I know it can be frightening to see your cat throwing up, it is quite nasty to watch, and sounds awful. You feel so helpless.
But it sounds like your cat is expelling 'hair balls' which accumulate in the stomach when the cat grooms itself.
I am assuming there is no blood in the vomit, and the clear sticky liquid is gastric juices. Is your cat long-haired? How often do you groom her?
Lots of people think that they don't really need to groom their cats as they are so good at doing it themselves. But if they are not groomed regularly (once a week at least for long-haired cats in my experience), then the stomach expelling hairballs via vomit, is the result.
So give your feline friend a nice cuddle and brush or comb (brush first then comb is kindest for longhaired cats), at least once a week for about half an hour. You will be amazed how much fur comes out and it is a great chance to 'bond' with your pet, especially if you lead a busy life and do not get that much time to cuddle or play with your cat. You will also notice any other problems your cat is having, like fleas, as combing after brushing with a very fine comb, will bring them to the surface. Although sometimes all you see is tiny black dots. These are dried blood and signs that your cat does have fleas.
If this sounds like it might be possible, and IF there is no blood or dark brown spots of dried blood in the cats vomit, then it probably is hairballs.
However, IF your cat vomits up more than hairballs on a regular basis, you need to take him or her to the local vets office to get her checked over.
I know it sounds gross, but if you do decide it is better to to the vets to make sure, then scoop up some of the vomit in a small plastic ziplock bag and take it with you.
You can easily do this by wearing an ordinary kitchen rubber glove, and then turning your ziplock bag inside out, put your hand in the bag, and scoop up the goo. With your other hand pull the ziplock bag in the right way up again, and zip it up.
So you never have to touch the vomit, and it is tightly sealed in a bag. To be safe, put it into another ziplock bag and remember to take it with you to the vets, it will provide plenty of clues for the vet to tell you why your cat is vomiting.
Remember to let us know how you get on and good luck.
One of my cats does this fairly often, I think he eats too much too fast. If your cat has access to the outside, you may notice he/she eating grass. This helps the cat to throw up hair balls. I don't know what the grass food answer is for indoor cats, but I think there is a safe grass that one can grow and let the cat has access to. Be careful, many plants are poison for cats.
Erica (not verified)
Sat, 01/08/2011 - 18:41
Permalink
Re: Throwing Up Hair
I know it can be frightening to see your cat throwing up, it is quite nasty to watch, and sounds awful. You feel so helpless.
But it sounds like your cat is expelling 'hair balls' which accumulate in the stomach when the cat grooms itself.
I am assuming there is no blood in the vomit, and the clear sticky liquid is gastric juices. Is your cat long-haired? How often do you groom her?
Lots of people think that they don't really need to groom their cats as they are so good at doing it themselves. But if they are not groomed regularly (once a week at least for long-haired cats in my experience), then the stomach expelling hairballs via vomit, is the result.
So give your feline friend a nice cuddle and brush or comb (brush first then comb is kindest for longhaired cats), at least once a week for about half an hour. You will be amazed how much fur comes out and it is a great chance to 'bond' with your pet, especially if you lead a busy life and do not get that much time to cuddle or play with your cat. You will also notice any other problems your cat is having, like fleas, as combing after brushing with a very fine comb, will bring them to the surface. Although sometimes all you see is tiny black dots. These are dried blood and signs that your cat does have fleas.
If this sounds like it might be possible, and IF there is no blood or dark brown spots of dried blood in the cats vomit, then it probably is hairballs.
However, IF your cat vomits up more than hairballs on a regular basis, you need to take him or her to the local vets office to get her checked over.
I know it sounds gross, but if you do decide it is better to to the vets to make sure, then scoop up some of the vomit in a small plastic ziplock bag and take it with you.
You can easily do this by wearing an ordinary kitchen rubber glove, and then turning your ziplock bag inside out, put your hand in the bag, and scoop up the goo. With your other hand pull the ziplock bag in the right way up again, and zip it up.
So you never have to touch the vomit, and it is tightly sealed in a bag. To be safe, put it into another ziplock bag and remember to take it with you to the vets, it will provide plenty of clues for the vet to tell you why your cat is vomiting.
Remember to let us know how you get on and good luck.
Eva (not verified)
Sat, 01/08/2011 - 18:41
Permalink
Re: Throwing Up Hair
One of my cats does this fairly often, I think he eats too much too fast. If your cat has access to the outside, you may notice he/she eating grass. This helps the cat to throw up hair balls. I don't know what the grass food answer is for indoor cats, but I think there is a safe grass that one can grow and let the cat has access to. Be careful, many plants are poison for cats.
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