Why does my cat seem fond of throwing up on my carpet?

[WhoWhoWhoWho]

My cat is about 8, had her since she was a kitten she has always sporadically sicked up a bit. Hair balls, grass in saliva, the usual.

Last month or so she has done this more like once a week. She seems healthy apart from this, no odd behaviour, eating and drinking as usual. She will only drink from a running tap and won't touch water in a bowl I dutifully oblige to her quirk.

Do you think I should be concerned? Should I take her for a check up or would I be wasting the vets time? And why oh why can't she be sick on the lino instead of the carpet?!?

Cats will by-pass any easy to clean surface for soft-furnishings -FACT!

Not sure about the frequency though , it does seem more than average.

It is more than she used to do, I hadn't realised until this morning when I had to wash my Duvet because she'd been sick on it and I thought back to how often lately I had cleaned up sick. What a glamorous life I lead.

Mine have been sicking a lot more in the past couple of weeks, they have also been shedding a huge amount. I think it's to do with the unseasonably warm weather. DH leaped out of bed like he'd been shot yesterday, he heard our longhair start to throw up in the bedroom and he grabbed him and put him in the bathroom just in time. Apparently the cat likes to leave him nice squishy cold hairballs just outside the bedroom door.

I do wish they could learn to vomit in a 'vomit tray' just like they can learn to pee in a litter tray.

Mine particularly likes clean white duvet covers.

I can handle the duvet covers, even the carpet, but big sick stains on my actual duvet I am not impressed by.

A vomit tray would be a good idea, however if I'm making wishes I would wish for no vomit at all!

Oops, do you think it's a time of year thing then? I'm leaning towards getting her checked out just to put my mind at rest really.

Do your cats also walk backwards when they vomit to get even better coverage of whatever surface they've chosen?

Brush your cat more often and it may well stop. Also feed them little bits of oily fish (e.g. sardines in oil) which ahem makes the hair pass through the other end - hopefully not on the carpet.

If you are worried it's always best to get them checked out. Better safe than sorry and all that!

I swear this is true and I saw it happen.

I had a long haired cat and a tabby. The long haired cat was an expert at throwing up furballs on all soft furnishings, he once managed to quite spectacularly hit both pillows and the duvet on my bed.

Anyway, whenever we heard the ominous retching sounds my Dh and I were like a well oiled team. He would grab the cat and I would grab the newspaper and we would hold the little bugger down until he had finished.

My other little tabby cat used to watch this with great interest and one day we heard the familiar retching sound coming from him. He looked around the room, walked over to the newspaper and threw up over it.

I was so impressed but then I realised I hadn't even read that paper [hsad]

The vomit tray was a real thing in my house [hgrin]

I wouldn't know croissant, she always does it out of sight/hearing!

Will up the grooming and see if that helps, and will also try the oily fish thanks for suggestions.

RedRubyBlue - your story did make me laugh! There are cats that 'go' on the toilet so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they can be trained - your cat obviously cottoned on.