Why does my cat faint when trying to vomit hairballs? Is it serious?

It could be Larz vomited so hard that he passed out. Certain stimuli (such as vomiting like Larz did) affect the vagus nerve which has receptors in many areas of the body including the esophagus and stomach. This, in turn, causes an overload to a part of the nervous system leading to a rapid drop in the heart rate and blood pressure resulting in fainting. I'd keep a close eye on him, and if he vomits again, have him seen by a vet.

It is not uncommon for cats to have a period of dizziness/light-headed after strenuous coughing or vomiting similar to ourselves. Regular weekly treatment with an over the counter hair ball paste may help to lessen the hairballs and make this less common. If it persists or there are any other signs of weakness, reduced exercise levels or increased respiratory rate you should consider a full physical exam to rule out any heart or lung disease

Hello, I am so sorry to hear about Tia. The symptoms that you describe after vomiting could be consistent with a vagal reaction. The vagus nerve is a long nerve that runs from the abdomen, close to the stomach, through the chest and up the neck. Foreceful vomiting can sometimes secondarily stimulate this nerve. When this nerve is activated it can cause excessive salivation, tearing from eyes, difficulty breathing etc. I would recommend trying to take a video of one of these events to show your veterinarian. If they have been unable to get to the bottom of what’s going on Tia may need a more specialized warmup including an abdominal ultrasound and chest x-rays to look for anything that could be causing the nerve to be overstimulated. I hope this helps, good luck!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sometimes when we, or animals, vomit, as cats sometimes do with hairballs, this can put pressure on a nerve that runs through the stomach that can cause us to become weak and defecate due to changes in blood pressure. If this was the case then Blaze should have returned to normally very quickly after the episode and be 100% normal now. The other possible cause is that Blaze could have an underlying heart condition that is causing a weakness, or could have aspirated (some of the vomit went into his lungs). If Blaze is still breathing up, or acting abnormally, or if the collapse episodes occur again, I would have him into the vet right away. If he is completely normal now then I would just monitor him and have your vet check out Blaze's heart at your next exam for vaccines. Best of luck with Blaze.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is possible that this is a hairball issue, so placing Beans on a hairball supplement or changing the diet to a hairball formulation may help. If this continues to happen, then I would recommend an abdominal ultrasound to see if there is any indication of what may be causing the nausea / vomiting.

Hello and thank you very much for your inquiry. Right off the bat, I began to think of your cat as having mild seizure activity where he loses consciousness and thus control of his bowels. There are also some diseases that cats can get which causes irregular heartbeats or irregular blood flow to the rest of the body which temporarily knocks them unconscious and then they lose control of their bowels also. You need to take your cat to a veterinarian to have a complete cardiac and neurologic work up performed. Some of the test that the vet may want to run is a full CBC chemistry panel, chest x-ray’s, ECG, etc. Thanks a lot for your question. I hope I’ve helped you today.

This may be due to hair balls or something more serious could be going on like an upper airway obstruction from nasal congestion or a nasopharyngeal polyp. If you don’t already have your cat on a hair ball remedy like Laxatone, I would try that and see if it helps. If you do this and your cat still has the issue then taking him to a vet to have his oral cavity and upper airway examined would be a good idea. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.