hair balls

Question
Hi..I have a "heinz 57" domestic short hair cat that I adopted from the Humane Society. I have hair ball prevention products but "Lucky" still gets hair balls (I'm not as diligent as I should be about giving her her preventatives). My question is: what can I do to assist her when she is hacking up a hair ball? She seems to be in so much distress that it breaks my heart to just watch her and not do anything. I would also like to know if "jerky" movements are normal when she is going thru this. Is there anything that you would recommend for me to give her to prevent these hair balls, other than the otc products that I am using. Thanks so much for your time and expertise in this matter.  

Answer
Hi Noreen!

Let her toss them up! :) Also getting wet food into her diet can help more, since the wet food has some added fat to help bind with the hair to go out the other end.

Also ask your vet about T/D diet.  Its made for cleaning teeth, but it works wonders with hairballs! :)