Don't feel stupid about this - I worked in a shelter and the Fundraising
Coordinator was freaking out and calling to us cause one of the cats was in
her office and had puked up a hairball.  She had no idea what it was and was
worried about him.  When I told her what it was she was surprised cause of
what it looked like - she had never seen one.  She had a cat too but had
never saw him cough up a hairball either.  He went outdoors so maybe outdoor
cats do them out there.   I think if they had a build-up of hair inside of
them, there would be some symptoms.  Also, some of the hair exits their body
through their poop too!  

NanCe

Hey, don't worry. I've never had hairballs horked up either!Oh, no except
for once when Jasmine was shedding in spring. I put it down to jasmine
shedding all her fur on me......I feed them a 'furball' cat food mixed with
a 'kitten' catfood (dry that is) and i cook them fresh rather than give them
tinned once a day.

<snip>

I don't think that's likely! One of my cats seems to vomit quite easily,
and also seems to be responsible for most, if not all, of the hairballs.
I've never actually seen the other one produce a hairball at all. I always
put the difference down to individual differences in the cats' fur and
digestive systems. They're both shorthaired cats, but Mandy (the generous
hairball donor) has fur of a slightly finer texture than Betsy, and also
clearly has a more delicate stomach.

Hairballs are also not necessarily located right after they are produced,
so you may find some yet. It does seem sometimes like Mandy always prefers
to hurk them up on the carpet right where they can be stepped on, but I
have found ancient dried up specimens under or behind furniture.

Scouty and Silver have NEVER coughed up a hairball... occasionally
Silver crouches and coughs and makes 'hairball-evacuation noises' for
a minute or so, but then she stops and acts like she's perfectly
okay... we give them some lactone hairball medicine every so often to
help keep them lubricated and to move the hairballs on down through
their digestive systems and out the other end. They're shorthaired
cats so there's not as much hair to build up...
I THINK Scouty has a hairball now but I don't know for sure... we'll
find out tomorrow.

My short-haired cats haven't thrown up hairballs (as far as I know!), but my
two medium-haired ones have if I slacked off on brushing them.  Cats that go
outside probably leave some of their fur behind as they crawl under and
between plants.

It is possible for a hairball to clog the stomach, but I think it's rare.
If your cat is still eating, she's probably fine.

Sandy

None of my cats have ever had a hairball problem that I've been aware of.
That's seven cats who for the most part had fairly long lives.  None of them
were long hair cats.  And all of them have spent some time outdoors.  We've
never really had much of a shedding problem with any of our cats either.
When its shedding season, I usually brush them thoroughly a few times so
they don't have to go after all the undercoat themselves, but even when I
haven't we haven't had hairballs.

Then again, we have never really had to deal with clipping claws either.

Just lucky I guess.

Jo

Between the two of them, Sammy and Little Bit have left me two in the
past five years. Rocky seemed more prone, as he horked up a couple in
a year. Course, it might have been more, since he was an in/outdoor
cat. Spotty hasn't barfed up one yet, but she does barf about once a
month. I figure it's because she sometimes has flashbacks about being
hungry and scarfes up her food two fast. Most of the time she just
nibbles at the dry food I leave out during the day, but if I let the
bowl go empty she turns into a hoover and tries to enhale the whole
bowl, and ends up barfing it back up.

It depends on the cat, out of the seven cats I've lived with, only Figaro,
the cat I grew up with, coughed up furballs, often looking like something
that came out the other end. So, from the small sample I've seen, most cats
don't cough them up, it must go straight through.

I'm with everyone else. SOme cats do some don't. Pearl doesn't but Sugar and
Grant always did. I also think maybe cats that have more roughage eating out
door things may pass hair easier and don't have to throw them up. I think
you are OK!

Neither of mine ever present me a hair-ball as such, but Will
will sometimes spew up a meal and I can see that there is a lot
of hair mixed in.

Before I had established a good brushing frequency for my
long-haired Heidi, she used to frequently cough as though she
were going to hack up a hair-ball, but she always swallowed it
back.  Now that I brush her daily I haven't seen or heard that
lately.

Frank and Nikki used to bring up a lot of hairballs, but neither Miranda
nor Caliban have hurked up a single one. Miranda's been with me since
March last year, and Caliban since August. Not a single hairball in that
time. <small blessings>

I'm no cat expert, but Oscar only brings up a hairball very rarely.
I'm told that food can have something to do with it, too.

I actually spoke to my vet recently, and the topic of intestinal
blockage from a hairball came up.  She said it's very rare and that
I'd know for sure something was wrong, because typically a cat with a
blockage can't keep even the smallest amount of food down.  They would
eat a little bit, then it wouldn't have anywhere to go, so it would
come right back up.

It's perfectly normal for them to not get one. Fin never horked up a
hairball in the whole 10+ years he graced my life, and belive me, I was
very grateful for it.  Rita, however, has horked up a few, so I need
to get some hairball stuff for her.  

Jane
- owned and operated by Princess Rita

No, they are cylinder shaped, like a smaller BM.  Sometimes it is hard to
tell them apart.  Sometimes it is a hairy upchuck.  MLB

Thanks for all the replies.  Phew!
I began to think that hairballs were obligatory and if my cats were not
horking them up on a regular basis there might be something wrong!

I am pleased to find out that hairball-horking is not essential to health
;-)
My cats are both absolutely fine and in good health.  There was no reason
for my question other than that so many other cats on the group seemed to do
it that I wondered if it was necessary.
I am still not very experienced with cats.  I want to be a good meowmie so
if I read things here I think that a) maybe I ought to do this (like getting
a scratching post) totally unnecessary, and scorned as they have trees
outside..   or b) my cat doesn't do this, why?  etc.

I should learn to trust myself more.  I have kept mice, hamsters, guinea
pigs, rabbits, goats, horses, dogs, chickens, geese over my lifetime.  They
all lived pretty long lives.  I am sure I am capable of looking after two
cats without worrying too much!  Now I have to convince myself.

Tweed