How Long does a Hairball take to come up?

[Ryand74]

My cat had been trying to hack one out for almost 5 days now with no progress and it is beginning to worry me! How long does this process usually take? I have been giving him over the counter laxatives as well as using Vaseline of the front paw but nothing seems to be helping him cough it up. He seems to be having attacks more and more frequently and I wonder if that means he almost has it or he needs to go to the vet. Anyone have any thoughts? Thank you so much!

[Princesss04]

I think you need to go to the vet ASAP. My cat has never had a hair ball but I think that it should not take that long. This does not sound normal. When he hacks is there anything that comes up? How old is your cat and what are you feeding him?

[Ryand74]

My cat is 2 years old and we feed him Science diet dry food in the morning and a healthy wet food at night. He has never had a hairball, but we just recently moved to Texas from Colorado and I wonder if the change in climate has caused this problem.

[Princesss04]

What kind of soft food. You prolly should call a vet and at least let them know what is going on and go from there. They may tell you not to worry about it and than again they may say to get your baby in there as soon as possible. Call the vet and see what they saw and go from there and let me know.

[Ryand74]

I'm not sure of the name but it's one of the better wet foods on the market. We try not to feed him anything full of by-products or ash! Thanks for the advise...I just called my vet and set up a visit for tomorrow morning. I'll post here when he is finished with the prognosis!

[Princesss04]

Thank you for taking sure good care of your baby. I hope he starts doing better you are in my thoughts and prayers. Let us know what the vet says! Hang in there little buddy your mommie is going to take good care of you!