vomiting
By snowy
@snowy22315 (208883)
United States
September 2, 2009 7:34pm CST
My cat who is about nine has had problems with vomiting today. He did cough up a hairball earlier, but has had about four or five episodes of vomiting. It is just whitish. His behavior is pretty normal but I don't know if he has eaten or has had water. I am going to get him some hairball medicine tomorrow and consult with the vet by phone. I was thinking of possibly giving him a little yogurt, but online it said some commercial grade yogurts are not good for cats. He has had some fleas and I heard they can sometimes cause tapeworms. I will take him to the vet tomorrow if he is not better,but I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
3 Sep 09
Hairballs are normal in cats as they are always grooming themselves. I have a Maine C00n cat that is long haired and it seems like every couple of weeks he coughs up a hair ball. If his behavior is pretty much back to normal don't worry. He will be eating and drinking. Cats let you know when they are really sick!
I wouldn't give him yogurt, as cats usually don't consume too much in the way of dairy products after they grow up. Make sure he has plenty of clean fresh water though as it will help flush the system. As for the fleas, either mix some brewers yeast powder in his food (it won't take a lot, maybe an 1/8 th of a teaspoon) that too isn't to much to worry about unless he is really infested with fleas.
To help prevent his getting future hair balls, brush him regularly like every day if he is long haired or every few days if he is a short hair. My cats all love being brushed and it helps prevent the hair balls. Also don't worry about the episodes of vomiting before the hair ball came out, they will vomit like that to move the hair ball up the esophageal tract so it can come up the top end rather than it getting lodged in the intestines. When that happens they are miserable and you would need to give them some caster oil to help move things along. But that isn't necessary very often, only when they don't manage to barf up the hair ball.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
3 Sep 09
sometimes they don't get the whole hairball out and the body continues to try and eject it - I would try the hairball meds, or some Vaseline on his paws to get him to lick it, might help - won't hurt - even tho I've heard it both ways, the vet says that its a null substance and will just pass thru
@sysdexlicwriter (1619)
• United States
3 Sep 09
Our cats are always coughing up hairballs but when they are throwing up several times per day, it can be very serious. Did you cat get exposed to a plant or something that is poisonous. I would really watch the cat closely and get it to the vet as quickly as possible. I do hope everything is okay. I have an article on my blog about a product that I use on my cats to prevent them from getting fleas. Maybe that will help with the fleas after you see the vet.
