Cat Vomit
How To Care For Your Sick Cat

Finding cat vomit is nver pleasant for either you or your pet. After all it could be a sign that your cat is ill in some way and may need treatment. this page will take you through the things you can do for your feline friend to prevent further upset.

What should we do about cat vomiting?

If your cat has vomited 2 or 3 times in about 8 hours, then keep them indoors and give them small amounts of water.

If they bring this back as well, then restrict their fluid intake to give their stomachs a rest for another 3 to 4 hours. But do watch out for signs of dehydration (see above).

Then try a tablespoon of water every half hour or so. If they seem okay with this, you can try re-introducing some food.

Keep the amounts very small to start with and make sure the food is very bland, such as some plain lean chicken (no skin), with some mashed up boiled rice or potatoes, or possibly some low fat cottage cheese.

Cat at Vets by jefferey beall flickr.com Alternatively you can buy specially prepared cat foods for convalescing sick cats.

If your cat responds well to this, then you can re-introduce their normal diet gradually over the next day or two.

If however, the vomiting returns, or other symptoms of cat illnesses appear, then you had better take them to the vet for proper investigations.

What can your vet do to find the cause?

Your vet will take a medical history and ask lots of questions about the cat vomiting, such as, has there been a change of diet recently, and have you noticed any other signs or symptoms of cat illnesses (such as we discussed above).

They will feel the cats abdomen for tenderness or swellings and do a physical examination.

They may take their temperature and take blood tests. They may want to take urine and faeces samples for analysis.

They may want to send your sick cat for scans and x-rays. Lastly they may need to perform an endoscopy (where they pass a camera inside to look for signs to make a diagnosis) or even a laparotomy, which is an exploratory operation to find the cause of the problem.

How will the vet treat this vomiting?

Any treatment will obviously depend on the cause, and eliminating that cause will be the main purpose.

Your vet may wish to administer subcutaneous fluids to prevent dehydration and give anti-emetic (anti sickness) injections. In more serious cases, hospitalisation may be necessary if close observation and intravenous medicines and fluids are needed.

Can cat vomiting be a sign of an underlying disease?

Yes it certainly can. Here are just a few examples of the sort of conditions that vomiting can be a symptom of:

Infestation of worms.
Gastritis.
Tumors of the stomach or intestine.
Kidney disease.
Liver disease.
Adrenal gland disease.
Hyperthyroidism.
Pancreatitis.
Inner ear disease (as it affects balance).
Damaged diaphragm.
Diabetes.
Hypercalcamia.
Peritonitis.

........the list can go on and on.

So if you are concerned that your cat vomiting is for more than the usual simple reasons that we discussed above, please take them to your vet to get the condition investigated and treated properly. It is always better to be safe than sorry where cat health is concerned!