Both cats vomiting more frequently the past week

[meowmeow666meow]

Forgive the long post. I'm wondering if someone can give general advice, and let me know if / when I should take them to a vet

I have two cats (14&13) who have both started vomiting more than usual over the past ~5 days (unsure of the exact timing. Cats just vomit sometimes so the first couple times I didn't take note) They seem to vomit once a day, sometimes twice. One of the cats has always had a propensity to vomit, but this is still more than normal for her. The other one rarely vomits.

Aside from the vomiting, the cats seem completely fine. They are eating and drinking normally, seem as active as normal for their ages. I work from home so I see them all day.

Sometimes the vomit is undigested food, but most often it appears to be bile, sometimes with a hairball mixed in.

I also literally took them both to the vet 1.5 weeks ago for annual bloodwork&urinalysis, and everything looked good. The increased vomiting started after this visit, however, so it was not discussed.

There have been some changes, however, in the last 3 weeks. I moved to an entirely new state (Massachusetts to Florida). Specific changes:

-My cats are strictly indoors, but they managed to get fleas down here - so I treated them with Frontline 2 weeks ago. They did not appear to have any negative reactions the days immediately after.
-I free feed them dry food, but give them a can of wet food to share every evening for a treat / extra water. I couldn't find a store that carries the wetfood brand I had been buying, so I've been trying a lot of new brands to see what the kitties like. Everything is chicken flavored and grain free.
-I did get a bunch of new houseplants after moving. However, I am 100% certain of the species I got, and that they are not toxic to cats (I looked at aspca website, and I actually work in botany so I know how to ID plants) but I am not sure if they still could irritate their stomachs. I saw one cat chewing on a plant once, but aside from that I haven't seen any chewing. They could possibly be nibbling at night when I'm asleep, but I haven't noticed any nibble marks on the plants. Still possible I guess.
-Again, I'm in Florida, and there are a lot of bugs. I haven't seen my cats eat any, but it doesn't mean they haven't.

That is all the info I have. Thanks so much if you have read this whole post. I would be happy to clarify any information if requested.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. A lot going on! But, you have made a nice list to work with to eliminate issues that could be causing the problem - work through your list. Since the vomiting started after the vet visit just less than 2 weeks ago, that is the timeline I would focus on. There looks to be a common denominator due the fact that both are vomiting. So, it more than likely has to be something that would affect them both.

The only thing that came to my mind is that perhaps you have changed (or, they have changed) their eating routine - the vomiting up undigested food - if after a long period without eating, is possible. The same can be said for vomiting up bile (no food but a lot of stomach acids). I have had my cat do both things, when she hasn't eaten much overnight.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would NOT count the vomit with hair in it because you've moved to a place that is much hotter and more humid (that one is a guess) so I'm thinking they are bathing a lot more than they used to and therefore would tend to have more hairballs.

Also, they have to be under some stress, so a little bit of odd behavior could be understood. The change in canned food could very well account for the true vomiting, as well as perhaps a change in schedule as mentioned above. Too long between meals can certainly cause bile vomiting. I would look closely at the ingredients in the old food (google it) and see what is different in the newer foods to see if there is some ingredient in the new stuff that might be a problem. See if you can find another food that doesn't have that ingredient, if you happen to see there is something.

Also, you can always CALL the Vet you just saw and mention this is happening. They might prescribe an anti-emetic to give them until you can get it sorted out. Their dry food isn't new too, is it? Could it have gone bad? Expired? Anything like that?