How To Know If Your Cat Is Throwing Up
Your cat can get nauseous before they throw up. They can be restless, salivating, or repeatedly swallowing. Vomiting starts with intense contractions in your cats abdominal muscles. They then expel whats in their stomach or throat.
Coughing in cats can look similar to throwing up. When a cat coughs, theyll crouch down on all four legs and stretch their neck out. They then cough up froth or foam, which they might swallow again immediately.
Theres also a difference between regurgitation and vomiting. Regurgitation takes your cat less effort and usually doesnt involve abdominal contractions. Regurgitation often happens right after eating or drinking and may be a sign of a problem in the cats esophagus.
Showing your vet a video of your cat vomiting can help them differentiate between vomiting, coughing, and regurgitating.
What Causes Cat Vomiting
The list of cat vomiting causes is long and complex. To make things easier for understanding, we will review the causes of cat vomiting in two different categories as causes of acute and causes of chronic cat vomiting.
Acute Cat Vomiting. The underlying causes of acute vomiting range from benign to severe. Therefore, it is important for pet owners to know these causes and act accordingly. Here is an overview of the causes of acute cat vomiting:
Chronic Cat Vomiting. The possible causes of chronic vomiting in cats are generally more severe and require a more detailed approach. Lets take a closer look at some of the most common causes of chronic cat vomiting:
Worried About Your Cat Throwing Up
Don’t wonder. Get a vet’s opinion â for free.
Thereâs a lot to learn about this happening, and if youâre in a situation where your cat is throwing up their undigested food, you might be unsure of where to start. Having a pet under the weather can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing itâs understandable if youâre stressed trying to decipher how to handle the situation at hand.
This article will give you a holistic understanding of some of the factors that could be at play if your cat is throwing up their undigested food. To begin, you will learn the difference between vomiting and regurgitating, as this is necessary to fully understand the situation at hand.
In addition, this article will dive into some of the reasons that your cat is vomiting undigested food or regurgitating. Once you understand what is causing the problem, you will have a better chance of successfully tackling it. Also, having some ideas about whatâs leading this to occur will be helpful information to provide a vet with, should you choose to have a medical professional give you some advice about your animalâs condition.
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Frequent Vomiting In Cats
Sigrid Gomber / Getty Images
Frequent vomiting is a problem for some cats, and the cause can be tough to track down. It could be caused by hairballs or a sign of a serious illness. Occasionally, cats vomit on a semi-regular basis for no identifiable reason at all. Complications of frequent vomiting can include malnutrition and esophageal irritation, so this condition shouldn’t be ignored. A thorough veterinary exam can help determine an accurate diagnosis and treatment options.
Your Cat Eats Too Fast Or Too Much
One of the most common reasons why your cats stomach does not do a good job in digesting food is because it consumes the food so quickly that the stomach doesnt have enough time to process everything properly.
Once your cat has been familiar with this behavior, there is a high chance that your feline friend will throw up more undigested food than you can imagine. Therefore, you should consult the vet on the training method to prevent this habit from continuing.
It might be challenging at the beginning for both you and your cat. Nonetheless, your cat will gradually eat slower and make improvements. There are several techniques you can try, and the easiest way is to feed your cat slowly.
You can either feed your cat by yourself if you have plenty of time to do so or purchase an automatic slow feeder that will challenge your cat in order to get food. These feeders can be in the form of a puzzle and require your cats great effort to gain food.
Alternatively and more cost-effectively, you can contain the cat food on a large plate, instead of a bowl. This will make it trickier for your cat to eat because the food will move around the plate more. You are highly recommended to meet the vet and ask for the appropriate feeding strategies.
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Cat Throwing Up White Foam
White foam often indicates inflammation of the stomach or small intestines. Inflammation may be caused by many things that your cats digestive system is trying to clear.
White foam will surround things that have been in the stomach and are worked up and forced out again. Things like:
- Plants & flowers
Cat throwing up knick-knacks, ribbons, strings, small toys, or tiny office supplies? Get them to the vet immediately to avoid real damage.
Cat Throwing Up Food After Eating: Vet’s Guide To Causes And Treatment
Get vet tips on cats throwing up food after eating, including causes and treatment
If youve ever wondered why your cat is throwing up food after eating, you definitely arent alone. Cats are secretive animals that often try to hide any signs of illness, but vomiting after eating is definitely one to watch.
While some causes arent a concern, others are so lets look at cat vomit and when to see your vet.
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Ways To Prevent Cat Vomiting
Wouldn’t all pet parents love to know the secret to eliminating vomiting? Or even a way to train your cat not to do it on your bed or carpet? Unfortunately, there’s no magic word. But there are a few things you can try to ease your cleanup and your kitty’s discomfort.
If your cat is vomiting hairballs, make sure to brush your cat regularly, keeping themactive and feed a food with balanced nutrition that is designed to help cats with hairballs.
To help keep your cats stomach happy, give them the type and amount of food recommended by your vet and have clean, fresh water available at all times. If your cat eats too quickly you can try a puzzle feeder or a dry food with large, crunchy pieces to slow them down. If your veterinarian recommends medications or therapeutic foods, it will be important to follow their instruction in order to keep your cat healthy. \ Be sure your cat sees the vet regularly and discuss your concerns.
Though cleaning up messes and bodily fluids is something all pet parents will experience at some point, following these tips and knowing when to seek the help of a professional can hopefully make these experiences few and far between.
Why Does My Cat Keep Throwing Up
The Big Question: Why does my cat keep throwing up?
Rest assured, this is a common occurrence in cats, and many of the reasons for this are perfectly natural and will pass without any intervention needed. Other vomiting episodes can be precursors of larger systemic issues with your feline companion.
Knowing a few key questions to ask and symptoms of acceptable incidents and those that should cause you to intervene with a vet visit is critical.
This list is an effort to give a comprehensive checklist of sorts to help evaluate your cats health when throwing up has occurred. Educate yourself in advance, which will ensure that in times of stress and a cat has thrown up, you will be prepared to act in your pets best interest.
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What Do I Do If My Cat Is Sick
If your cat is sick once or twice but appears otherwise well, remove their food for a few hours, then feed small amounts of a highly digestible food such as chicken, or a prescription diet from your vet. Allow them constant access to a small amount of water. After 24 hours go back to your usual routine.
What Is The Difference Between Vomiting And Regurgitation
Vomiting is not always vomiting sometimes it is actually regurgitation, and knowing the difference can be helpful information for your veterinarian to help diagnose the cause. Regurgitation is often mistaken for vomiting, but unlike vomited food, regurgitated food has not yet been digested by stomach acids.
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Diagnosing The Cause Of Vomiting
It can be difficult to diagnose the cause of vomiting in a cat. Most cases of acute vomiting are transient and improve with just symptomatic therapy and time. However, a basic workup is often recommended to ensure that a more serious problem is not going on.
The starting point in determining the cause of vomiting is getting an accurate history. Here are some questions your vet might have:
- Was the cat exposed to plants and other toxins?
- When did the vomiting start?
- What is the cats normal diet?
- Does the cat go outside and if so, does the cat hunt?
- What is in the vomit?
- Is the cat on medication?
- Is there also diarrhea?
- When does the vomiting occur ?
- Is the cat losing weight?
- Is the cat drinking a lot or urinating a lot?
- Does the cat play with string?
Based on the answers to these questions, your veterinarian will have a better idea of which diagnostics, if any, to use. What the vomit looks like does not give a definitive answer about why the cat is vomiting, but it can give the vet a place to begin looking. Though by no means a perfect correlation, the following vomit characteristics can offer some clues:
Changes In Diet And Food
A sudden adjustment of diet may cause some problems for your cat since it was not allowed sufficient time to get used to the new food. Therefore, you should do this over a couple weeks by gradually lowering the old food amount and replacing it with the new one.
Secondly, when you apply a new feeding schedule for your cats, they will likely miss meals, or eat at a different time of the day from what they normally do. Consequently, your cats can end up regurgitating undigested food.
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Why Is My Cat Throwing Up Its Food
Tabitha Kucera, RVT, CCBC, KPA-CTP, is a veterinary technician and writer with over a decade of experience working in veterinary medicine for small animal veterinary hospitals, farm sanctuaries, and various cat and dog rescues. She is also Fear Free Certified and a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant.
Nandini Balial is a writer and fact checker specializing in a variety of lifestyle topics, including film/TV, literature, and feminism, with work appearing in Slate, Wired, Pacific Standard, and more prestigious outlets.
The Spruce / Madelyn Goodnight
Vomiting is considered to be a nonspecific symptom. It could be associated with an array of health concerns. If your cat vomits undigested food, it can be a sign of a serious illness. Some of these can include things like hairballs, internal obstructions, pancreatitis, eating too quickly, constipation, indigestion, parasitic infections, poisoning, stress, depression, or even anxiety. It’s essential to know the specific reason why your feline is throwing up its food and ways you can treat it before seeking veterinary help, if serious.
What Can I Do If My Cat Is Being Sick
If your cat has been sick once or twice but otherwise appears well:
- Remove food for two hours, but continue to provide water
- After this time, try offering a teaspoon of their usual food or bland low-fat cooked food such as chicken or white fish
- If they keep this down, offer small amounts every few hours for thenext 24 hours
- Then go back to your usual routine
If this does not resolve the sickness and you are concerned about your cat vomiting repeatedly, call your vet or, out of hours, your nearest Vet Now emergency clinic or 24/7 hospital immediately.
You should also contact your vet if:
- Your cat cannot keep water down
- Has blood or unusual material in her vomit
- Has pale or cold gums
- Is displaying signs of listlessness, diarrhoea, fever, or another illness
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Your Cat Has A Hairball
To say cats are dedicated to cleaning would be an understatement. They have a reputation for meticulously grooming themselves, and as a result, hairballs can ensue. This occurs because the cat has hook-like structures all over their tongue.
While these are small, theyâre powerful your catâs tongue can catch dead or loose hair. Then, they swallow it. While most hair will successfully pass through the animalâs digestive tract, sometimes it gets trapped in their stomach. Thatâs how a hairball comes about.
Therefore, hairballs may contribute to a cat vomiting undigested food. Theyâre normal, but if youâre noticing that your cat has difficulty passing them or itâs frequently happening, and your cat is experiencing pain, it might be time to intervene.
There are actually over-the-counter supplements available that you can give your cat. These come in chew or gel format. In addition, you can develop a brushing schedule for your pet to help mitigate the hairball risk.
There Are Two Kinds Of Vomiting: Acute And Chronic
While neither kind of vomiting is something you or your cat should have to put up with, its important to distinguish whether your cat is experiencing an acute or chronic bout of throwing up. Both types may ultimately require a trip to the vet, but one type may require you to get your cat to the vet immediately.
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How To Clean Up Cat Vomit
Lets get down to the dirty truth cat puke can leave stains and odors in your carpets. You will want to act fast.
If youre dealing with a particularly bad mess, you may need to bring in a professional carpet cleaner. There are also a lot of store-bought sprays and powders you can try. Look for an enzyme-based product that will help break down the proteins that cause permanent damage.
Here are some cleaning tips that use items you probably already own:
What It Means When Your Cat Is Vomiting Clear Liquid
Tabitha Kucera, RVT, CCBC, KPA-CTP, is a veterinary technician and writer with over a decade of experience working in veterinary medicine for small animal veterinary hospitals, farm sanctuaries, and various cat and dog rescues. She is also Fear Free Certified and a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant.
A meticulous researcher and editor with 17 years of fact-checking experience, Cherisse Harris reviews articles at The Spruce Pets for factual accuracy and consistency. She has fact-checked articles for multiple publications, including InStyle Magazine, Refinery29, The New York Times, Seventeen, and Details.
The Spruce / Ellen Lindner
When your cat vomits clear liquid, it can be a sign of a serious illness. The clear liquid your cat is vomiting up comes from the digestive tract. Vomiting is associated with an array of health concerns including things like hairballs, internal obstructions, pancreatitis, eating too quickly, constipation, indigestion, parasitic infections, poisoning, stress, depression, or even anxiety. Consider other symptoms your cat is exhibiting to determine the cause of the vomiting. A cat that is repeatedly vomiting clear liquid and showing other symptoms of distress or illness should be seen by a vet.
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Why Does My Cat Keep Throwing Up All The Time
A cat shouldn’t puke every day or even frequently throughout the month. If your cat is constantly throwing up, the cause could be something as simple as hairballs, but it can also mean that your cat consumed something toxic or is suffering from a major illness. Be sure to visit your veterinarian as soon as possible if your cat keeps throwing up.
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Comforting Your Cat
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What Causes Cats To Throw Up At Night
If your feline friend ate before bed, their body might attempt to eliminate the food later at night. In some cases, cats will vomit yellow in the middle of the night. This happens when the pet throws up on an empty stomach and can be caused by acid accumulation**, reflux, or another ailment that causes nausea.
However, frequent vomiting during the night could indicate something serious, such as pancreatitis, a foreign body causing a blockage, or cancer, so be sure to see your vet.