# Why don't cats want to bury their hairballs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086 "2003-09-22T14:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/1 "2003-09-22T14:12:30Z")
One of the delights of cat ownership is that there’s no housebreaking required. You get a kitten, show it where the litterbox is, and that’s it. Unless its desperately ill, or pissed off at you, or you fail to clean the litter box, you will not have any accidents until it becomes very very old and decrepit. Now, everything I’ve read says this hardwired urge to bury its waste evolved because said waste would give away the cat’s presence to prey animals and other preditors large enough to prey on it. Fine. But you can’t tell me a puddle of semi-digested food with a big honking wad of cat hair embedded in it isn’t just as big a give away. So why don’t cats naturally want to bury hairballs? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/2 "2003-09-22T14:20:12Z")
In the wild, cats don’t even have hairballs! It’s true. Domestic cats barf up stinking piles of hairball because they are unable to shoot the finger. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/3 "2003-09-22T14:44:17Z")
Sorry I misread, thought it said hairy balls…I’ll go away now ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/4 "2003-09-22T14:59:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*In the wild, cats don’t even have hairballs! It’s true. > > Domestic cats barf up stinking piles of hairball because they are unable to shoot the finger. \*\* Uh…“shoot the finger”?? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/5 "2003-09-22T15:36:22Z")
Most kitties can’t pony up the scratch for all those tiny little tombstones. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/6 "2003-09-22T16:54:51Z")
Shoot the finger, flip the bird, point with the middle finger… As you can see from this web site, people can do it easily: [http://www.theplainjane.com/flip\_off.html](http://www.theplainjane.com/flip_off.html) ---
**Author:** ![bradministrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@bradministrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradministrator)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/7 "2003-09-22T17:09:39Z")
Cats in the wild never throw up hairballs since there are no expensive rugs for them to ruin with gastric juices. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/8 "2003-09-22T17:31:26Z")
If they buried them, how would you be able to step on them in your bare feet at three o’clock in the morning in a pitch-black hallway after it (the hairball) has cooled to a particulalry icky ice-cold temperature? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/9 "2003-09-22T17:40:31Z")
WAG alert: Cats bury their fecal matter and urine because they know that if they leave that around, it will attract predators to them. They probably are aware of this because they do it every day. Cats don’t get furballs every day. So, it’s not something they are concerned about. It would be like humans trying to cover up their vomit. I find it more interesting that a cat can cough up a big hairball or throw up what it had just eaten and then immediately go back to eating. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cats-want-to-bury-their-hairballs/203086/10 "2003-09-22T21:34:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > [BCats don’t get furballs every day… \*\* Oh, yeah? \ I think the ‘no expensive rugs to ruin’ explanation might be close to the mark. In the main floor of this house we have three rooms with bare hardwood floors, one with tile, one with vinyl floor – and one with an antique oriental carpet. No prize for guessing which one is their favorite target. ☹