My cat is vomiting whole food and chewing cardboard. What's wrong?

Poor Harley! I can see that her vomit is dark and grainy. This can be a sign of gastric bleeding, which can be caused by ulcers, foreign bodies, and certain parasitic infections. Ulcers can be caused by an overdose of certain pain medications, steroids, or occur on their own. I recommend having Harley seen by a vet right away as these conditions can be very painful and even life threatening. I hope all is well and that Harley feels better soon!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Vomiting can be observed with gastroenteritis, dietary indiscretion, food sensitivity, foreign body ingestion and obstruction or other conditions such as pancreatitis or kidney disease. I am concerned that she is becoming dehydrated. I do not think this is because of the fish. I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Likely diagnostics to be performed include abdominal imaging and general bloodwork. Treatment would be based on findings. Good luck and have a great day!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Charlie. Vomiting has many causes in cats including intestinal worms, overgrooming leading to hair balls or problems with too much hair being ingested, anything that can affect the motility or functioning of the stomach and intestinal tract, 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/gallbladder/liver problems, metabolic disease (diabetes,etc), endocrine diseases (thyroid or other hormone problems), etc. I always tell clients that if signs persist, worsen, or other signs develop you should have your pet evaluated by your veterinarian. A thorough history and physical exam with resultant diagnostics such as fecal tests, blood tests, imaging studies such as x-rays/ultrasound can be done to try to determine what is going on. Once a diagnosis is made or suspected a sound treatment plan can be implemented. Good luck with Charlie

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Zelda! The most common reason for cats to chronically vomit are food allergies and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). If she has IBD she may be having a flare up unrelated to her diet, from a viral infection, worms, she ate something gross, she ate something foreign or has pancreatitis. Also I am not sure if you are using an OTC or prescription based hypoallergenic cat food. Studies have shown the the pet store diets are not as "pure" and chicken free as the prescription diets. I would have Zelda examined by your Vet and have some supportive medications started to stop the vomiting and consider starting a prescription hydrolyzed diet like Royal Canin HP or Purina HA. I hope this helps and I wish you and Zelda the very best!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like Nibbles is very sick and should be evaluated by a veterinarian. If she is vomiting so frequently, she may have an issue with her stomach or intestines. This could be something as simple as a dietary intolerance, or could be as scary as cancer. I recommend contacting your veterinarian and making an appointment for her to be seen. I hope this is helpful.

Oh no it's not good that Kitty ate that vomit! At most, I would expect that eating this vomit could cause some GI upset, causing her to vomit and/or have diarrhea. It's good that it doesn't look like she has eaten the plastic bag, and if she ate the bag, I would be concerned that the bag could cause a foreign body obstruction. Keep an eye on her for now, and if you see any vomiting or diarrhea, I can give you a home remedy to see if that helps her. I recommend withholding food for 12-24 hours, then feeding 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 her normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, she vomits the bland diet, the diarrhea continues on the bland diet, she stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, she will need to see a vet right away. Good luck, I hope this helps!

That could be a sort of regurgitation or possibly an upper respiratory sign. The fact that Amelia has been chewing on cardboard makes the first possibility more likely. I would suggest to I would suggest to withhold food for the next 8-12 hours and then start feeding with a bland diet based on boiled chicken and rice in small portion every 6 hours for the following 48hours. Then gradually reintroduce the normal diet over 5 days. I would definitively recommend a veterinary check up if the signs persist or you notice diarrhoea, more regurgitation/vomiting, lethargy or inappetence. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.