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Did you know that cats spend 15 to 50 percent of their day grooming themselves? With that amount of grooming, hairballs will form.

Depending on your cat’s breed and grooming habits, you might find hairballs appearing quite regularly, leading you to wonder if this frequency is typical for them.

Let’s take a closer look at hairballs. What are they? What causes them? How do you prevent them?

What Are Hairballs?

Hairballs form when cats groom themselves. Their tongues, covered in tiny, backward-facing barbs, act like a brush. These barbs catch loose fur, which the cat then swallows. While their digestive system can usually process most of this hair, some of it may remain in the stomach. Because cats can’t properly digest hair, it can clump together, forming what we know as a hairball. Eventually, the cat will expel this clump by throwing it up.

From lizards and rats to dogs and cats, all pets deserve to live healthy, happy lives with their human companions. Your pet relies on you each and every day to provide what she needs to feel her best, so our experts at Ten West Bird & Animal Hospital have compiled some basic principles of pet care to help you on your pet parenting journey!

With our increasingly busy lives, it may seem as if grooming our pet is just one more chore. After all, her coat looks pretty good, so why bother?

Grooming is not just about bows and brushes, it’s an essential part of caring for your pet. Besides brushing, pet grooming also means looking after your pet’s teeth, nails, eyes, ears, and coat — all of which add up to a healthy, happy, and beautiful pet.