Ask Dr Claire
My cat has been vomiting over the past week after eating food. Behaviour is usually normal, even after vomiting, but I am concerned as.
In short, regular vomiting is not normal for cat. Vomiting does needs to be distinguished from regurgitation- which looks similar but has completely different causes.
Vomiting is really just a symptom and can be the result of many underlying causes. In this case, we really need to find the cause of the vomiting so that we can treat your cat’s problem (not just the symptom). This will help us reach the best treatment plan too.
Some of the underlying causes of vomiting might be:
- Infectious disease (bacteria, viruses, parasites)
- Gut problems (inflammatory bowel disease, tumours, obstructions, food intolerance or food allergies)
- Abdominal or metabolic problems (kidney, liver, pancreatitis, spleen, electrolyte abnormalities, diabetes)
- Direct irritation of the stomach
- A reaction to toxins or other drugs
- Dietary indiscretion
A hands-on examination from your local vet would be a great place to start. They may even recommend a blood test as a great way to assess your cat’s base health. Abdominal imaging (such as radiography and ultrasound) is often used in cases of vomiting to exclude any structural disease in the abdomen and look at gut wall thickness (which is an indicator of an unhappy gut).
If you’d like to chat in person, you can get a vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail now.
We’re here to help!
Chat soon,
Dr Claire