The cat who upchucks one a pretty regular basis has long been viewed as "normal." Cleaning up is a nuisance, sure, but many vets and pet parents alike have shrugged off the common cat stomach upset as just a " cat thing," and therefore not fixable. for two vets that answer would no longer suffice. gary d. norsworthy, dvm, dabvp and jen olson, dvm, performed tests for several years and found a new diagnosis.

Chronic Small Bowel Disease: Could Your Cat Have It?

Nearly 300 cats involved in the research showed "that chronic small bowel disease presents as chronic vomiting, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, or a combination of these," the pair of vets said."We are able to help cats that were here-to-fore doomed to a lifetime of disease that we did not know how to diagnose or treat," Norsworthy and Olson stated, adding that they hope their findings will spark vets at practices everywhere to look into the diagnosis and treatment options.If you've been attributing your cat's frequent vomiting or hairballs to eating too fast, having a " sensitive stomach," or just "being a puker," you may want to talk to your vet about chronic small bowel disease. immunosuppressive medications, special diets, and>probiotics might help.  href>probiotics might help. 

What to Do if Your Cat is Vomiting

Being a cat parent is similar to having a toddler in quite a few ways. Much like how babies can’t communicate what’s causing them to cry, cats can’t explain themselves either when they start vomiting. Although cat owners could feel like it’s a natural part of their life, it’s not exactly so. In fact, there are quite a few reasons why cats throw up, and if you know the right tips and tricks, you can prevent it from happening frequently. Let’s take a look at what causes your cat to throw up, and what you can do in such situations.

Why Do Cats Vomit?

There are quite a few reasons why cats vomit, and it’s important to know these reasons so that you can save your cat from these situations. Hairballs are indeed one of the causes that leads to this situation, but more often than not, there are deeper health issues involved. Here are the main reasons why your cat can be seen vomiting:

1.     The food your cat is eating can often be the reason they start throwing up. Rendered animal byproducts form the main ingredients of several cat foods, and these are a part of the food items that are unsafe for humans. The reason they’re given to cats is because they contain proteins and nutrients that are essential to cats. However, if your cat starts vomiting after eating this food, chances are that their body isn’t adapting well to these byproducts.

A sudden change in a cat’s diet plan can also lead to vomiting. Therefore, if you plan on switching your cat’s diet, it’s best to do it slowly. You can start by mixing the old food with the new one till your cat’s body adjusts to the new ingredients being incorporated.

2.     Eating too fast is another reason that causes cats to vomit. When they eat too fast, the wall of their stomach expands, which in turn causes regurgitation. Undigested food can be regurgitated by cats even after minutes of eating it. This happens when the undigested food is backed up in their esophagus instead of passing through to the stomach.

Giving them small meals at different intervals is one of the ways this can be prevented from happening. However, regurgitation doesn’t always happen because of eating too fast. It can also take place due to dehydration, hairballs, or problems with the esophagus or digestive tract.

3.     As we all know, cats are curious beings, and it is this curiosity that causes them to chew on things they aren’t supposed to be chewing on. Toilet paper, carpet, and grass are just few of the many things your cat could eat and vomit out later on. Vomiting is like a protective mechanism in cats as it helps in cleaning their system. However, their curiosity can lead to them chewing on items that can cause quite a lot of damage. Toys, strings, and feathers are examples of such items. When swallowed, they can get lodged inside the stomach, which can lead to constant vomiting and acute distress.

Remedies to Stop/Prevent Your Cat from Vomiting

If your cat is vomiting quite frequently, it’s better to pay a visit to the vet to make sure there aren’t any underlying problems. In addition to that, there are some simple home remedies to remember so that you can look after your cat better and prevent frequent vomit-fests. Some of those home remedies are as follows:

·       The first thing to do is make sure your cat is eating more slowly. Feeding them smaller portions can make sure they don’t eat a lot at once. You can try placing a ball in their dish so that they will be forced to eat around the ball, thereby causing them to eat slower. Make sure the ball isn’t too small in size, or else they will end up swallowing it. In case you have multiple cats, it’s recommended to feed them at different times so that there’s no competitive eating involved.

·       The best thing you can do to prevent your cat from vomiting is changing their diet. Observe their eating pattern and reactions to decide how to make this transition smooth. There are a couple of things you can do to make sure they don’t have an extreme reaction to these dietary changes.  Going slow is the key point to remember. Don’t enforce the change on them all of a sudden.

If you’re switching from wet food to dry food or vice versa, that should be done gradually as well. For instance, your cat could be a fan of canned food. In that case, add some water to the dry food and serve it warm so that it seems more appealing.

Before preparing your cat’s meals, keep the quantity in check. The food’s quantity will vary depending upon the age, breed, gender, activity level, and overall health of your cat. Consult your vet before determining the quantity of food to feed your cat. Most importantly, keep measuring their weight and monitoring their reactions to see how they’re adapting to the new system.

·       If your cat seems to vomit out hairballs frequently, you can help him/her out with that. Helping them brush their teeth in a way so as to remove the excess fur they tend to swallow is a good strategy to follow in this scenario.

Another small tip is to add a tiny amount of olive oil in their food. This will smoothen the digestion process and enable them to excrete the hairballs from their system. If not olive oil, a teaspoon of melted butter will do the work, too. Feeding your cat pure canned pumpkin is something to consider as well, because it helps a lot with digestion.

·       Lastly, you can also resort to natural remedies. A vet can guide you on how to begin with natural remedies. A small amount of catnip, for example, can help soothe your kitty’s tummy. Kefir and homeopathic solutions work well in some cases, too.