Cat Vomiting Is Usually Normal

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Total views: 150 | Word Count: 488 | Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 | 107 comments

Normal Types Of Vomiting In Cats

The typical type of vomiting, and the most common, is caused by hairballs. Cats lick themselves and swallow their own fur. If you did the licking, you would benefit by getting some good fiber into your body. This would be great for your GI tract if you could swallow it without upchucking it yourself.

However, cats do not need this heavy dose of indigestible fur, so it has to come back up.

The important thing to remember here is that you do not need to disrupt this behavior. In fact, you could do harm if you did. The best strategy is to either do nothing or to feed your cat a hairball formula food.

You may notice that your cat vomits after being outside. Pets of all kinds like to eat grass, which helps with digestive function. In the case of cats, eating grass also brings up hairballs.

When Vomiting In Cats Means Trouble

One of our kitties, Amos, hacks and coughs up junk because he has asthma. This seems to be rare in cats. Amos benefits from a homeopathic asthma formula, which he likes to take with a little bit of canned food each morning. His attacks are less frequent when he has this every day.

A more common problem is parasites. Even a light case of worms can be harmful if not treated. You may even see your cat throw up a worm. Watch for a swollen belly as one of the more common signs of worms. You may also notice a loss of appetite and weight loss.

Deworming medications will also causing vomiting.

Other, less common causes of cat vomiting include: intestinal obstruction after swallowing a foreign object, poisons such as antifreeze (it tastes sweet) and lawn and garden chemicals (fertilizers, herbicides, weed killers, pesticides). Even if you do not use these chemicals, an outdoor cat can often find them somewhere in your neighborhood.

What To Do First

If you are not sure what the cause of cat vomiting is, then do not attempt a treatment. The first thing to do, even if it is just for your peace of mind, is to talk with a veterinarian. Fortunately, online pet advice is easy to find, so you may be able to find out what you need to know without a costly office visit.

About the Author

TheCatGuy (aka Dennis Clark) has had pet cats most of his life. He believes that one of the biggest rewards in daily living is having at least one loving, furry, kittycat who purrs at him. TheCatGuy writes and provides advice about cats based on his lifelong living with and being trained by these fascinating little creatures, at TalkAboutCats.com.

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