Concerned about cat vomiting?

amandad18 · September 2012

Our cat is almost 9 years old. She usually vomits once or twice a week, and it's mostly undigested food. She's had a couple of days in the past month (a week or two apart) where she has thrown up multiple times during the day, in front of me. It's still mostly undigested food, but a little foamier/ more liquidy than usual.

Should we take her to the vet? Or is this normal cat stuff? She's my first cat, so I'm not really sure what's "cat normal." I just know that this is a little unusual for her.

TIA!

corgilove22 · September 2012

If it is a marked change that has been happening on and off for a month I would at minimum call the vet to see what they think. A medical professional will be able to tell you if you need to be seen or at least what signs to watch for moving forward.

Tempo982 · September 2012

If it's not normal for her, I would call the vet. 9 years old means she's a senior, and a lot of problems can develop with old age.

Good luck! Hope she feels better soon.

kellbell1919 · September 2012

Given hEr age I would do a vet check. What are you feeding her? You may want to check our FAQs. Cats are obligate carnivores so food with grain and "chicken meal" etc are harder for them to digest. They don't get as many nutrients out of it and they can have vomiting issues bc of food allergies, etc. a better quality food is better for their kidneys, liver, reduces the risk of diabetes, makes them she'd less and poop less. I would also try feeding her multiple times a day and including wet food. All of those things really helped our cat who used to vomit. I do think a senior blood panel would be good though.

callitcompulsive · September 2012

It's not "usual" for anything to throw up twice a week. I agree with the poster who suggested maybe taking a look at her food and maybe getting her a better quality food. She could have a food allergy at the very least.

I'd probably try and switch her food (You want to look for a food without grain in it.) and see if that helps at all. If it doesn't, I'd make an appointment at the vet.

blakgarnet · September 2012

cats frequently vomit if they eat too fast, and when that happens, it is frequently undigested food. Do you feed dry food? when the cat vomits, is it whole pieces of food? Does it look like you're cat's not chewing. There are many ways to help slow down your cat's eating - putting something in the middle of the food dish that they have to eat around, cat toys that slowly dispense kibbles, etc. I would suspect that if there was an issue with the food, you would be seeing this daily. If you are considering changing food (although that is more likely to cause GI upset at least initially), look for a high quality food. The BEST sign of a high quality food is not necessarily what the internet tells you, but all foods have an AAFCO statement on it; You want a food that says it has been evaluated using AAFCO feeding trials and is for the appropriate life stage (ie for your 9yo cat, you only want it to say for maintenance NOT growth or lactation).

blakgarnet · September 2012

not to say that a call to your vet and a check up isn't necessary since this is a change.

amandad18 · September 2012

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!

We've fed her Nutro Max for years, and have been feeding her the senior diet for awhile.

The vomit is always mostly undigested food (even her usual secret weekly vomit). The difference in the couple of days where she's thrown up multiple times is that she has done it in front of me, I would assume so I would know about it.

She was at the vet in May and had a full check up, but I guess we'll need to take her back in- Again, thanks for weighing in!

SallySparrow · September 2012

I agree with the vet visit. My Siamese does this though, when he eats too fast. And if his meals are late and he freaks out about it. We cut down on it by feeding the cats twice a day with a couple of treats around the middle of the day. That way his food is spread out more and he doesn't freak out and inhale everything at dinner time.

Concerned about cat vomiting?

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