Does your cat throw up on a daily basis? Mine does. I have taken her to a vet and they cannot figure out why she is doing this. It is mostly after she has eaten and sometimes when she gets a hairball, which is rarely. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this with their cat and what might cause this condition.
Well, over the years I've seen it with cats. Couple of questions first. How old is the cat? Is she generally healthy? Fixed? Indoor or outdoor? What breed, longhair or shorthair? And what are you feeding her?
The two biggest reasons I've seen cause this are either the cat just overeating/eating too fast, or the type of food. The overeating bit is normally insecure cats or new cats in. a struggle for dominance in a home with other cats. They'll try to eat everything before another cat gets there to eat. And, some cats are just more sensitive to some foods than other cats. Especially foods with genetically modified corn as the main ingredient, (which really is all corn in the U.S.) I don't like that stuff at all personally, for food for anything.
We found our cat starving in a blizzard in 2000. She was about 7 months old and very small for her age. Ever since we got her, she's had this condition. We feed her Wellness Indoor cat food. She likes the food and we have tried other foods and found that she throws up even more on different types. So we stick to the one that does not make her throw up as often. She is about 12 years old now, spade, indoor only, and no other cats. She doesn't get along very well with other furry animals. She is a grey tabby with two coats of fur, which means that we have to brush her every day to keep the fur from matting. She is a medium hair. The vet gave us some pills to help calm her stomach but that didn't work either. She got the pill down her but within ten minutes she would throw that up too.
My sister has an elderly cat (15 years old) who went through something like this last Winter. At first the vomiting was occasional. Then, right after Christmas it became daily. When she stopped eating, they took her in for a check up. After several tests, they found out she had an ulcer. After several weeks of medication, she was back to her regular self. Though, she must be on her steroid medication for the rest of her life.
I see that you've taken her to the vet. I would keep an eye on it. They weren't able to pinpoint the ulcer at first. It wasn't until they did a scope that they found it.
I agree with VJNatale that food can be an issue, too. You might check to see if their is a sensitive stomach version of cat food that you can give your cat. This might help.
I have tried talking with my vet, my local pet food store, and other cat owners. My poor cat has been going through this for at least the 12 years that I have had her. I really do not know what else I can do for her. I think that maybe she is the way she is and that is what all of us will have to deal with and just love her.Can anyone recommend a brand of cat food that might be appropriate? Or what ingredients to look for? Or even perhaps a website that I can get more information about this kind of thing? Thanks in advance for any and all the help and suggestions already posted.
I have seen that happening sometimes with some of my cats. In my case, it's usually a problem caused by the food and eating habits. Sometimes the food is not easily digested. That's when my cats would throw it up and re-eat it. At other times, my cats eat too fast. Then their stomachs stage a revolt, so to say, and they have to start all over again.
So try changing the food you give your cat. Give it something easily digestible. Then give the food in smaller portions so that its stomach can handle it properly.
You're best bet is to hairball prevention cat food. Our cat would throw up on occasion for the same reason (hairballs). Your other option is to constantly clean and re-fill their bowls, specifically the water bowl. Also, try to give them filtered water. The 90 different chemicals the government puts in the water is harmful to all animals.
I have two cats who are 13 and 14. The one cat has always had a habit of eating way too fast and then puking up everything she has eaten. We try to only put a little food out at a time, but then she eats it all and leaves none for the other cat. The other cat is a long hair so he has a lot of hairball/puking issues. We've tried a lot of different things with him and he still had issues. Just this past week, the store was out of the food I normally buy so I had to buy something else. My dh and I realized that since they both started eating this food, neither one has vomited even once. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not. I guess we'll find out. I think vomiting is really common in cats.
Cats do not get much water from regular cat food, and tend not to drink very much, so throwing up every day can seriously harm a cat's health if it becomes dehydrated! You can check for dehydration by pulling up you cats lips (do cats have lips?!) and looking at the colour of their gums, anything other than a pink means your cat is dehydrated.
As for the reason for the throwing up, well my cat for example, threw up about once a day for a series of 4 months, and like you, we thought it was normal. Turns out my guy had Inflamed Bowel Disease. He lost 4lbs of weight (taking him down to 6lbs..and he is a RagDoll cat), and started pooping blood, not eating and hiding. I thought he was a gonner.
Took him to the vet, and they couldn't work out what was wrong, as with cats it can be so many things, and we gave him steroids, and changed his food and he started eating again. This happened about 6 months ago, and he hasn't vomited since. My advice is just know your cat and look for behavioral changes as these can tell you way more than the vet.
That's just my story, here are some common reasons cats throw up (I researched this for so long when my guy was sick)
- Eating too Fast - Cats sometimes get excited and gulp down their food too fast, this causes them to throw up. To prevent this happening you can put the food off the ground a little forcing the cat to lift its head up to eat - forcing it to flow down, or buy a bowl that has bumps to slow down the eating. This vomit would be food coloured and would likely have lumps of undigested food in it.
- Hair Balls - Cats lick, cant digest the hair and it builds up. To prevent this, keep your cat brushed well, and if it is still a problem you can feed them a little laxatone or even patrolium jelly to prevent it sticking. This would look similar to the vomit from eating too fast, but their would be soild lumps in it which would be hair.
- Paracite - If the cat has parasite it will throw up. In this case the vet would have to be the one to test for you, you would need a fresh poop sample, or even a blood test to see this. This vomit would be food (no lumps), yellow, or clear coloured. Yellow and Clear coloured vomit means the cat is throwing up on an empty stomach, this is when checking for dehydration is important.
- Blockage - If the cat has eaten something it shouldn't such as a plastic bag, that is causing a blockage in the stomach. This is very common, and an xray from a vet won't show something like this as the plastic is see through! In this case you need to watch the cat. Look and see if there is any stress when the cat goes to the bathroom, of if you can remember the cat chewing anything, particularly plastic bags. Laxatone will also help to try and remove the blockage by greasing up the cats insides. Increasing fibre in the diet can also help.
Sadly though, some cats just throw up all the time, but i believe, personally, that there is an underlying cause, such as an intolerance to something in the food, or a mild allergic reaction.
Like I said, once we switched food, the vomiting stopped almost immediately
My mother's Siamese cat does this almost every week. Sometimes it seems to be after eating and then he tears around the house like a crazy loon and stops long enough to throw up on the livingroom carpet. Our times he was seen chewing on dried flower arrangements or live house plants. And then there are the hair balls. If a cat does it daily, like mentioned above it might be a digestive disorder or something more serious. If a vet is puzzled and has no answers, then it could be your cat is just stressed out from noises in the home or outside. Trees were cut down on my mother's street and the noise from the chain saws terrified her cat. He was hiding most of the time and throwing up the rest of the time. Not much help to you, but other cats do it too.
Is it possible your cat has a sensitive stomach? I have a cat who has to be on special digestive care sensitive stomach formula food or else she will throw up everything. She had the same problem as your cat before I adopted her from the shelter. Once she was placed on her new food she was fine. Perhaps trying a sensitive solution formula food will help. Iams has one but I am not a fan of them and Blue Buffalo(this is what my cats eat) and Authority(not sure how great this brand is haven't done much looking into them) has one as well.
Our cat had this problem so we got a Wireless Whiskers feeder. The feeder works with ID tags on a collar and measures how much a pet eats. You can independently set manage up to 8 pets. The Portion Control setting allows you to spread the allowance in up to 24 small portions throughout the day. If a pet eats too fast the feeder doors shut. It worked really well for our cat, since it can’t gorge it does not vomit. It is much easier than doing it by hand. The feeder also allows you to lock out other pets and you can put specific pets on a diet. It is also possible to set up separate feeders for cats and dogs and keep them out of each others food. http://www.wirelesswhiskers.com/ec/index...=page&id=6
My cats rarely throw up but I have had cats in the past who did so on a daily basis. My cats now only throw up hairballs and it maybe once a month if that. They never throw up food or anything like that. It is just the hairballs.
As with people, a variety of things can cause a cat to vomit. For one thing, they vomit more easily than most animals do, some appearing to do so for no apparent reason. Disgustingly, a cat might vomit undigested food right after eating, and then eat it again. Cats that go outdoors will often eat grass, which seemingly aids in vomiting.
Vomiting is the result of a stimulation of the particular part of the cat's brain, which might be thought of as the vomiting center. As the need to vomit is perceived by the cat, the cat will appear anxious and may seek his or her owner out for reassurance or help. One of my older cat will begin making smacking noises with her mouth, then stand up, and start making a specific type of audible signal that she needs to throw up. If she is near me, she will look at me while it's going on, clearly wanting me to do something about it. She will call me loudly enough that I can usually hear her wherever I am in the house.
And I do. I pick her up from her cat bed, or wherever she is, and move her to a place that can be more easily cleaned, and then I'll lightly pat her on the back until she throws up. She always throws up three times. The first will be just a small amount of mostly liquid, then the bulk of it comes up, followed by another small amount of liquid.
Vomiting unrelated to eating may be associated with an infectious disease, kidney or liver disease, or a central nervous system disorder. However, the most common cause of vomiting in a cat is swallowing fur or some other indigestible material, such as grass. One of my cats once swallowed a fairly long piece of sewing thread. She vomited a portion of it up, and I was able to gently pull the rest out. It was gross though, because it kept coming and coming and coming.
Another cause of vomiting might be overeating, or eating too fast, as sometimes occurs with multiple cats, where one might feel the need to eat as quickly as possible. A change in food could result in vomiting as the cat's system adapts to the new food. This may even occur when switching from a cheap grocery brand to a much better brand of food. Sometimes that can be avoided by mixing the new food with the old for a time.
If a cat vomits once or twice but otherwise appears perfectly normal, the problem is likely not serious, and can be treated at home. I understand that's not the problem here, because the opening post speaks of throwing up on a daily basis, but I'm trying to cover other things, as well.
Diseases that are associated with vomiting include feline panleukopenia, tonsillitis, sore throat, and an infected uterus, but there will usually be other signs of illness as well. For example, in a young cat, sudden vomiting with fever is a sign of panleukopenia. Another serious cause of vomiting is peritonitis.
A serious cause of vomiting in cats is ingestion of antifreeze or medications, such as aspirin. My wife and I are very careful around the house because, between us, we're taking a variety of medications, and our youngest cat will grab anything that is dropped on the floor and eat it without hesitation, so if I drop a pill, I make sure someone is restraining Ella until I find it.
Repeated vomiting -- The cat vomits, continues to retch, then brings up a frothy or clear fluid. This may be the result of spoiled food, grass, hairballs or other indigestibles, but it could also be a sign of a disease such as infectious enteritis, which causes an irritation of the stomach lining,
Sporadic vomiting -- The cat vomits sometimes, but not on a regular basis. This is probably not related to food. If the cat has a haggard look, or appears listless, consider kidney or liver disease, but chronic gastritis, worm infestation, or diabetes are possibilities.
Vomiting blood -- Fresh blood in the vomitus suggests a break in the cat's intestinal lining between its mouth and the upper small bowel. Often, this is the result of a foreign body, but tumors or ulcers are possibilities. When the cat vomits material that resembles coffee grounds in consistency, that would suggest digested blood, and indicates that the bleeding point is in the stomach or an outlet of the stomach. Vomiting blood definitely requires a veterinarian.
Fecal vomiting -- If the vomitus looks and smells like fecal matter, consider an intestinal obstruction. Blunt or penetrating abdominal injuries are also possibilities. Either way, it is time for a veterinarian.
Projectile vomiting -- A forceful vomiting indicates a complete blockage of the upper gastrointestinal tract. This could be from foreign bodies, hairballs, tumors, or strictures. In rare cases, brain disease can cause this as well.
Vomiting foreign objects -- Hairballs may form large wads that are too large to pass through the gastrointestinal system, but other objects, such as cloth, bone splinters, sticks, stones, and anything else the cat may have picked up from the floor, may be involved.
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![[Image: feeder_05.jpg]](http://www.wirelesswhiskers.com/ec/images/pages/feeder_05.jpg)