 If you have cats, you've undoubtedly seen one of them spew up at some point. It is usual for cats to vomit, but it is never natural for them to do so. However, it is not always necessary to treat it, nor does the cat need to be rushed to a veterinarian every time she vomits. You'll learn when to take a vomiting cat to the doctor, why cats vomit, and what treatments are available to make felines feel better in this resource. Chronic and Acute Vomiting in Cats Vomiting up can be separated into two broad categories, Chronic and Acute Vomiting. Chronic vomiting means throwing up with some regularity for a long period of time. The cat usually only vomits once or twice with each occurrence. When a cat who usually doesn't vomit starts vomiting, that's the acute type. This is generally a concern for you and your veterinarian only if the cat vomits multiple times. The diagnostic workup and treatments for acute and chronic vomiting can differ, as does the urgency of when to bring the cat to the veterinarian. More urgent care is usually required for a cat with acute vomiting. The exception to this is a cat who is only vomited one to three times and is otherwise normal. If the cat still wants to eat and does so without continuing to vomit, is acting normal, and seems comfortable, she does not need to be brought to a veterinary hospital unless you know that she ate something toxic. If your cat vomits more than three times, cannot keep food down, and seems tired, she should be seen by a vet as soon as possible. She may just be experiencing some passing nausea, but if it's something more serious, treatment should be implemented as soon as possible. Unless the cat is in severe discomfort or does not want to move, she normally won't have to go to an emergency clinic. But if she seems to deteriorate quickly through the night, then an emergency visit is recommended. Cats who are continuously vomiting and not keeping food down are prone to many secondary changes, most notably liver disease, so waiting to get treatment can be dangerous for them. A chronically vomiting cat should still be seen by a veterinarian, but it's not urgent if the cat is still eating and keeping food down, is not showing signs of weakness, and seems comfortable. If these things are not true, a chronically vomiting cat is either an acutely vomiting cat or is having an acute crisis of whatever is causing his chronic vomiting. In the past, a cat who vomited a few times a month was considered normal, but that idea is changing. There is even some thought that a cat who frequently vomits hairballs may have some gastrointestinal disease that does not allow the hairballs to pass normally. Treatment may not be implemented for a chronically vomiting cat, but an exam and a workup should be done to ensure that the cat is comfortable and does not need any intervention at that time. Causes of vomiting in cats. The causes of acute or chronic vomiting can be the same, but there are exceptions. Toxins are generally not a cause of chronic vomiting, unless a cat is chronically exposed to the same toxin, such as eating a toxic plant. Digesting a foreign body is not normally a cause of chronic vomiting, although if the foreign object remains in the stomach, it can be a cause of chronic vomiting. Unfortunately, vomiting is a very vague symptom, and the causes are extremely varied. In fact, almost any feline illness can result in vomiting. In general, the causes of vomiting can be placed in one of these categories, toxins, drugs, diet, including eating inappropriate things, gastric, stomach, intestinal, organ dysfunction, endocrine, neurologic, typically brain-related, infectious, and cancer. In each of these categories are dozens of specific diseases and syndromes. Hello. This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high-quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife to get 20% off. Diagnosing the cause of vomiting. It can be difficult to diagnose the cause of vomiting in a cat. Most cases of acute vomiting are transient and improve with just symptomatic therapy and time. However, a basic workup is often recommended to ensure that a more serious problem is not going on. The starting point in determining the cause of vomiting is getting an accurate history. Here are some questions your vet might have. Was the cat exposed to plants and other toxins? When did the vomiting start? What is the cat's normal diet? Does the cat go outside and if so, does the cat hunt? What is in the vomit? Is the cat on medication? Is there also diarrhea? Is the cat eating? When does the vomiting occur in relation to eating or other activities? Is the cat losing weight? Is the cat drinking a lot or urinating a lot? Does the cat play with string? Based on the answers to these questions, your veterinarian will have a better idea of which diagnostics, if any, to use. What the vomit looks like does not give a definitive answer about why the cat is vomiting, but it can give the vet a place to begin looking. Veterinarian examination and testing. The next step is a thorough physical exam by your veterinarian. The veterinarian can look for things such as abdominal pain, masses in the abdomen or elsewhere, an obvious foreign body, such as a string under the tongue, evidence of weight loss, a heart murmur, an enlarged thyroid gland, and a fever. Again, the exam can help determine which, if any, diagnostics are needed. Barium study, ultrasound, and endoscopy. Often, x-rays do not diagnose the problem other than the presence of foreign bodies and a few other conditions, but they help determine if further abdominal studies are needed. These other studies could include a barium study, which will help determine if there are foreign objects in the intestines or if there are motility issues with the intestines. Endoscopy is a way to look for foreign objects in the stomach that do not show up on x-rays, and it can be used to retrieve foreign objects. This procedure also allows viewing of the lining of the stomach and upper intestines to look for abnormalities and can be used to collect samples of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Exploratory surgery. In a cat with persistent vomiting that is not being controlled by symptomatic therapy, exploratory surgery may be needed. This is true with some acute vomiting situations and some chronic vomiting situations, namely, looking for signs of intestinal cancer, non-intestinal abdominal disease, or inflammatory bowel disease. The surgery is used both to diagnose and fix the problem by removing the foreign object. If no foreign object is found, then biopsies can be taken during the surgery. The intent of doing surgery for chronic vomiting is normally to take biopsies of the intestines, stomach, liver, pancreas, lymph nodes and any abnormalities in the hope of diagnosing the problem. The most common things to diagnose are inflammatory bowel disease or a form of cancer. As a diagnostic tool, surgery is preferred over endoscopy by some veterinarians because the whole intestinal tract can be evaluated, as well as different organs in the abdomen. In addition, full thickness and larger intestinal biopsies can be taken during surgery. Furthermore, biopsies of the liver, pancreas and lymph nodes can be taken. Conversely, endoscopy may be preferred because it is usually less expensive, usually results in a representative sample of the intestines to provide a diagnosis, and is much less invasive. It can take several weeks for a cat to recover from surgery, while an animal who has had an endoscopy at endoscopic biopsies usually recovers within a few hours or within a day. Because some of the diagnostics can be invasive and expensive, endoscopy can run up to $1,500 and exploratory surgery can cost more than $2,000. Many people elect not to do them. There are treatments that can be implemented without a full diagnosis, but those decisions will require communication between you and your veterinarian about the risks of doing those treatments. Treatments for a cat who's throwing up. The treatment for vomiting varies greatly based on the cause, and describing the treatment for each individual cause is beyond the scope of this resource. If the new food controls the vomiting, it was partially caused by a dietary intolerance or allergy or possibly low-grade inflammatory bowel disease. If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.