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Why did my cat vomit after eating a mackerel treat and dry food?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 8 lbs

For about 3mths we've been leaving out about 2.5cups dry food. Last week she had 3tbsp of canned Mackerel (treat). She threw it up non-digested & we discontinued it. On 3 separate times she vomited dry food. I put her on 24hr food fast with ample water. She had a full bowl of water last night at around 7pm. She didn't drink that & hasn't drank since(it's 5pm). She had 4tbsp of bland rice & chicken (2tbsp per 4hrs). Good stool, no blood, no more vomit. What can it be?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 20th, 2018

Hello, cats in general do not drink much water, so I'm not surprised she didn't drink. Additionally, she seems to be eating and tolerating the bland diet nicely. Its likely that she had a sensitivity t the mackerel treat you offered her and this caused the vomiting.

Continue to feed her the bland diet for another day or 2 then transition her back to her normal dry food. As long as her GI signs have resolved, then you do not need to do anything else about this.

If her GI signs, reoccur, you will need to have your veterinarian evaluate her. Hope this helps and best of luck.
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