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1296191 tn?1280699873

Healthy Cat That Vomits Frequently

My eight year old cat is very skinny, but he's in great health. His coat is soft, sleek, and shiny, he eats and drinks whenever he needs to, and he has a ton of energy, especially when outside. There is only one problem with his health: he throws up more often than most cats. I'm not too worried about this, because he is in very good health otherwise, but cleaning up his vomit is quite tedious. My cat is very healthy apart from this, and I want to know if there's anything I can do for him. Thanks!
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Avatar universal
get the blood work, older cats can develop thyroid problems my very healthy and spry 20 year old cat was diagnosed with it about a year ago.  She takes 1/2 pill twice a day along with 1/4 of a pepcide a/c (over the counter generic acid reducer) vomiting stop almost completely. Now it only happens as it does for regular cats (eats to fast/hairball) or if she happens to miss a pill
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Vomiting usually has a cause and a purpose, but that is far from it being natural.  An adult cat that doubles his body weight and then looses half of it again has got something more than just a change in exercise going on.  He may also be chronically dehydrated.  Since he often vomits on an empty stomach, his food is probably not the problem.  He could however be ingesting toxins from eating grass, other vegetation (that may have been fertilized) or small animals (birds, mice, lizards, etc.) outside.  I would suggest keeping him inside for a while and see if that eliminates the vomiting.  If it does not, I would suggest he be tested for thyroid, liver, and kidney problems that may be affecting his digestive system.  
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Avatar universal
My stray cat arrived doing just that. I did an elimination diet and now she NEVER vomits. She cannot tolerate any grains, no wheat,
no rice, no pasta, basically nothing but chicken and Turkey and little
bit of normal veggies (no zucchini like in Halo food). A tiny
bit of fish, but a lot of it and it's vomit city.
The big thing was the cheap stuff in the food - wheat gluten?
It's not natural.
Try WELLNESS foods - they have very basic stuff in them. Try the chicken or Turkey and go from there. Feed one, give it a few days
and look for improvement.
My cats used to eat the cans of that, now they eat the packets of it (
because they are spoiled).
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1296191 tn?1280699873
I'm all for taking Heisenberg to the vet, but my parents are dismissing Heisenberg's vomiting as natural and nothing to be concerned about. I know that this just isn't right, and that Heisenberg has never vomited this frequently before.
Helpful - 0
541150 tn?1306033843
You know what? Maybe the vet will decide that it is time for kitty to be on a different diet. As cats get older their needs for diet change among other things increases. Think about it. Your body changes when you get older, and the foods you use to enjoy may be making you sick now. It is no different with our pets.

I hope you can take him in soon. Good Luck!
Helpful - 0
1296191 tn?1280699873
We feed him the Purina Cat Chow Indoor Cat Mix.
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541150 tn?1306033843
Umm....2-3 times in one week is too frequent. You will have to take him to the vet.

What are you feeding him?
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587315 tn?1333552783
Hi, just to be sure that everything is all good with your cat, I would bring him in for some blood work.  Cats that are over 7 yrs old need to be checked for these common conditions-hyperthyroidism, and kidney disease.  I am concerned that your cat is very skinny, despite a good appetite.  These symptoms, along with the vomiting, could possibly be caused by thyroid disease.  

Good luck!
Helpful - 0
88793 tn?1290227177
My elder cat also like what you describe his fur.  When he started vomiting, I didn't realize it would be a problem.  Until I have seen him getting skinny and skinnier, I took him to the vet.  The vet diagnosed him having a renal disease.  He is 12.
Helpful - 0
874521 tn?1424116797
just a thought on this, have you given him hairball treatment lately?
he may be trying to dislodge a hairball that is in his stomach and if he can't get it up he will continually make himself vomit to try and dislodge...and if it won't come theres only stomach acid coming up.
Try a hairball treatment, if there is a hairball (and there likely is)..this is the only thing that will help him pass it out.
Helpful - 0
1296191 tn?1280699873
It depends on if he's eaten recently. If he has, there's a bunch of undigested food. If not, there's a bunch of stomach acid. On average he throws up 2-3 times a week, and a few days ago he came downstairs (where I was), vomited stomach acid three times, and then went back upstairs. And last night he did the same thing.

Sorry for the late reply - I haven't been feeling well myself over the past few days.
Helpful - 0
541150 tn?1306033843
Hi iRowan,

How often does he vomit? What do you feed him? And hey, I have a cat who loves eating grass in our yard. My cats are both indoors but one of them, Dillan, likes to go out to the yard to eat grass :-) So we take him out for 5 minutes......he will eat the grass, then we bring him back in the house since he never goes out unsupervised, and then he vomits in the house. I'm pregnant and am very sensitive to smell. So just imagine my gagging while cleaning his vomit. However, all I see is hair and grass; which is very normal.

What exactly is contained in the vomit? Have you noticed hair? undigested food? too much saliva? stomach acid? It would be great if you were able to tell us.

Otherwise I'm glad he is a healthy fella :-)

PK
Helpful - 0
1296191 tn?1280699873
Heisenberg's vomiting is fairly new to him - it's been going on for about a year now out of his eight. He's an outdoor cat, so he gets a TON of exercise. When we kept him inside after adopting our newest cat, he ballooned from eight pounds to fourteen or fifteen because he wasn't getting enough exercise. Heisen didn't take well to walks on a harness, so I started letting him back outside, which caused him to drop back down to eight pounds again because of more exercise.

That's why he's so skinny - he gets a lot of exercise.
Helpful - 0
242912 tn?1660619837
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi Rowan, I know just what you mean about cleaning up the vomit all the time since my cat vomits frequently, too.  

Rowan, in order for me to get a better idea of what's going on with your kitty, is the vomiting something new or has he always done it?  Has he always been a thin cat in spite of eating enough?  
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