FR
EN
This guide helps you triage; it does not replace your veterinarian's exam. When in doubt, call us at 514 223-1197.
Go now: the emergencies specific to cats
Any single one of these is enough. Cats hide illness: by the time one of these signs shows, it is already serious. Settle him gently into his carrier, keep the ride calm, and call on the way.
- A thread, string, ribbon or tinsel is hanging from his mouth or his anus: NEVER PULL, even gently (next section). Leave as is.
- He is vomiting AND not eating. In cats, refusing food counts in hours: never let more than 24 to 48 hours pass without eating, and even less if he is overweight or already ill. His liver can decompensate (hepatic lipidosis).
- He keeps going to the litter box and strains without producing, especially a male: vomiting sometimes accompanies a urinary blockage, an absolute emergency.
- He is breathing open-mouthed, fast, or with effort: in a cat at rest, that is never normal.
- He chewed a lily (the whole plant is toxic: leaves, flowers, pollen licked off the coat, vase water), or another toxin: a human medication, antifreeze, a dog flea product.
- He is vomiting blood: bright red, or brown-black grains like coffee grounds (digested blood).
- He is profoundly weak: hiding, cold to the touch, barely reacting. Pale or bluish gums confirm the emergency, but they are a late sign: do not wait to see them.
- He is trembling, staggering or seizing on top of vomiting.
- He is a kitten vomiting repeatedly: in kittens everything moves faster (dehydration, low blood sugar, viruses). Call without delay.
A cat straining in the litter box is so often mistaken for constipation that we devote a full fiche to it: lower urinary tract disease.
For poisons, the first steps by product:
Swallowed string: never pull
Sewing thread (sometimes with the needle), string, ribbon, tinsel, a hair elastic: the cat plays, swallows, and the string becomes a linear foreign body. One end anchors itself (often under the tongue or in the stomach) while the intestine keeps pushing: the string tightens and can saw through the intestinal wall.
- Repeated vomiting, often with refusal to eat and a painful belly.
- Sometimes a direct clue: a thread visible under the tongue, in the mouth, or at the anus.
- Sometimes nothing visible at all: just a cat who vomits and is unwell after playing with string.
The absolute rule
NEVER pull on a string that is hanging out, from the mouth or the anus, even if it seems to come "easily": traction can tear the intestine. Do not cut anything to "free him" without direction. Leave as is: how to remove it is the veterinarian's decision.
Prevention fits in one sentence: the sewing kit under lock, and strings, ribbons and elastics picked up after every supervised play session. The exact steps if a string is visible in the mouth are in our choking guide. What to do if my pet is choking
Vomiting often is not normal, not even hairballs
It is not your fault if you believed it: the myth is everywhere, including on product labels. But when cats who vomit repeatedly are examined seriously, a medical cause is found in nearly all of them. "He has always been like that" is not a diagnosis: it is often a disease that has simply lasted a long time.
What is truly physiological
An occasional hairball: think on the scale of the year, not the week, a little more often in a long-haired cat or during shedding season. A compact tube of hair, a cat perfectly normal before and after. That is all.
What is not
- Hairballs every week, or nearly: that is no longer about grooming, it is a digestive or skin signal.
- Vomit WITHOUT hair blamed on hairballs: liquid, foam, bile or food is not a hairball. It is vomiting.
- A cat who over-grooms (stress, allergies, pain) and therefore swallows more hair: the hairball is then a symptom of something else. Our allergy and itching guides can help.
The "hairball remedy" trap
Gels, treats and specialized diets exist, and they have their place... once the cause has been checked. Answering repeated vomiting with a product and no exam risks masking, for months, a disease that would have been simple to catch early.
Coughing, regurgitating, or vomiting? In cats, it is easy to be wrong
The most common and most consequential confusion: a cat crouched low, neck stretched out, shaken by fits, "trying to bring up a hairball"... who is actually COUGHING. What you saw is the first thing to tell us: film an episode if you can.
Vomiting
An active digestive effort: the belly contracts in waves, the cat leans forward, and something comes out (food, liquid, bile, hair). Often preceded by lip-licking and drooling.
Coughing
Crouched, neck stretched forward, dry hacking fits... and nothing comes out, or just a little foam. Repeated, it is the classic picture of feline asthma, not a stomach problem. If your cat "tries to bring up a hairball" several times a week without ever producing one, tell us. Feline asthma · Deal with incessant coughing
Regurgitating
Passive, with no effort and no nausea: food comes back out whole, often right after the meal. In a cat who gulps his food it is common and usually benign; if it is regular, we still want to know.
A single vomit in a cat who stays bright AND keeps eating
Yes, it exists: the cat who inhales his bowl and returns it two minutes later, or vomits once after a dietary misstep, then is completely himself again. In a healthy adult, watching is then reasonable, on one non-negotiable condition: he keeps eating.
All of these conditions at once
- A healthy adult, with no known illness and no current medication.
- One isolated episode, then nothing: he is bright, curious, living his life.
- He EATS and drinks: in cats, that is the key condition.
- No blood, no pain, no marked diarrhea, and no doubt about a string, an elastic, a plant or a product.
- None of the "go now" signs.
How to watch (and for how long)
- Do NOT take the food away. Never fast a cat "to see": a cat who stops eating can quickly tip into a real liver problem. Offer his normal meal, in a small portion.
- If he gulps: smaller portions more often, or a slow-feeder bowl or food-dispensing toy. In a multi-cat home, feed him apart: competition makes cats eat too fast.
- Fresh water available, without forcing.
- Note the time and what the vomit looked like (hair? food? yellow liquid? a photo genuinely helps).
- Reassess over 24 hours: that is a ceiling, not a timer to run down. If he vomits again, skips a meal, or anything else appears, call: the clock is cancelled.
This tier is not for everyone
A kitten, a senior cat, an overweight cat, a cat followed for a disease (kidneys, thyroid, diabetes...) or on medication: do not watch in silence, call us the same day. And a cat who vomits AND stops eating is never a "watch at home" case, whatever his age.
The cat who vomits regularly: look for the cause, not the habit
Vomiting that keeps coming back for weeks, even "just once in a while", deserves an exam and often bloodwork. In aging cats especially, a few big causes come up again and again, and each leaves clues you are best placed to notice.
He vomits, drinks and urinates more, and loses weight
The classic picture of tiring kidneys (chronic kidney disease), very common in older cats.
Chronic kidney diseaseHe vomits, eats MORE than ever, and still loses weight
Often restless, night-time meowing, unkempt coat: the portrait of hyperthyroidism.
HyperthyroidismHe vomits and his stools change (soft, irregular), with slow weight loss
The chronic vomiting + gut duo: inflammatory bowel disease, and in older cats its serious look-alike, digestive lymphoma. This is exactly where "it's just hairballs" delays the diagnosis.
Inflammatory bowel diseaseHe vomits, drinks a lot, and his appetite yo-yos
Diabetes slips into this picture too, especially in rounder cats.
Feline diabetesThe underrated flag: weight loss
A cat who vomits AND loses weight is never "just a cat who vomits". The loss is often slow and hidden by the coat: weigh him now and then (a kitchen scale works for lighter cats), or watch for the spine and hips becoming more visible. Any unintended weight loss deserves an exam, vomiting or not.
What does looking for the cause involve?
A full exam, then depending on the case blood and urine tests, sometimes an ultrasound. It is not "testing for testing's sake": each of these big causes is confirmed or ruled out simply, and most are very manageable once named. Our senior-pet guide explains this follow-up in detail. Caring for a senior dog or cat
Give no home medications
Cats are a species apart: their liver does not detoxify like ours, or like a dog's. Products that are harmless in your medicine cabinet, or safe for your dog, can kill a cat.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Fatal to cats, even a single tablet. There is no safe dose. If your cat swallowed any, it is an immediate emergency.
Ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve), aspirin
Toxic: digestive ulcers, kidney damage. Never a human anti-inflammatory, for any reason.
Dog flea products
Several contain permethrin, a violent poison for cats (tremors, seizures). Never a "for dogs" product on a cat, even a small amount.
Oil, butter, laxatives and home "hairball remedies"
Do not improvise a greasy or laxative remedy without talking to us: chosen or given wrong (oil forced by syringe can end up in the lungs), it can do more harm than good, and above all mask the real cause.
Gravol, Benadryl, antacids, leftover prescriptions
Never without direction. A vomit "calmed" blindly can hide a string sawing through the intestine or a disease progressing.
What about making him vomit yourself?
In cats, there is no safe way to induce vomiting at home: hydrogen peroxide can be fatal to them. It is a clinic procedure, under sedation if needed. If your cat swallowed a toxin, call us or head straight in: the first steps by product are in our poisons guide. Toxic foods and dangerous plants
Frequently asked questions
The questions we hear most on the phone, and one people don't always dare to ask.
My cat has vomited hairballs weekly for years. Is that really a problem?
Can I just switch his food and see?
He vomited right after his dewormer or medication. Do I give the dose again?
He vomits his kibble whole, two minutes after eating.
It's the middle of the night. Can it wait until morning?
Can vomiting really kill him?
I thought it was normal for years. Did I harm my cat?
Also worth reading
The honest triage, in one sentence
A string hanging out, a cat who stops eating, a male straining in the litter box, open-mouth breathing: go now. Repeated vomiting, weekly hairballs, a cat losing weight: book a visit, without letting it drag. A single vomit in a bright adult who keeps eating: watch for 24 hours. And keep the reframe: a cat who vomits often is not "just being a cat"; it is a signal.
Your cat is vomiting and you are hesitating?
Stop hesitating: call us and we will triage together. If an appointment is enough, we will say so; if it is more urgent, we will point you in the right direction immediately.