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Why Do Cats Throw Up?
Feline creatures are sensitive, and sometimes when they eat their food, their stomachs become irritated, causing the cat to throw up all the food. “Why is my cat throwing up?” is one of the most common questions vets are asked.
The most common causes of vomiting in cats are hairballs, intestinal parasites, food sensitivities and infections. However, there could be other reasons for your cat to throw up such as stress, anxiety or a more serious illness.
Short-term cat vomiting (less than 24 hours) is generally nothing to worry about, especially if your cat’s health is otherwise fine. However, if the cat vomiting frequency increases in 24 hours, it is a sign of the disease or maybe the irritants present in the cat’s food.
It is the most common problem to occur in outdoor cats because you don’t know what they have eaten from outside. So, you have to be extra vigilant for your cats.
What Is The Difference Between Acute Vs Chronic Vomiting
A cat throwing up can be separated into two broad categories acute and chronic vomiting. Acute vomiting is when a cat usually does not vomit but suddenly starts vomiting. In contrast, chronic vomiting is severe and life-threatening.
The vomiting can occur multiple times a day and can be daily for an extended period. Most cases of vomiting respond quickly to simple symptomatic treatment. More vital care is required for the acute onset of throw-up because if it is neglected, then the condition can develop into chronic vomiting.
If the cat vomits more than three times, cannot keep down food and feels tired, your first approach should be to bring the cat to the veterinarian as early as possible. Cats that are not recovering and keep throwing up are prone to many secondary issues such as liver disease.
Hairballs can easily pass from the stomach to the gut, but when cats have gastrointestinal problems, they struggle to pass hairballs properly.
What Are The Causes Of Cat Vomiting?
Throwing up or vomiting means that the cat shows displeasure by forcefully contracting and throwing its contents up and out. This phenomenon is different from regurgitation, and it does not involve strenuous muscle contracting.
When the cats are about to throw up, the process is much more audible than physical as it involves neck extending with strained gagging.
Some cats can do regurgitation, but it usually happens just minutes to hours after eating.
Outdoor cats can eat undigestible things such as grass, causing the cat to throw up, but the primary culprit is a wet food that is too cold. If you serve your cat with refrigerated wet food, try to let it come down to room temperature; otherwise, it will irritate the stomach. Another primary culprit for a cat throwing up is hairballs; they cause immense distress to the lining of the stomach.
Main Causing Of Vomiting In Cats
The causes of acute and chronic vomiting can be the same. Vomiting is a vague symptom, and the causes can be varied. All felines illnesses can result in vomiting as it is the first sign that something is going inside the stomach of cats.
Consumption Of Toxins
Usually anti-freeze poison and Lilies plant act as toxins in cats. But, there are many other types of toxins that may affect your felines such as toxins produced by Cl. Botulinum, mostly present in expired or uncooked canned food. A recent study on Botulinum toxin in cat also proved that it is the world’s deadliest toxin
Consumption Of Hairballs
Hairballs can cause cats to throw up. When a cat grooms, it swallows fur that can’t be digested. The indigestible hair forms into clumps in the stomach and makes cats sick.
Consumption Of Parasites
The consumption of parasites is a common cause of vomiting in cats. Worms can invade the stomach and intestines, leading to intestinal obstruction or perforation. Cats may also vomit as an acute response to worm infestation by irritating the lining of the stomach and oesophagus with their movement through these organs.
Gastrointestinal condition
If a cat suffers from a gastrointestinal condition, it may vomit after eating. The cat’s body will attempt to forcibly remove the food from its stomach before there is a chance for too much absorption into the intestinal tract.
Organ dysfunction
An organ dysfunction particularly of the liver is a common cause of vomiting in cats. The most frequently diagnosed forms are hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) and cholangiohepatitis (inflammation of bile ducts).
Heatstroke
Heatstroke can cause vomiting in cats just like it can in humans. If a cat is excessively exposed to heat for too long, the body’s natural cooling system will become overwhelmed and shut down leaving them unable to regulate its temperature.
Current medications
Certain medications can also cause vomiting in cats. Some of these medications are used to induce nausea or vomit when a cat has eaten something dangerous such as a poison, while others can actually make the cat feel nauseous and lead them to throw up on their own even without ingesting anything unusual.
Previous Illness
Previous illnesses can also cause a cat to throw up. If your cat suffered from an illness that caused them nausea and vomiting in the past, they may still be sensitive to those symptoms even if there’s nothing physically wrong with them now as their body becomes accustomed to associating these sensations with being ill. In some cats, this can lead to continued episodes of vomiting or nausea even if they’re not sick.
What Are The Signs Of A Cat Throwing Up?
Common signs of a cat throwing up are anorexia, excessive drooling, excessive swallowing, lip licking, retching, and contractions of abdominal muscles and diaphragm.
Abnormal behaviour or physical abnormalities associated with prolonged vomiting include; lethargy (reluctance to move), weakness, abdominal pain, weight loss, blood in the vomit, or other unexpected physical changes. These signs can indicate your pet has a potentially life-threatening emergency. These signs can be more severe as cats age.
How To Diagnose The Cause OF Vomiting In Cats?
Sometimes diagnosing the case of vomiting can be very difficult in cats. Cats can recover from acute cases of vomiting quickly with the help of symptomatic treatment and therapy over time.
However, chronic vomiting treatment is laborious, and it requires much effort because the underlying condition can be viral diseases such as Feline Leukemia, Feline Panleukopenia, and Feline Calicivirus. This disease causes intermittent vomiting, and prolonged treatment is required for the cats to recover.
A history of the cats previous illnesses is significant in determining the cause of the cat throwing up. The vet will ask a series of questions to the owner; that way, veterinarians can quickly come to a conclusion point of why the cat has thrown up.
What Might A Vet Ask Me When Diagnosing Cat Vomiting?
When trying to diagnose the cause of your cat vomiting your vet might ask you the following questions:
- When did the vomiting start?
- What food are you offering to the cat?
- What was in the vomit?
- Does the cat go outside? If so, does the cat hunt?
- Did you give you cat the wet refrigerated food?
- Is the cat drinking or urinating a lot?
- What do you give a cat in food?
- Does the cat eat anything before she vomited?
- What is the frequency of vomiting?
- Does your cat have diarrhoea?
- Are there any other cats in the household showing similar signs?
- What is the relationship between vomiting to feeding?
- Is there any pain or distress significantly affecting the abdomen?
- Is there has been any blood in the vomit?
These questions vary from vet to vet, but when the vet asks these questions, he will get a better idea of what sort of things implicated the cat’s vomiting.
What Does The Colour Of My Cats Vomit Mean?
Based on the colour of vomit, the vet can get the know-how about the cat’s organs and the possible cause for the cat throwing up.
Clear Vomit
It can be regurgitation from the oesophagus or an unfilled stomach
White, Foamy Vomit
White, foamy vomit can also result due to regurgitation from the oesophagus or the empty stomach
Yellow Vomit
It can be bile, which can be the sign of liver disease, but it often occurs with an empty stomach, and also it means the cat has eaten anything yellow
Blood In Vomit
Blood can be from the mouth, oesophagus, or stomach, depending upon the underlying condition
Coffee-Ground Vomit
Coffee-ground vomit occurs as a result of a type of bleeding that is associated with ulcers
Brown Colour Vomit
It can be due to the bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract, or maybe the cat has eaten something brown and smelly.
Undigested Food Particles
It can be due to obstruction or motility disorders in the gastrointestinal tract.
A study by Fox RA, Keil LC, Daunton NG, Crampton GH, Lucot J also suggests that Vasopressin is used to determine the level of motion sickness in cats by measuring the plasma Vasopressin level which is dramatically elevated (up to 27 times resting levels) in cats having severe vomiting due to any cause.
Tests For Diagnosing Why My Cat IS Throwing UP
The following are the essential questions that you should keep in mind while having a history. The veterinarian will conduct a physical exam on the abdomen to try and determine the cause of the vomiting.
They are looking for any foreign body or string under the tongue, any pain or discomfort whilst applying pressure to the abdomen, evidence of weight loss, checking heart murmur, checking the thyroid gland, and a fever.
The following are commonly or routinely performed diagnostics in cats.
Blood Tests
It can show the evidence of infections, kidney and liver problems, thyroid disease and may provide clues leading to a diagnosis
Abdominal X-Ray
Can show abnormalities of the oesophagus and stomach
Ultrasound
It can identify the blockages/obstructions tumours as well as inflammation in the stomach and intestinal lining
Endoscopy
An endoscope can directly view the stomach to see if there are any abnormalities. The procedure can also be used to obtain biopsy samples. This procedure requires general anaesthesia.
What Are The Treatment Strategies For Cats Throwing Up?
Fluids
Cats can quickly be dehydrated due to vomiting, so to increase the level of hydration, we can take advantage of parenteral fluids to overcome the dehydration factor in cats. Commonly, the fluids are passed through a subcutaneous route, but the vet can administer the fluids through the IV route if the cats are weak. It involves placing a catheter in a vein and giving fluids through the catheter. The downside of this method is that the cat stays in the hospital.
Anti-Vomiting Medication
Locally available antiemetic drugs are prescribed by the veterinarian to decrease the episodes of vomiting. Some homoeopathic products are available in the market, which is offered to cats in vomiting cases that happens 20 minutes after the meal. HomeoPet feline digestive upset is one of them, and has good antiemetic properties and serve as a relief from the digestive disturbances in cats.
Diet changes
It is one of the most critical factors in controlling episodes of vomiting. In acute vomiting, the cat’s owner should temporarily change the diet to something simple and easy to digest; blended soft human food can also be given or boiled chicken. For chronic vomiting, a diet change can be therapeutic, as well as a diagnostic.
Antibiotics
Veterinarians prescribe medications such as famotidine or metronidazole as a short-term symptomatic treatment for cats.
What Can I Do To Help My Cat Stop Throwing Up?
- By removing potential harmful foods from cats environment
- By giving a balanced diet
- Ensure they get enough water
- Transition to a sensitive stomach cat food
- Avoid rich treats and snacks
Here Are Our Favourite Cat Products:
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it enjoyable and you learnt something new. Here are some of my favourite cat products that we use daily! The links are affiliate links which means I will earn a commission if you buy one of the products. I only recommend products that we use and love.
Recommended Litter Tray -The litter tray we swear by is the Litter-Robot III, especially as we live in a small flat. It is on the pricey side, but it is by far the best automatic litter tray if you can afford it. Although the initial cost is expensive, you save on litter in the long run. The Litter-Robot uses regular clumping litter.
Recommended Cat Water Fountain – We have gone through our fair share of water fountains between Owlie and her brothers. Our favourite water fountain is the Pet Mate water fountain. The main reason we choose this water fountain is due to how quiet the fountain is. I HATE the sound of dripping water, like a leaky tap, ughhh, but the Pet Mate is silent. It is also easy to clean and doesn’t make splashes.
Recommended Cat Litter – The cat litter we recommend is the Ever Clean. This litter helps control odour the best out of all the litter we have tested. It also clumps quickly and holds well, which is why it works so well in our Litter-Robot. The only downside to the litter it does track through the property. Our preference is no odour over a few bits of dust, but everyone is different. If odour control and clumping are your priorities, I would definitely check out the Ever Clean Cat Litter.
Recommended Cat Bed – By far, the best cat bed we have ever used is the Plush Donut Cat Bed. I have nothing, literally nothing bad to say about this cat bed! It’s super soft, which our cat LOVES, and holds in heat, making it super warm and cosy. The bottom of the bed has rubber spots to stop it from sliding along the floor.
Recommended Cat Harness -The cat harness you choose greatly depends on what breed and size of the cat you have. If you have a larger, more robust cat, we recommend the Rabitgoo Escape Proof Cat Harness as it is easy to put on and take off a cat. It is also doubled lined and very secure. However, if you have a smaller cat or kitten, the harness might be a little too heavy for their bodies. If this is the case, I recommend the Rabitgoo Kitten Harness.
