Some of the ingested hair can remain in the cat’s stomach and form a ball—the technical term is a trichobezoar. If this hairball formation is too big to pass into the intestines, it’s regurgitated instead. (Traveling through the esophagus on its way back out squeezes the ball into more of a bullet or sausage shape.)

“It’s not uncommon … for a cat to regurgitate a hairball once every week or two,” according to Richard Goldstein, DVM, an associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cat hairballs happen either because the ingested hair can’t move easily through the cat’s digestive tract or because the cat is taking in too much hair for the digestive system to handle. (What about dogs? It’s rare for dogs to have hairballs, but it does happen.)

The gut microbiome performs all kinds of important functions that support your cat’s digestive system. So those hairballs may be telling you something about the state of your cat’s gut health. For example, your cat’s digestion might be functioning suboptimally because of intestinal inflammation or an imbalanced gut microbiome.

When the different populations of bacteria in a cat’s gut aren’t present in the right proportions or key beneficial bacteria are missing, we describe the gut microbiome as imbalanced. An imbalanced gut microbiome is one of the factors that can contribute to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and chronic inflammation of the digestive tract can severely disrupt motility, contributing to more frequent hairballs.

Our easy, at-home KittyBiome Gut Health Test is a great way to learn more about your own cat’s gut health. You’ll receive a personalized report that explains your cat’s results, gives you actionable insights, and includes diet and nutrition recommendations based on your cat’s unique microbiome composition.

Because microbiome testing can identify problematic groups of bacteria and detect imbalances early, you may actually be able to prevent certain health problems in your feline by transitioning to a different cat food or adding a specific supplement to their diet.

All those different kinds of gut bacteria need the right fuel in order to perform their functions in the body. So by providing the beneficial bacteria in your cat’s gut with the proper food, you may be able to reduce or even prevent uncomfortable symptoms like frequent hairballs.

Substances that feed and promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria are called prebiotics. Prebiotics are particular kinds of fiber, such as inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), and mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS).

Studies have found that for cats, FOS offers greater benefits than other prebiotic fibers. Our KittyBiome S. boulardii + FOS Powder contains this helpful prebiotic as well as the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii. S. boulardii has been shown to reduce inflammation and promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.

Bacteria “eat” prebiotics through the chemical process of fermentation. The byproducts of that process, called postbiotics, are also important for a healthy gut. Some of the most important postbiotics are short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which (among other functions) help regulate intestinal motility.

If your cat’s Gut Health Test report shows that important beneficial bacteria are missing or too many harmful bacteria are present, restoring balance to the gut microbiome can help resolve a variety of symptoms, including frequent hairballs. Our KittyBiome Gut Restore Supplement is an oral capsule that gives your cat the benefits of a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) without the need for anesthesia or expensive procedures. The capsules contain a whole community of healthy, cat-specific gut microorganisms that fill in any missing bacteria, crowd out harmful populations, and provide healthy diversity.