get away without a vet bill!
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Oh, those fun hairballs. Harley is our hairball cat. Olive used to have them, but rarely hacks them up anymore.
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How did Olive stop? Change in food?
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Glad everyone is feeling better! Now if we could only have some real sunshine around here…
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Sunshine? Not sure I’d recognize that.
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Pleased to know cats and carpet are all good! Have a good weekend.
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Thanks! You too!
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🙂
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Nothing worse than a lodged hairball! Glad they’re feeling better. Have a great weekend, Kate!
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Thanks! All good here now!
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I don’t know if it’s better to step in the squishy hairball with a bare foot or to step on it with slippers and track it all over the house before realizing there was a hairball…
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The worst is sneakers with a lug sole. It sticks in there and smooshes everywhere.
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Glad she is fine. I am also always worried when our cat fights with a hair ball.
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Me too. I surprised myself by not contacting the vet and letting it play out a few days. I am getting some hairball treats in my next Chewy shipment to have on hand just in case.
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Poor kitties! It must be a relief to get those hairballs up and out.
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Yes. Hazel is back to her food seeking self! That hairball was taking up valuable food space.
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I’m a neurotic pet owner, too. Max is getting older, and a friend just lost her dog who is one year older than him, so I’ve been overly neurotic now. If I pay attention, Max tells me if he has to throw by going to the door for outside. There are times I haven’t seen him, and he thinks that means he has to go place it on the good carpet. I think he sees carpet as grass, because he loves rolling around on it like in grass.
So glad to know that you have a worry free weekend over Hazel now, and that she’s feeling much better. Enjoy the weekend.
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It is a worry when they are older. I didn’t want to give her something for it for fear it would let loose the butt machine but I knew she was uncomfortable. They must see carpet as grass as the cats prefer it too. Since my cats don’t go out, it’s always inside.
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The joys of cat ownership: Stepping on a cold wet hairball. I’m always barefoot in the house which makes the experience very EXTRA.
Happily and knock on all the woods – neither of my current pests seems to hack up hairballs. I’m almost worried about that, but I’ve decided it’s a blessing I’ve earned after a lifetime of stepping in wet hairball.
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Don’t question it! Morgan doesn’t toss hairballs but the other three do. Not sure why as Gracie and Morgan has the same kind of fur. Mollie’s is long but Hazel is short but thick. They are all brushed (especially Hazel and Mollie).
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You’re lucky they accommodated you by leaving their little gift on the old carpet. I’m convinced mine race around looking for the perfect spot…on the area rug, instead of on the hardwood floors which are more abundant. *Sigh* Here’s to a hairball free weekend.
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We had two whopper hairballs this week so I’m hoping for a hairball free weekend. We are having guests tomorrow so I will have to do an “hairball check” on the oriental rugs where they hide only to surprise guests!
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I saw the title of this blog in my emails list and thought, “Is Kate pregnant?”
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Was there a star in the east? My eggs are long dead but you gave me a good chuckle.
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For as rough and tumble survivalists that cats are, they can get some tummy issues. Glad you managed it and Hazel is better. (No matter how many towels you put out, carpets always. Sigh) Paws up for a perkier weekend!
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They will leave a hard surfaced floor to find a carpet to barf. It must some instinct to barf on grass.
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I often wonder if it’s not because they want to sink their claws into something to get extra grip power behind their effort – like chains on snow tires?
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Maybe. That’s as good a reason as any. When Gracie barfs, she backs up while chucking so there is a stream 2′ long. Carpet adds good traction.
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glad the new carpet is still a new one and the two hairballs are out and hopefully forgotten ;O)
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Honestly the new carpet has seen a hairball already. Just not this week!
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Nothing worse than stepping on a hairball in the dark middle of the night on the way to the bathroom. Happens too often in our house!
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At least this wasn’t in the middle of the night and I had fuzzy socks on (which are in the laundry!). The middle of the night finds are the worst. Sometimes I put the wastebasket over it and clean it in the morning. I do clean my feet though.
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What is it about cats and their desire to retch on carpet rather than hardwood?! Theo will actually move off the floor onto the carpet to hack up a hairball. Sigh.
Glad to hear that the hairball is now history and everyone is happy again 🙂
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Yes she is back to wanting to eat everything that isn’t nailed down! I am convinced that in the wild they must look for soft places to barf. Maybe grass or meadows.
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That was my guess too – that they associate carpeting with grass.
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