Veterinarians often joke they have the only profession that makes vomit acceptable dinner table talk, says Dr. Barbara Hodges, a program director for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Alliance. That’s because this bodily function can tell us a lot about our pets’ health, which is perhaps the sole upside to cats’ ability to throw up in awkward places (under the bed, on the rug...).
“Most cats prefer the comfort of soft surfaces and may seek them out when they’re not feeling well,” says Hodges, and “they may feel a bit more secure because they have better traction on these surfaces.”
If it seems like your cat throws up more often than your dog, that’s because they (probably) do. “Dogs evolved as omnivores, so their gastrointestinal systems might be more tolerant of a wider range of foods,” says Hodges. Cats, however, evolved as exclusive carnivores, so their GI systems might be “more selective and reactive.” Plus, “cats are much more fastidious about self-grooming, so they ingest lots of undigestible hair.”
Acute vomiting is likely the kind you’re most familiar with—the sudden, one-time vomit, after which your cat stalks off, dignified as ever. It’s often caused by a hairball, eating something they shouldn’t have or an empty stomach. Bile is released during meals to help digest food and neutralize stomach acid, explains Hodges, but when a cat’s hungry and their stomach’s empty, bile and stomach acid are released in anticipation of eating, which can irritate their stomach and make them vomit a yellow-green, often foamy, liquid.
In this case, you can feed your cat a late-night snack (to prevent morning vomiting) or leave out a measured amount of kibble for them to snack on as needed (cats are crepuscular, meaning they’re most active at dawn and dusk and may want to eat while you’re snoozing). If your cat vomits bile with hairballs, “increase their grooming sessions, and modify their diet by adding small amounts of high-quality digestible fat such as a fish oil formulation labeled and dosed for cats,” says Hodges.
There’s also chronic vomiting, which is repeated vomiting, either several times in succession or over days or months. It can reveal gastrointestinal issues, parasites, allergies or disease (kidney disease, liver disease or hyperthyroidism).
However, if your cat routinely ejects meals soon after eating, they may simply be eating too fast. Hodges suggests slowing them down by feeding smaller, more frequent meals or spreading their food over the surface of a plate, so they have to take smaller mouthfuls. You can also try switching to food with different, more limited ingredients than their current diet. If vomiting persists despite simple dietary changes, consult your veterinarian for additional diagnostic testing, she adds.
Lest you’re tempted to feed your cat an anti-vomiting medication, “vomiting can be a helpful reaction if your cat has ingested something inappropriate,” says Hodges, so wait until you’ve received a veterinary diagnosis. There are also situations when you should visit a veterinarian at once: Any potential toxin exposure (ingesting non-cat-friendly plants, household cleaners, vehicle coolant, human medications or an overdose of your cat’s own medication), loss of appetite, constipation or vomiting more than three times a week.
“Don’t wait and see; time is often critical. It’s better to be safe than sorry later,” says Hodges. Reddish or bloody vomit is a sign of a potential injury in the mouth, esophagus or stomach and could indicate that the cat has eaten a foreign body; dark brown or black coffee-grounds-textured vomit may show bleeding in the upper GI tract.
So next time your cat goes hurc-hurc-hurc, consider it a golden (or brown or yellow) opportunity to get an inside look at what’s plaguing your furry friend. What you discover might give you clues on how to prevent similar unpleasant occurrences.
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