How to Treat Chronic Vomiting in Cats
Determine if your cat is healthy aside from her chronic vomiting., Adjust your cat’s food., Switch your cat to a bland diet to help settle her stomach., Give your cat Famotidine., Talk to your vet about giving your cat non-prescription...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Determine if your cat is healthy aside from her chronic vomiting.
If your cat is healthy despite vomiting often, it means that there is most likely no underlying medical cause that needs to be treated.
Instead, aspects of your cat’s lifestyle might need to be changed.
Signs that this may be the case include:
Your cat is not losing weight.
Your cat acts like she normally does, and seems generally healthy.
Your cat only vomits once every two to three days.
Keep in mind that if your cat’s health gets worse, the vomiting gets more frequent, or your cat becomes lethargic or loses weight, you should seek the help of a veterinarian. -
Step 2: Adjust your cat’s food.
If the vomiting coincided with a change of diet, put your cat back onto a type of food that she was fine with before the chronic vomiting began.
Some cats can have food intolerance, or food allergy, and it is possible that the new food contains a protein your cat is allergic to.When a cat eats a protein that she is sensitive to, the protein molecule bridges a receptor in the bowel wall, which triggers an inflammatory reaction.
It is this inflammation that causes the vomiting.
When the food that is causing the allergy is taken away, the inflammation should settle in one to two days. , A cat with chronic vomiting that is fed a rich diet, such as a premium supermarket food, may be sensitive to the humectants and additives, or indeed the rich nature of the food itself.
Try changing your cat’s diet to a bland, white meat diet such as chicken breast, turkey, rabbit, cod, or coley.Feed your cat 100% meat, rather than a meat-flavored food.
An average-sized cat needs roughly 250 kcal a day; this is equivalent to feeding your cat around 250 grams of chicken breast a day.
An alternative to meat is to feed your cat one of the many prescription diets that are designed to speed up the healing of the bowel.
Diets like Hills ID or Purina HA are ideal for a cat recovering from sickness. , Famotidine is commonly sold as Pepcid AC.
If your cat’s mucosal lining in her stomach is damaged, then giving her medications to repair the lining can help to stop the vomiting.
When the lining is damaged, the stomach acid can eat away at the exposed stomach wall.
Antacid medications such as famotidine decrease stomach acid production and give the lining a chance to repair itself while the inflammation subsides.
This drug should be used with caution in cats with heart disease because it can slow the heart rate.
However this is usually only a problem when the medication is given intravenously.
The prescribed dose is generally
0.5 mg/kg once a day by mouth.
A 5 kg cat thus requires
2.5 mg; the lowest tablet size is 10 mg, which equates to a quarter of a tablet, once a day. , Kaolin and Pectin (Kaopectate) are both gastroprotectants that can help to protect the lining of your cat’s bowels.
The kaolin and pectin absorb toxins produced in the gut, and also line the gut wall to provide a protective barrier.
However, this medication is not effective in all cats.
Consider calling your vet before giving this medication to your cat. -
Step 3: Switch your cat to a bland diet to help settle her stomach.
-
Step 4: Give your cat Famotidine.
-
Step 5: Talk to your vet about giving your cat non-prescription gastroprotectants.
Detailed Guide
If your cat is healthy despite vomiting often, it means that there is most likely no underlying medical cause that needs to be treated.
Instead, aspects of your cat’s lifestyle might need to be changed.
Signs that this may be the case include:
Your cat is not losing weight.
Your cat acts like she normally does, and seems generally healthy.
Your cat only vomits once every two to three days.
Keep in mind that if your cat’s health gets worse, the vomiting gets more frequent, or your cat becomes lethargic or loses weight, you should seek the help of a veterinarian.
If the vomiting coincided with a change of diet, put your cat back onto a type of food that she was fine with before the chronic vomiting began.
Some cats can have food intolerance, or food allergy, and it is possible that the new food contains a protein your cat is allergic to.When a cat eats a protein that she is sensitive to, the protein molecule bridges a receptor in the bowel wall, which triggers an inflammatory reaction.
It is this inflammation that causes the vomiting.
When the food that is causing the allergy is taken away, the inflammation should settle in one to two days. , A cat with chronic vomiting that is fed a rich diet, such as a premium supermarket food, may be sensitive to the humectants and additives, or indeed the rich nature of the food itself.
Try changing your cat’s diet to a bland, white meat diet such as chicken breast, turkey, rabbit, cod, or coley.Feed your cat 100% meat, rather than a meat-flavored food.
An average-sized cat needs roughly 250 kcal a day; this is equivalent to feeding your cat around 250 grams of chicken breast a day.
An alternative to meat is to feed your cat one of the many prescription diets that are designed to speed up the healing of the bowel.
Diets like Hills ID or Purina HA are ideal for a cat recovering from sickness. , Famotidine is commonly sold as Pepcid AC.
If your cat’s mucosal lining in her stomach is damaged, then giving her medications to repair the lining can help to stop the vomiting.
When the lining is damaged, the stomach acid can eat away at the exposed stomach wall.
Antacid medications such as famotidine decrease stomach acid production and give the lining a chance to repair itself while the inflammation subsides.
This drug should be used with caution in cats with heart disease because it can slow the heart rate.
However this is usually only a problem when the medication is given intravenously.
The prescribed dose is generally
0.5 mg/kg once a day by mouth.
A 5 kg cat thus requires
2.5 mg; the lowest tablet size is 10 mg, which equates to a quarter of a tablet, once a day. , Kaolin and Pectin (Kaopectate) are both gastroprotectants that can help to protect the lining of your cat’s bowels.
The kaolin and pectin absorb toxins produced in the gut, and also line the gut wall to provide a protective barrier.
However, this medication is not effective in all cats.
Consider calling your vet before giving this medication to your cat.
About the Author
Karen Jimenez
Creates helpful guides on creative arts to inspire and educate readers.
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