One of the biggest health concerns for cat parents is vomiting. While something as simple as a hairball can cause your cat to vomit, it could also be something much more serious that requires immediate veterinary help. If you’ve been grappling with why does my cat keep throwing up undigested food, we’re here to help!
This article will shed light on why cats vomit undigested food and share some home remedies for cat vomiting. Let’s get started.
Chronic and Acute Vomiting in Cats
Vomiting can be classified into two broad categories: chronic and acute vomiting.
Chronic vomiting refers to puking with some regularity for an extended period. In the case of chronic vomiting, a cat usually vomits once or twice with each occurrence.
If a cat that usually does not throw up starts vomiting, it is known as acute vomiting. This type of vomiting is usually for cat owners and requires veterinarian assistance if the cat vomits multiple times.
The diagnosis procedure and treatments for acute and chronic vomiting can vary. Urgent veterinary care is usually required in the case of acute vomiting.
You don’t need to rush to the vet if your cat has only vomited one to three times . If your cat eats without continuing to vomit, acts normal and seems comfortable, you don’t need to rush to a vet’s clinic – unless, of course, you know it ate something toxic.
If your cat vomits more than three times, cannot keep food down and seems tired, you should head to the vet as soon as possible. It may be experiencing passing nausea. If it is something more serious, a vet should be able to implement treatment as soon as possible.
Unless your cat is in severe discomfort or feels like staying in one place, we don’t usually recommend going to an emergency clinic.
However, if your cat’s condition seems to deteriorate quickly through the night, you should pay an emergency visit to a vet in Houston. Cats that puke continuously and cannot keep food down are prone to secondary changes such as liver disease. Delaying treatment can be dangerous for them.
If your cat is chronically vomiting, you should still take it to a veterinarian. However, urgent care might not be necessary if your cat is still eating, keeping food down, and not showing any signs of weakness.
If your cat displays any of these symptoms, it could mean that your chronically vomiting cat is either vomiting acutely or having an acute crisis of whatever’s causing chronic vomiting.
The Difference between Vomiting and Regurgitating
Many cat owners often mistake regurgitating for vomiting. There is a stark difference between a cat vomiting and regurgitating its food. It would help if you kept this difference in mind to treat your sick cat. Knowing the difference between vomiting and regurgitating can help you understand what your cat is engaging in.
Unlike foods that cause puking, a piece of regurgitated food remains undigested by the acids in your pet’s stomach. In contrast, vomiting happens when your cat’s stomach’s contents are ejected. This not only includes the food your cat has consumed but water and bile as well.
When a pet is vomiting, the process is usually accompanied by several symptoms such as abdominal muscle contraction, heaving, nausea, and retching. When a cat pukes, it often starts to retch before vomiting and might also drool or vocalize.
You should take detailed notes of the symptoms that accompany this occurrence and carefully observe your cat, as this can help your vet figure out how to treat your feline friend properly.
Regurgitation differs from vomiting because it just involves the ejection of contents in your cat’s esophagus or mouth. Water, food, or any other ingested items that are unable to make it to the stomach may be regurgitated.
Regurgitation is different from vomiting because there is no abdominal effort associated with it. Instead, your cat might simply bow its head and drop food out of its mouth.
When you are compiling details for your vet, you must also note the timeline. Take note of how much time has passed since you first fed your pet. Cats often regurgitate their food anytime between 30 minutes and two hours after their meal.
Why Does My Cat Keep Throwing Up Undigested Food?
Are you wondering why does my cat vomit undigested food? This section will discuss the leading causes behind this problem and help you figure out what went wrong with your feline.
1. Cat Is Eating Too Quickly.
Your cat may be vomiting undigested food simply because it ate its meal too rapidly. If you observe this happening repeatedly, take note of how long your cat takes to finish a meal. This information can be valuable when you visit a vet.
If your cat eats too quickly, try to provide food using a food puzzle. This will allow your pet to slow down. It will take time to consume the meal instead of wolfing it down. In addition, your cat might find the food puzzle amusing and enjoyable.
If you have transitioned your cat to a food puzzle and it has slowed their eating speed, check if it’s still getting sick. If yes, head over to a vet to find some answers.
2. Cat Has Hairballs.
Cats are famous for meticulously grooming themselves using their tongues. They are very committed to cleaning. As a result, they can get hairballs. This is because cats have hook-like structures all over their tongues.
While these structures are small, they are powerful. They can catch dead or loose hair that cats sometimes swallow. Most of the time, hair successfully passes through an animal’s digestive system, but sometimes it gets trapped in its stomach.
As a result, hairballs may be contributing to your cat vomiting undigested food. While hairballs are normal, your cat may experience some difficulty passing them. If this issue occurs frequently and your cat experiences pain, you must intervene and take your pet for a checkup.
Over-The-Counter (OTC) supplements can help cats that have hairballs. These supplements are usually chewable or come in gel format. To mitigate the risk of hairballs, you should also develop a brushing routine for your pet.
3. Cat Is Allergic to Certain Foods.
Like humans, cats can also be allergic to certain foods. Most cats are allergic to protein over any other nutrient source. Therefore, you must ensure you follow a hydrolyzed diet.
In a hydrolyzed diet, the food goes through a unique process that breaks down proteins into individual amino acid components. This prevents the cat’s immune system from identifying that the food contains allergens. As a result, your cat will not have an allergy flare-up and will not vomit undigested food.
If you’ve heard of a hydrolyzed diet for the first time and are worried about where to find such food for your cat, head over to your local veterinary clinic or check in with the major pet stores in your area. Online pharmacies are also a great place to shop for hydrolyzed foods for cats.
4. Cat Is Suffering from Gastritis.
Does your cat have a reputation for getting into things it’s not supposed to? It is possible your cat might have hurt its stomach by eating something it shouldn’t have. As a result, it might be throwing up undigested food, bile or even blood.
If your cat is suffering from gastritis, it will, most likely, be exhibiting other symptoms. These symptoms can include fatigue, lethargy, depression, dehydration, or a decrease in your pet’s appetite. If you notice any of these symptoms, you must consult your vet about them. A vet will know how to treat gastritis to ensure your cat feels better.
5. You Have Made Changes to Your Cat’s Diet/Food.
Lastly, your cat could also be throwing up undigested food if you’ve made any changes to its diet or food. Changing a cat’s feeding schedule impacts them. Hence, if your pet eats much later than usual or misses a meal, it can throw up undigested food.
Think about whether you recently switched your cat over to a different brand or type of cat food. If you do not transition slowly, it can shock your pet’s body and make it sick. Transitioning to different foods or brands should always be a gradual process taking one to two weeks.
If you have any nutritional concerns about what your cat is eating, you can discuss those with your vet in Austin. They will help you figure out what’s wrong and suggest ways to ensure that your pet gets all the nutrients it needs.
Diagnosing the Cause of Vomiting in Cats
Diagnosing the reason behind vomiting in cats can be difficult. Most acute vomiting cases are temporary, and the pet improves over time with just symptomatic therapy. However, in any case, a basic examination is recommended to ensure your cat does not have an underlying health issue.
The first step in diagnosing the cause of vomiting in cats is getting an accurate history from the cat owners. Here is a list of some questions your vet might ask you when you head over for a checkup:
- When did your cat start vomiting?
- What did you find in the vomit?
- Was your cat exposed to plants or other toxins?
- What does your cat’s regular diet entail?
- Does the cat go outdoors? If yes, does it hunt?
- Is your cat on any medication?
- Is your cat experiencing diarrhea?
- Is the cat eating as usual?
- When does the vomiting usually occur?
- Is your cat losing weight?
- Is your drinking a lot of water or urinating a lot?
- Does your cat often play with string?
Based on your answers to these questions, the vet will better understand which diagnostics to run. Knowing what the vomit looks like will not give your vet a definitive answer about why your pet is vomiting, but it will give them a starting point to begin looking.
The following vomit characteristics can help your vet determine what’s happening inside your cat’s body:
- Yellow vomit: Contains bile and can be a sign of liver disease. It often occurs with an empty stomach. It could also mean that your cat ate something yellow.
- Blood in the vomit: The blood can be from the mouth, esophagus or stomach.
- Coffee-ground-like vomit: Bleeding from the stomach, most commonly seen in cases of ulcers.
- Clear vomit: Usually regurgitation from the esophagus or an empty stomach.
- White and foamy vomit: Also regurgitation from the esophagus or an empty stomach.
- Brown and smelly vomit: Bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract. This could also mean your cat has eaten something brown and smelly.
- Undigested food in the vomit: When your cat throws up undigested food, it means that the food never left the stomach. As discussed earlier, this usually happens with food intolerances, allergies, obstructions, motility disorder or anything that irritates the upper gastrointestinal tract.
How to Treat Cat Vomiting
Once you know the cause behind your cat throwing up undigested food, you can start treating your cat, so it recovers quickly. For your sake, we’ve divided this section into two parts that will discuss treatment options for acute and chronic vomiting. Take a look:
Treating Acute Vomiting in Cats
By now, you probably know that the first step in treating your sick cat is identifying the underlying cause of vomiting. Your vet will conduct several noninvasive diagnostics in case of acute vomiting. These include:
- Performing a comprehensive blood test, specifically a CBC (complete blood count), is essential for detecting conditions such as kidney disease and diabetes.
- Conducting a stool analysis is crucial to eliminate the possibility of pests and parasites in the digestive system.
- Utilizing abdominal X-rays is essential to exclude the presence of tumors or foreign objects as potential causes for vomiting.
In the event that these examinations yield normal results, but your cat is experiencing sudden bouts of vomiting, your veterinarian is likely to suggest supportive therapies and may prescribe medications to alleviate nausea.
If your cat has been vomiting because of hairballs, your vet will suggest a special high-fiber diet and prescribe medication to allow easy passing of the hairballs.
Treating Chronic Vomiting in Cats
If your cat has a history of chronic vomiting and continues to vomit, your vet will recommend further testing. These tests might include:
- Conducting a gastrointestinal panel is necessary to assess pancreatic enzyme levels and eliminate the possibility of pancreatitis. Additionally, the panel examines cobalamin and folate levels to identify any indications of malabsorption in your cat’s small intestine.
- Utilizing abdominal ultrasound imaging allows for the identification of smaller foreign objects beyond the detection capabilities of X-rays. This imaging technique focuses on the examination of the pancreas, measuring the dimensions of the gastrointestinal tract wall, and identifying any enlarged lymph nodes, which can be indicative of cancer in some cases.
- If uncertainty exists regarding whether your cat is vomiting, regurgitating, or coughing, your veterinarian may suggest a chest X-ray for clarification. Particularly in older cats, these X-rays are strongly advised to eliminate the possibility of cancer-related indications.
Depending on the results of the tests mentioned above, your vet will prescribe medication.
If the vomiting results from diet intolerance, the vet may prescribe anti-nausea and anti-vomiting medication and suggest dietary changes.
If an underlying disease causes chronic vomiting, treatment might be more aggressive, depending on the disease. Your cat might require hospitalization. Then your vet might also recommend intravenous fluid therapy to restore electrolytes and fluids lost during vomiting.
Your vet will most likely provide antibiotics if the tests detect bacterial infections,. If parasites or pests are detected, you can eradicate these using deworming or anti-parasitic medications.
If the tests show an obstruction in the gastrointestinal tracts, removing the obstruction might require surgery. Your vet will discuss surgery options with you, including anesthesia and recovery times, based on the type of obstruction.
If the tests detect cancer, your vet will suggest treatment methods such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, depending on the location and stage of cancer.
Home Remedies for Cat Vomiting
Now that you know why does my cat puke, let’s discuss some home remedies for cat vomiting. For cats are otherwise healthy, behaving normally, and not vomiting blood, you can begin treatment at home with the following remedies:
- Always provide access to fresh water to your cat. An average cat drinks about one ounce of water per pound of body weight each day. For example, a five-pound cat will typically drink five ounces of water in 24 hours. Cats that throw up food require more water to stay hydrated at all times.
- Give your cat some quiet time to rest and fully recover. It might stop the vomiting.
- If your cat has a disease that is possibly contagious to other cats, please keep your cat isolated and away from all other animals until it recovers fully.
- If your cat has been vomiting hairballs, brush its coat regularly, ensure it stays active and provide a balanced diet specially designed to help cats with hairballs.
Final Words
The best thing you can do when your cat vomits is try to figure out why does my cat keep throwing up undigested food. Once you find the underlying cause, it will be easier for you to treat your pet and help it recover in no time!
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Hi !!! I am Alice. The love of pet animals especially the bonding with cats inspired me to write. I am a trained specialist with depth knowledge about cat, their food habits, their behavior and how to take care of cats. Here at www.petcatinfo , me and my team members tried our best to share the information about cats.