Regular grooming can keep your cat from hacking up hairballs

Q: My cat is constantly throwing up hairballs, and I'm tired of stepping on them. Is there a solution?

A: Hairballs (also known as trichobezoars) are icky, sticky, cigar-shaped clumps of fur that result from feline grooming habits.

Cats clean themselves by licking their fur with their raspy tongue. The tongue grabs hold of loose hair, and there's only one place it can go after that — down the hatch and into the stomach. But hair is indigestible, and eventually it forms into a clump, your cat has a hack attack (usually in the middle of the night when you're trying to sleep) and then you step on it because it blends into the carpet.

But hairballs don't have to be a normal part of living with a cat. Diet and grooming can help to prevent them.

Daily brushing is the best, easiest, most natural way to prevent hairballs. Brushing removes loose, dead hairs, reducing the amount of hair available for your cat to swallow during grooming.

Plain canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) is high in fiber and helps swallowed hair make its way through the digestive system rather than coming back up and plopping onto your carpet. Regularly offer your cat a teaspoon of pumpkin mixed with canned food or with a tasty liquid such as some water from a can of tuna or clams.

Some cat foods are formulated with high levels of fiber to help reduce the incidence of hairballs. You can also offer hairball-control treats or gels. Gels, which work by lubricating the hair in the digestive tract so it doesn't form clumps, should not be given if you're already feeding a hairball-control food.