Indoor cat just been sick

[WantToMoveNorth]

My exotic shorthair cat has just been sick over the kitchen floor. I heard strange noises coming from the kitchen and it turned out she was gagging and was sick a few times. She's 3 years old and has never been ill before. She's been indoor for the past 2 & 3/4 yrs (she gets very nervous outside). Can indoor cats catch illnesses? Do you think I should take her to a vets ASAP or in the morning? There wasn't any hair in sick- she's never had a fur ball before either.

Thanks in advance

How does she look? Maybe the food wasn't quite the same as normal, pet food has lower hygiene standards than human food.

I don't think you need to rush her to the vets just yet.

It's very probably a fur ball, cats are always getting them and they are always barfing IME and sounding dramatic with it, I wouldn't worry unless she seems ill or stops eating

Thanks. She seemed fine enough today. She's very timid though so its hard to see her for long!

She only eats dry food, and she had the same as normal (from the same bag).

I don't think I'd be as worried if she was outdoors and could catch things, but can indoor cats catch any bugs?

My kitten is 5 nearly 6 months old and not been out yet.

She had a sicky moment last month at 2am...was fine the next day and never happened again.

I didn't see any hair...it just looked like wet cement

Have had many indoor cats and they have all been sick for no reason occasionally, presumably from licking hair

I have an indoor cat and an outdoor one. The indoor cat is kept in because he is too stupid to find his own way home if we let him out. He is also a bit of a mutant. Anyway, he sometimes throws up and is none the worse for it. But he did get sick, properly ill, once; he was listless, not eating/drinking, had a high temperature (check the ears) and had gone into instant moult. He needed a vet.

(Antibiotics and he was fine soon after.)

my cats have hairball problem at the moment. the first 3-4 times they threw up there were no hairballs, then, there it was a long sausage shaped grey thing. vets said it is common over winter when heating goes on and their bodies cannot regulate their hair moulting, they think it is warm, they shed fur like mad, it irritates them and they lick/groom more.

if you think it is possible, you can get some hairball paste from local pet shop, around £5, that works ok, or catalax from vets or online, helps the hair pass through the intestines.

Thanks everyone. Maybe it is a fur ball, she is malting a lot. I've just been giving her a long old fuss and she was purring away, so I feel a bit better now. I'll keep a watch on how much food she eats tonight.

Thanks again

Yes Pavlova...that is what it was like...a long grey wet cement looking sausage!

Good job I love her!

wanttomovenorth give her some nice wet food. I know you normally dont, but some mackeral, or oily fish of some kind, or some pouches, they will help all the hair slither down.

Sometimes, once a cat starts to vomit, it irritates their stomach and then, even if they expel a furball they might be sick afterwards a few times. If that happens, a plain diet of fish for 24 hours allows them to get back on track.

put lots of water down and look out for grey sausages.

crazynanna not sure why they are called furballs, as they are not actually round!!!

Yup grey sausages are hairballs, she is fine :)

more like a fur turd.