My cat vomited, is growling, and has a fast heartbeat. Should I worry?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Buddy. How lovely of you to take in this stray kitten!! Yes I suspect it's the kitten food causing Buddy to have an upset stomach and vomit. Sudden changes in diet can lead to these symptoms. Feed him a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones or skin) in small amounts a couple times a day for a few days, the start slowly adding in his normal diet. If he refuses to eat the bland diet, vomits the bland diet, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, continues to have diarrhea, has blood in his stool, and/or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet immediately. I hope this helps!

Felix just sounds like he feels terrible. Feed him a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. If he refuses to eat the bland diet, he vomits the bland diet, develops diarrhea, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet right away.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend withholding food for at least 8 hours and then initiating a bland diet as outlined below. The blood is likely due to gastritis with irritation in the stomach / GI tract. If the vomiting does not resolve or it worsens, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps and that he feels better soon! Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Cheshire. It could be from an upset stomach, and I can give you a home remedy for him to see if that helps. Withhold food tonight, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, he refuses to eat the bland diet, he vomits the bland diet, develops diarrhea, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet right away. I hope this helps!

Poor kitty. If Bleu is throwing up consistently (more than 2 times within a 24 hr period), then yes this is cause for concern that he may be ill and in need of medical attention. Also if he is lethargic and unwilling to eat, or throwing up water, then those are also causes for concern. A vet visit is needed to do necessary testing to find out what the underlying problem is so that he gets proper treatment. However, if he only had one or two bouts of vomiting, is otherwise acting normal, and has a good appetite, then I would recommend fasting him (no food, only water) for the next 12 hrs so that you don't continue to upset his stomach. Then after that offer him small amounts of a bland diet (tuna and white rice) for the next few days, then slowly transition him back to his normal diet. He may have just eaten something that upset his stomach or may even have an irritating hairball. I hope that this helps and I am hopeful that Bleu feels better soon. Best wishes and take care.

Time will tell with this one. Since she's eating, drinking, and not lethargic, you certainly don't need to seek emergency care tonight. If tomorrow she still seems out of sorts, or continues to vomit, I would recommend scheduling a vet appointment for exam and x-rays of her abdomen. Good luck and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Simon. It's hard to say if you should be worried at this point but if the vomiting continues you will have to get him evaluated. Any sign of illness in a pet that persists or worsens needs to be evaluated by your veterinarian and re evaluated until the problem is resolved. Vomiting causes fluid loss and electrolyte loss and can lead to dehydration and weakness. Not sure if Simon is an indoor/outdoor cat but I would advise deworming him since intestinal worms are so prevalent. That is an easy thing to do to rule out intestinal parasites and should be done in all cases of gastrointestinal upset as long as the medication can be safely given and it is not vomited back up. Intestinal parasites are extremely common across the globe and account for the vast majority of vomiting and diarrhea cases. Other causes include inflammation, infection, dietary problems (including dietary indiscretion or eating things pets are not supposed to eat, food sensitivities/allergies), ingestion of foreign bodies or exposure to toxins, bacterial overgrowth in the gut, problems in the stomach, intestines, or even problems outside of the intestinal tract/stomach including pancreatitis, kidney/liver problems, metabolic disease (diabetes,etc), endocrine diseases (thyroid or other hormone problems), etc. A thorough history and physical exam with resultant diagnostics such as fecal tests, blood tests, and more imaging studies such as x-rays/ultrasound to try to determine what is going on. Good luck with Simon. I hope this resolves quickly with little effort.