What’s going on with my cat?

[JuliaB]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1.5 year old cat named Charlie who I’ve had since he was a kitten. He has gone through a few periods where he vomits (or regurgitates?) quite frequently. It is always very liquidy and silent- I never know it’s happened until I see it. He has been fully examined (including x-ray and ultrasound) several times and nothing seems that off. He has a few very small crystals last time he was x-rayed, but the vet did not seem too concerned and said he probably ate something he shouldn’t have. Despite this, I get really nervous when he vomits and work myself up to a panic by googling things. He is a normal weight, goes to the bathroom regularly, and has a very large appetite. Does this happen to anyone else’s cat? Should I be really worried or am I overreacting?
Thanks in advance!

 

[ArtNJ]

Many cats vomit a lot, although usually its traceable to eating fast, or eating hair.

 

[sunny578]

I had a cat who vomited a ton. Her vet eventually attributed it to some kind of food allergy, and when we switched her to raw, we got her vomiting/regurgitation down to once a month or less. I remember reading somewhere that vomiting once a week is considered normal for cats, but I'm not sure if this is true! My current cats vomit about 2x a month, but usually it's hairball related.

 

[vince]

I have a scarf-n-barfer that vomits up once in a while from eating too fast. They all get adequate fats in their diet, but end up vomiting a hairball occasionally. Two of them are black tabbies and the other is a long-haired orange girl. I brush them every week, but when they have a hairball, it's always orange.

If I had to estimate, I'd guess mine vomit about once every two weeks or so between the three of them as well.

 

[Nice Loki]

I have had a number of cats over the years, some prodigious vomiters and others nothing.

It is good to examine their expulsions and soon you will come to recognise the difference between normal vomiting and when it is time to go to the vets.

I will prelude this by saying that if at any time you are concerned then vets are always the way to go. I am only offering my own experiences here.

Common examples of vomit reasons:

Hairball = most cats get a hairball that needs ejecting, there are various "anti-hairball" options on the market to reduce this from happening too much.

Chunks of undigested food within 10-15 mins of eating = regurgitation, probably from "scarfing and barfing". Nervous cats and multi cat households are the usual culprits.

Liquid with blades of grass = a very normal cat behaviour.

A small amount of just liquid = usually hunger, some cats get too much stomach acid if they go too long between meals, which can then come up.

A slurry of partially digested food = this one is harder to define (IMO), there could be a number of reasons for it, it could be an intolerance to something in the food they have eaten or they may have eaten dry food then wet food which has caused the dry food to swell. Then again it might be else altogether that the vet could help with.

Some cats vomit more than others, but if your cat is vomiting multiple times in a short time frame (a day or so) and/or is not eating or drinking then more urgent action is required.

 

[Kayseymac]

My older cat has always been pukey. I really don’t worry about it unless it’s more than once a day. Going through spells where he throws up one a week or two isn’t abnormal for him. If I were to see an uptake in frequency I’d be worried. I get freaked out by google too sometimes. My vet tech once told me to stop relying on Dr. Google lol. I would listen to your vet. Sounds like your cat is fine.

 

[Ashanti]

Both my cats go though periods of vomiting. They're healthy just get upset stomachs or something and vomit. I watch for weightloss and signs they feel poorly before worrying.