Dogs can get hairballs too.
Can dogs get hairballs? The question, I admit, seems strange. Surely, hairballs afflict cats and cats alone? While they are rare, dog hairballs do appear occasionally, and for a variety of reasons. Indeed, a number of hirsute and fur-bearing creatures — most notably cats, but also cows, ferrets, rabbits, and even humans — can and do develop hairballs. And pre-modern and early-modern human cultures believed that hairballs, along with many other stone-like formations expelled by bodies, had magical or medicinal properties.
These days, we expect and can treat hairballs when they afflict our cats. Hairballs in dogs, while unusual, are more likely to send you running to the Internet for answers rather than to your friendly local alchemist. What are hairballs, exactly? What causes hairballs to form in the stomach? What can be done to prevent their formation? The last Friday in April is National Hairball Awareness Day, and we at Dogster have all the information you need to untangle these questions!
What is a hairball?
A hairball is a trichobezoar, a word that simply means a concentrated mass in the stomach comprised of hair. That mass may be formed solely of accumulated hair, or congeal around another indigestible element present in the stomach. Typically, a dog who inadvertently swallows his own hair or fur in the process of self-grooming will pass any stray hairs in his feces. Should sufficient hair or fur collect in the stomach, animals with a gag reflex, like cats and dogs, will vomit, expelling the mass from their bodies.
While we may associate hairballs with cats, that does not mean they are normal, nor to be expected in any animal. The larger a hairball grows in a dog’s stomach, the more it deprives a dog of necessary fluids. This leads to discomfort, dehydration, and eventually a lack of appetite. A hairball can create blockages in the digestive tract and become septic, interfering with the dog’s normal processes of digestion.
What causes hairballs?
When a dog ingests more hair than he can expel in his feces, that hair can begin to congeal around any other small, stray item present in the stomach. Hairball formation has a kind of snowball effect; once a hairball begins to form, the more hair a dog ingests, the larger it becomes. Once a hairball is large enough, physical discomfort compels the dog to vomit it out. Though hairballs in dogs are rare, they can form under the right conditions.
The length of a dog’s coat is not as big a factor in the formation of hairballs as is the ability to evacuate the bowels before hairballs can form. Dogs with skin conditions that drive them to repeatedly lick or chew on their skin and hair are also more likely to develop a hairball in their stomach. These conditions can vary, from skin allergies to parasitic infestations like mange, fleas, or ticks.
How to treat hairballs in dogs
Because hairballs in dogs are rare, the first thing you should do is make a visit to the veterinarian to discover the underlying cause. Should your dog be suffering from a skin allergy or parasitic infestation, treating the source of the affliction will likely eliminate the resulting hairballs. If it is not a skin condition or parasite, the vet may recommend a laxative or temporary dietary change to make passing excess hair in the stomach easier on the dog.
Preventing hairballs
Preventing hairballs before they begin is, of course, the best option. Make sure that your dog is getting enough fresh water to drink. A well-hydrated dog experiences more efficient bowel movements, allowing any hair that is ingested to pass naturally in the feces. If your dog has longer hair, establishing a regular grooming routine, even if it is simply brushing away and disposing of excess hair, reduces the available raw materials.
Boredom is another potential cause of hairballs in dogs. Dogs who are left to their own devices for extended periods of time without toys or company to distract them may turn to chewing and licking at themselves simply to pass the time. Spending time with your dog on a daily basis — going for a regular walk or playing with her at a specific time each day — can eliminate boredom, as can providing an assortment of toys.
Has your dog ever vomited a hairball?
Whether you call it a hairball or a trichobezoar, finding a moist mass on your carpet or couch is not only inconvenient for you, but a painful and unwelcome experience for your dog. If your dog is producing them, the most important thing is to discover the reason behind it and to address it as quickly as possible.
(About the author: Melvin Peña trained as a scholar and teacher of 18th-century British literature before turning his research and writing skills to puppies and kittens. He enjoys making art, hiking, and concert-going, as well as dazzling crowds with operatic karaoke performances. He has a one-year-old female Bluetick Coonhound mix named Idris.)
For Our Cat Friends … who know ALL about hairballs…
National Hairball Awareness Day serves as an annual reminder for all friends of felines to learn a bit more about hairballs and evaluate the health of their cats.
Dr. Jane Brunt, feline veterinarian and Executive Director for the CATalyst Council, a group dedicated to promoting cat welfare, tells the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) that a hairball is usually thought of as a “cylindrical mass of hair that is regurgitated from the stomach of a cat.”
Veterinarian and clinical coordinator for the Community Practice service at Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Dr. Rebecca Ruch-Gallie, explains that hairballs — better known in the veterinary world as “trichobezoar” — are essentially wads of hair that accumulate in the digestive systems of animals that typically groom themselves. Cats, rabbits, cattle, and even llamas can get hairballs, she explains.
As for cats, the little barbs on the tongue do more than make a cat’s tongue feel scratchy like sandpaper; they strip away dead undercoat hairs during a cat’s grooming sessions. The loosened hair can end up in the gut, and most often it travels through the entire digestive system and is expelled into the litter box.
The amount of hair a typical cat swallows while grooming tends to vary. Dr. Brunt says that cats with some skin conditions, flea allergies, or food allergies might feel the need to groom themselves more often, and may ingest more of their own hair. And Dr. Ruch-Gallie explains that cats who are older and long-haired might be more prone to hairballs.
While some cats go through their whole lives without coughing up a hairball — which Dr. Brunt says is totally normal — others aren’t so lucky.
“If [the hair] doesn’t go past the stomach, past the pylorus, then it just kind of keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it forms a hairball,” Dr. Brunt explains.
If the wad of hair is stuck in the stomach, soaking up bile, it will eventually trigger regurgitation.
But should cat owners be worried if their kitties cough up a hairball? Not in all cases.
“I tell cat owners that more than one or two hairballs a year is not normal,” Dr. Brunt explains. “Frequently, when a cat vomits there is hair mixed in, so owners often assume that it was just a hairball—something they think is a normal occurrence. In fact, there may be something else going on with the cat medically.”
When might hairballs indicate a serious health problem? If you notice your cat is producing hairballs quite frequently, or if you observe excessive gagging, coughing, hacking, vomiting, a loss of appetite, lethargy, unusual stool consistency — including diarrhea, constipation, or an strangely excessive amount of hair in the stool — then it might be best to consult a licensed veterinarian. Cats who frequently regurgitate their hairballs may have an underlying medical condition such as inflammatory bowel disease or even cancer, according to the ASPCA.
Cats who experience difficulty in regurgitating hairballs should see the vet also as the hairball might be obstructed. In fact, some hairballs are so severe that they require surgical removal, Dr. Ruch-Gallie says.
There are plenty of things you can do to decrease the chances your cat will cough up a hairball. Dr. Ruch-Gallie suggests helping your cat out by grooming him with a brush.
“Pick a soft, bristled brush or a cat grooming mitt,” she says.
Petroleum-based cat treats can help cats pass their hair the normal way — through their stool — by lubricating their digestive system a bit and keep that hair moving.
Some cat foods are specially designed to reduce hairballs by improving the skin and coat health. These foods are intended to reduce shedding hair and itchy skin while also adding fiber to their diets.
Make sure your feline friend is drinking plenty of water, too, as hydration tends to help keep the digestive tract in tip-top shape.
Finally, because bored kitties tend to groom themselves too frequently, cat owners should work in some extra playtime. Less grooming means fewer hairballs, and that’s always a good thing.
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