Cat suddenly started vomiting food

Question

A few days ago, one of my cats (5 months old) started vomiting her food and stomach liquids. She seems to mainly vomit during the night. Two days ago, I brought her to the vet. They did an x-ray, but couldn't see anything in her stomach.

The night after the vet visit, she didn't vomit. I only gave her a very small quantity of food. I usually free feed the cats, but have changed to 4-5 small meals for the time being. Tonight she had vomited again. This time, it seems that she only threw up her food (no second puddle of stomach liquid or anything). She generally seems to eat and drink quite a lot, at least compared to my other cat. My first thought was that she ate/drank too much, and the dry food expanded in her stomach and made her throw up. However, since this didn't happen in the last 2 months, I'm not really sure if that is actually the cause, especially because I gave her less food during the last 2 days. So the timeline looks something like this:

• Night 3 days ago: vomit.
• Night 2 days ago: vomit.
• Night 1 day ago: no vomit. This is the day I brought her to the vet. That being said, she had vomited multiple times, mainly clear liquid during the day/before the vet visit.
• This night: vomit.

At this point, I'm not really sure what to do. The only thing that I changed recently is the litter. But I can't imagine that being a problem. Aside from that, nothing changed at all. Same food, didn't move or have big changes in the house either (so not stress induced I think). My other cat, which is 2 months older, is absolutely fine. The vet said to give a call in case she vomits again. She said if that's the case, we'd probably need to do an ultrasound to check the stomach again (last time, she did an x-ray). I haven't called her yet.

About their diet:

Currently I'm giving both kittens only dry food. The reason being: the same cat that is vomiting right now had diarrhea for a few days after I first brought her home. This was around 4 weeks ago. I had her checked at the vet, and got told to only give her dry food for the whole month, to make sure her stomach stabilizes. I was planning on switching to free-feeding dry food and 1 wet food per day, but I guess that plan must wait for now. The vet thinks it was stress induced. Her stomach/stool has been fine for the past 3 ¹/₂ weeks.

Edit: One other thing that crossed my mind is her maybe having parasites or worms. The cats are not allowed to go outside, however, they both love to play with my shoes. I think it's unlikely, but I guess there is a possibility that maybe she got something from the shoes? I started stowing them away the last few days, just in case.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Answer 1

First of all, throwing up can quickly lead to dehydration in cats, so you need to keep an eye on this.

My advice is to give only wet food until you find the reason for why your cat throws up; this is to be sure your cat is well hydrated.

It is normal for cats to throw up from time to time, but if it is more than once in a week you need to consult a vet.

Eating too fast can make the cat throw up or it might get diarrhea, so if your cat is eating too fast you need to give the food in smaller portions or find a way to slow your your cats eating down.

If your cat has not been dewormed you should get it done soon; kittens can be infected by worms from their mother, so deworming is often done at your kitten's first vet visit.

Even an indoor cat can get infected with worms, so you should deworm the cat once a year and a outdoor cat needs to be dewormed every 6 months or less; it depends on the cat`s hunting skills.

Intestinal parasites might be the cause for your cat throwing up and for the diarrhea earlier.

Answer 2

I'm starting to get worried, as my cat is still throwing up. I brought her to the vet 2 days ago (for the second time). They checked her and said the feel something hard in her stomach. They operated on her, but before opening the intestine itself, they apparently noticed that it was only gas, so they didn't actually cut the intestine. They said the vomitting is most likely due to an intestinal infection. I brought her home around 4pm. Just earlier, she had to vomit twice again (it's 06:30am now). Not only has she gone through anestesia and an operation, but the problem is still present....

I thought maybe the dry food i'm giving her is the cause. Maybe a bad batch? But my other cat eats the same and she is fine, so probably not. Can a cat suddenly develop allergies to a certain food? I've been giving her this food for the past month without a problem, and so was the person i bought her from. Can the fact that i only give her dry food be the cause? The reason i do that, is because she had bad diarrhea for almost a week after i bought her, so the vet said to stick to the same dry food and that one only for 1 month.

Anyway, i'm really at a loss here. I'll give the vet a call later when they open to see what they say. If they suggest i bring the cat in again, i probably won't do that, as she has been checked twice already with no results.

If any of you have a suggestion, that'd be really appreciated. I'm honestly getting worried for her health here, as she is only 5 months old (and now additionally recovering from an operation).

Answer 3

my kitten was throwing up alot and the reason for this is that he was eating grain free wet food. try your cat with food that DOES have grain in it. i would reccomend purina or hills.