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My elderly cat with kidney disease vomited after medication. Is it an emergency?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 6.6 lbs

I have an 18 year old cat with chronic respiratory infections so he is currently on Zydaclin. This is his fourth(?) day of 20. He is very skinny, due to kidney disease. My vets say his kidneys are at 25% function. After giving his dose of 1 ml, he vomited three times. First, it was only clear liquid, second it was a massive amount of vomit, and third it was a small amount of vomit. I am going to attach a photo. I just want to know if this is an emergency.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jeffrey Milner

Veterinarian

Published on May 9th, 2019

It is important to note that elderly feline patients with chronic renal disease are much more likely to dehydrate than your average kitty. Some thing you will want to check for at home for evidence of dehydration is the moistness on the gum line as well as the pink / paleness, the skin turgor (the skin should return to the body when you pull on it). Dehydrated cats will also usually appear weak, lethargic and unwilling to perform some normal activities. Without having your cat in front of me, I would say that an actively vomiting cat with chronic renal disease should be seen tonight for sure IF the vomiting continues even once more. If you decide to hold off on going for now, that may be OK. You can consider trying to give something for the vomiting like pepsid or prilosec, though unfortunately I am unable to offer doses. Hope this makes sense. If you are having any doubts are all about your kitty's well being just bite the bullet and have him seen .

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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