If you don’t want to deal with putting goop on your cat’s nose or paws (or if your cat doesn’t enjoy this experience), there are also hairball-remedy treats available. My Katya highly recommends the tender chicken-flavored ones made by Friskies. She gets so excited when I get them out- it’s really cute. Your local Petco, Petsmart, or similar store should have them.
My cats seem to think the rugs in the living room and dining room are the prime places to go yerk up furballs/food eaten too quickly. Little bastiges.
I mix it into their food. Start out with a little and then add more. I put about a tablespoon in a serving of wet food. Mine do it by itself too, without being mixed into anything.
Just to confirm, this is canned plain pumpkin. Not pumpkin pie filling. That’s got sugar and spices in it.
One useful thing about having a dog? Fresh cat hurk=hot h’ordeuvre. It’s disgusting, but effective.