by Hannah
(London, UK)

Hiya

I have a 4 and a half month old kitten who is very healthy and happy, but I woke up this morning and he had been sick, quite a large amount.

This has happened about 2 or 3 other times in the past month or so. He seems fine apart from that, so I'm not sure whether to take him to the vet.

He has seen the vet within the last 3 weeks for jabs and she said he seemed healthy. What do you think?

Thanks a lot :)

Hannah Collins




Hi, Hannah,

While it is unusual for cats that young to vomit, it is possible for it to happen and not be serious, especially if it is infrequent.

If your kitty is bright and alert, running around and playing, eating and having normal bowel movements and urination, then he is mostly likely fine. Especially since he has seen the vet recently.

Perhaps the type of food he is eating doesn't agree with him. I would suggest trying something different just to find out if this could be the problem.

Also, you mention having him to the vet for "jabs" recently and I assume that means he received some type of vaccine. While vaccine reactions usually occur within the first 24-48 hours, I have seen cats be a bit affected by the vaccines and the stress of the car ride and exam for several days or even a week or so after that. Perhaps his vomiting is related to that.

Also, hairballs are the most common cause of vomiting in an otherwise healthy cat. Even if your cat doesn't produce a hairball when he vomits, that does not mean that hair is not the problem. He can have hair in his stomach that is irritating and causing him to vomit.

Since cats are self-groomers, they can ingest quite a bit of hair, up to an ounce a day! The best way to prevent that is to use a deshedding tool such as the FURminator on a regular basis to remove the loose undercoat that is shed into the environment or ingested by your cat when he is grooming. You can eliminate up to 90% of that loose hair by using the FURminator.

If things don't improve or he gets worse at any time, of course, take him immediately to the veterinarian.

Thank you for writing,

Dr. Neely