My Cat's Hairballs

So easily the grossest thing in the world happened to me this morning.  I was walking through the kitchen before I was totally awake and I stepped in a hairball that my daughter's cat had barfed up:


That got me thinking, though:  Why do cats swallow their own hair while they are cleaning themselves?  And does throwing up hairballs cause cats any long term harm?

What we've learned in science is that every structure, function and behavior on a plant or an animal is designed to help them survive, thrive and reproduce.  If that's true, that means that barfing up hairballs is actually a good thing for a cat -- or cleaning itself with its own tongue is a good thing.

Why is that?  Why wouldn't cats come up with a better way to clean themselves?  

#thingsthatmakeyougohmmmnnn


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