Ask a Vet: Cat with an Upset Stomach
September 17th, 2008 by Dr. Donna Spector
Q: I have an exotic short hair persian cat that is 4-years-old. Just had blood work done and there was nothing out of order. She is vomiting up small amounts of hair each day; it never reaches the intestines. I brush her every day, and nothing seems to help. I feed a cat food for persians — I don’t know what to do. Can you offer any advice?
A: Thanks for the question — daily vomiting in cats is not normal. The good news is that it is likely something minor and a few adjustments in her feeding routine or diet may take care of it.
• Feed a high quality natural cat food. Make sure the food has a low amount of grains and contains no by-products.
• Feed canned food. Cats are carnivores and require very little carbohydrate in their diet. Excess carbohydrates in cats can cause poor digestion, gas, bloating, diarrhea or nausea. In general, canned food is lower in carbohydrates than dry food and tends to be a better choice for cats with digestive problems.
• Feed small meals multiple times daily. Multiple meals daily prevent bile build-up which can cause nausea and vomiting. TIP: Split the same amount of food into three or four meals — do not increase the amount of food or you may run into problems with pet obesity.
If these tips don’t ease the vomiting in your kitty, see your veterinarian to discuss other possibilities. Food allergy and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are other common conditions that cause vomiting in young cats. Both conditions are treatable but need to be managed under the watchful eye of your veterinarian.
Good luck!
Dr. Donna Spector, DVM, DACVIM
Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.
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September 17th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I have a doll faced chinchilla persian that we got while living overseas. Since we got him at about 5 months old he has had very, very loose stool. Our food choices were very limited while living overseas…we ended up crushing tiny amounts of immodium into his food to control the problem. When we returned to the states we visited our vet many times about his problem, without results. Then, around his second birthday, our kitty began chewing off his fur! We tried different foods again, along with cortizone shots. We found that Royal Canaan Rabbit and Green Pea food solved his stool issue - but he is still pulling out his fur. A huge chunk on his side is gone (it looks like someone shaved a patch 5 inches long and 3 inches wide), along with all the fur on the inside of all his legs. Now he is moving to his underside between his rear legs. His ruff is significantly thinner, as well.
The cortizone shots do nothing. Anxiety pills knock him out and are extremely difficult to give to him. He eats well and plays well. My vet has no idea and I’m frustrated spending $100 a trip only to have the problem get worse. I’m at a loss!! HELP!!
September 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I understand canned cat food is better for cats, especially ones that tend to vomit quite a bit. What if your cat is finicky and refuses to eat canned cat food?
September 19th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I’m at a total lost with my long-haired dachshund. I follow the Spot’s Stew recipe. She doesn’t get any processed/store bought food of any sort. However, she licks her front paws constantly. We had allergy test done on her and were told she was basically allergic to almost every type of grass/pollen there is. Besides using vetwrap on her front paws - is there anything I can do?
October 6th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I have an 11 year old spayed female cat that is licking the fur off of her stomach. I think the extra fur she is ingesting is giving her more hairballs than she normally has also. Any ideas why she might be doing this or how it could be stopped? I feed her Iams indoor (weight control, hairball) dry cat food.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hi Dr.-
I am very worried about my cat, Felix. He is a three year old indoor cat. We recently (about three months ago) moved from the east coast to california. Felix was a little upset with the car ride, but did fine and adjusted to the new place quickly.
About 3 weeks ago, he was scratching his neck a lot and had several hairballs (a few a week) and after a visit to a vet, he was dx with seasonal allergies and given a cortisone shot, after which he did great.
2 days ago, I came home from work to find several vomit-piles, none of which were hairballs, and a very unhappy cat.
Yesterday, he did not eat or drink anything and I took him to the vet who ran blood work (nothing abnormal) x-rays (nothing found) and he was given subcutaneous fluid and antivomiting meds. He did fine last night, no throwing up, then today has vomited several more times including the last, which was green.
Could this be a simple “stomach bug?” What other tests would you recommend?