My cat throws up a lot

[Zuni]

I am wondering If I should take her to the vet. It always is a hairball, but she seems to do it more than any other cat I have had. Almost every other day she coughs up something nasty.

What can I do? Or what should I do?

[aquart]

1. Lotsa hairball stuff.

Does she seem sick? Losing weight? In generally bad condition?

Otherwise, don't waste a vet visit on an OTC problem.

There's kitty grass. There's Petromalt. There's even a hairball formula dry pet food.

Maybe needs a little more oil in her food?

[Zuni]

4. seems healthy to me

she is kinda plump, eats a lot, always goes to the litter pan, very sociable.

[joeybee12]

7. Some cats--like one of mine--just have nervous stomachs

Scarlet throws up hairballs a lot, while her sister Melanie doesn't--she seems to be able to process the hair much better.

There's really not much you can do about it--it's his/her nature.

[HereSince1628]

2. I had one like that, almost everytime it ate

went to the vet, tested for worms none but wormed anyway, x-rayed, nothing...it was just a pukey cat. Ultimately, I moved to a place in the country and it became a fulltime outside/barn cat. It lived to be 15.

[soothsayer]

3. shave her? take her mirrors away in case she's bulimic?

ok, seriously, use the hairball stuff poster #1 mentioned, including the hairball formula dry food.

[Zuni]

5. LOL

That was funny.

[davidinalameda]

6. Petromalt works

but it gives the cat gas

hairball or cat farts--take your pick

:bounce:

[jukes]

8. I agree w/

Aquart. Unless you see blood, copious mucus, or parasite parts, your kitty just ingests a lot of hair & isn't passing it in stool. Fiber &/or lubricant laxatives will help. A dab of petroleum jelly on the paw works wonders, & is considered a treat by many of my cats.

There is the caveat that frequent vomiting can be caused by intestinal parasites, so "fork" through the vomitis, w/ optical assistance if you need it, looking for telltales. Translucent "tubes", tangled masses of fibers thicker than hair, blood or mucus in the matter will indicate a run to the vet; in which case you should salvage the vomit in a clean jar for the vet to check microscopically.

Good luck!

[KCDem]

22. Ew, you must _really_ love your cats!

I have two and love them, but combing through vomit is a bit too much for me. :puke:

[fairfaxvadem]

9. my one cat is a Gack-O-Matic too...

Every couple of weeks I come downstairs to a present on the carpet. Usually a fur ball. I try to keep them both brushed, but he has a particularly think coat for a DSH. And since all he does is bathe himself 24/7, well, it's no wonder.

I have noticed that since I switched him to the IAMS less active w/hairball whatever stuff, the gacks are fewer and smaller in size. He's about 11 years old. The 2 year old has yet to gack.

[PoliticalJihad]

10. Could be a couple things

Could be a couple things, best thing is to talk to the vet.

I have a cat that eats real fast, throws up what she just ate and wants to eat again.

I have another that nibbles, but maybe once a week everything comes backup. Some times I hear her stomach doing back flips before throwing up. Vet gave me some new stuff when her stomoch is upset. Used it for the first time Fri. evening and it worked.

[Zuni]

13. my cat does eat fast

I think that might upset her tummy

[Philostopher]

11. If you're sure she's hacking up hairballs ...

Might be worth trying a hairball food -- there are many on the market, from both mainstream and alternative animal food makers. I've got a cat who used to yak up a hairball once a week, the hairball food did cut her down to more like once or twice a month.

If you're not sure it's hairballs, take her to the vet.

[JVS]

12. Does she drink a lot?

[Zuni]

14. actually, no

she does not drink water much at all. She gets wet food every day and I read that cats only need a tiny amount of water to survive.

[neebob]

15. I have two long-haired barfbags

Hardly a day goes by that I don't find a hairball or food barf. I've always figured they just have the same genes, since they came from the same pack of feral cats and were born around the same time and are identical except in color. The short-haired one that I rescued from some derelicts who were going to sell him at the flea market hardly ever barfs. I've also considered going back to feeding them once a day, because the barfage seemed to increase when I got a continuous feeder and they suddenly had round-the-clock access to food.

[VOX]

16. Zuni, does your cat tend to barf somewhere near the feeding area?

If so, this is not uncommon for food-bolting cats.

I call one of my cats "Cannon." He eats too quickly (loads up), and goes through periods where he spits up food just a few steps from the feeding dish (ka-boom).

Spitting up near the feeding dish is also symptomatic of hairballs. As recommended in the posts above, brush her a little bit extra, and try any of the numerous hairball remedies/foods out there.

As my vet told me, barfing in cats is nothing like barfing in humans. They do it a *lot* more, obviously, and not always because they are sick. For example, if your cats spend anytime outdoors, they will head straight for the taller clumps of grass, munch away, and have a good barf.

Also, your cat wouldn't be eating any houseplants, would she?

[mlawson]

17. Does she eat a lot of grass??

Cats who go outside often eat grass, so as to throw up. It's an instinct to purge soemthing bad, I guess.

[proud patriot]

18. A little butter helps

or a least it helped w/ Jake (R.I.P.)

he gakked a lot during his 19 years

[WWW]

19. I haven't had a cat die before hitting at least 16

Feeding them Little Friskies, dry. lots of treats in the meantime, like once every other day, like a tablespoon of wet food. But a steady diet of the dry cuts down on the vomit. One of my old girls wasn't drinking so I put a tiny bit of soy sauce on the dry and she increased her water intake. They also puke to equalize their weight, hence why they eat grass in the spring to cut down on their winter weight.
p.s on edit, brush her a lot to take down the amount of hair she may be ingesting...

[alwynsw]

20. Simple. Lose the cat.

Vile creatures, those cats. get something lovable-maybe a tarantula.

[SOteric]

21. Is she grooming a lot? If she's over-grooming

it could be related to fleas. The worse the fleas, the more they groom. The more they groom the more they suffer hairballs. Your vet can give you some flea treatments, low-residue feed (prescription only) and industrial strength petromalt to help her out.

Or it could be age, - my older cat (he's 18) isn't as efficient at digestion as he was when he was younger. No specific traumas or difficulties. A high fiber, more digestible feed helped him out.

A trip to the vet can't hurt.