Sense check - how often is your cat sick?

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

We lost our beautiful ten year old cat to intestinal lymphoma earlier this year. Her only symptom was vomiting, and we'd had her at the vet several times with this over the course of about ten months before pushing for further tests - £3K later and oh, actually, it wasn't just hairballs, it was a massive fuck off large cell cancer (the worst kind).

I think we were very unusual in that she never lost weight, never had any behavioural changes, and was absolutely never off her food, greedy to the very last. We opted to let her go "well" rather than pursue treatment that would have given her extra time but not cured her. She hated the carrier/car/vet and would have found it all incredibly distressing.

It broke our hearts but hopefully it was the right thing for her. I miss her so much.

We have since adopted a one year old boy from Cats Protection who is a little thug but an absolute joy. Last week he stole a pack of Dreamies during the night, ripped it open, ate the lot, and puked up. Today he wolfed his breakfast and threw up a small amount of food and a lot of grass.

My rational mind can see clear cause/effect here. My crazy mind is spiralling wildly that he too has cancer.

How often is your cat sick?

Current not greedy cat - maybe once or twice a year when she accidentally eats too much.

Last very greedy cat - all the bloody time (at least once a week at times).

You could try puzzle or slow feeders (didn't work for my greedy boy though...) or feeding less over more meals, or feeding less tasty food.

I have three.

One vomits so rarely that I can’t even remember the last time she was sick.

One is quite hairy and will vomit occasionally if he’s had a particularly large hairball, or if he eats too much (also a cupboard raider)

One has pica and will eat spiders and plastic (and, most recently, soap!) on an almost daily basis, every time I remove the latest non-edible item, she’ll find something different to try. She vomits most days because she’s eaten something ridiculous. She isn’t allowed unsupervised outdoor access as I worry that she would be dead within a week as she would cheerfully eat rat poison.

Sorry about your cat, you couldn't possibly have known, cats apparently hide when they're in pain which doesn't help.

I have 4 cats so it's hard to say but this week I've found 3 lots of sick. One of them was fur ball related and the other 2 were liquid.

Try not to worry, it would be highly unlikely to happen again and it just sounds like your new cat is a bit greedy!

My fluffier cat is sick a lot in summer, mostly hairballs. The other moggy occasionally voms up mice (and especially the disgusting little greenish bit).

I think your little lad has had the cat equivalent of pizza after too much to drink. I wouldn't worry unless he does it repeatedly, and even then it's more likely to be hairballs or worms.

Cat#1 Rescue I had for 10 years, was sick at least once a day. Vet was never interested and thought he was eating too quickly and overgrooming.

Cat #2 Never sick apart from an odd hairball

Cat #3 Never sick until he ended up with a long term health condition that made him sick occasionally.

Cat #4 Had him 4 years, he's never been sick apart from 1 furball.

Our elderly cat is sick maybe once a month, always when he’s eaten grass or one of my DD’s gives him a treat that doesn’t agree with him. Our younger cat, I don’t think he’s ever vomited in the 2 years we’ve had him (or if he has, we’ve blamed our old boy!)

Both of your sick instances are perfectly normal and nothing to worry about, they eat grass to make themselves sick to dispel a hairball etc. And gobbling food/taking in too much air will do the same.

I’m sorry for the loss of your older cat. We had to have ours put down for suspected stomach/bowel cancer. She had rapidly lost weight, stopped grooming so her fur was greasy and getting matted and was having projectile mucous bloody stools, we decided to have her pts rather than go through lots of tests for them to say ‘yep, it’s cancer’ and then pts.

I have one who is ten and is sick twice a week easily. She just seems to have a sensitive stomach. She's got terrible teeth but I don't know if that is related!!

Another one also ten is only sick once a year or so, when he has eaten say, a whole pigeon, and only then because he's trying to bring up feathers. Total pig.

I've had six cats over the years.

Cat 1 - never.
Cat 2 - about once a week, normally after eating too quickly.
Cat 3 - never.
Cat 4 - maybe 5-6 times a year, he moults a lot so it's always hairballs.
Cat 5 - once in four years, and that was when he had a stuck hairball.
Cat 6 - once since we got him a year ago, after eating cat soup which presumably didn't agree with him.

It varies so much between cats but try and remember that most vomiting won't be anything to worry about.

I'm so sorry about your girl

Cheddar was a serial vomiter. It was daily when she was on Royal Canin. Several times a week on Iams. But barely at all on Amazon lifelong. She also needed a slow feeder, which really helped her. She didn't vomit at all during what turned out to be her last couple of months. My other cat almost certainly had lymphoma and never vomited at all. She had loose poo and weight loss.

Our 2.5 year old cat has been sick twice (that we know of - she may have been sick when out and about and we didn't know!) - once when she was tiny and we gave Whiskas; and the second time was when she chewed on some wild garlic leaves that we had left out in the kitchen. She was really sick and miserable that day!

Thanks for all the replies - I need to get a grip of myself. Cat tax below.

It's Louis! My Elton is a puker - it's mostly white foam and he's clearly doing the cat equivalent of putting his fingers down his throat to actually throw up so I've decided not to worry about it

I have three cats one I've never caught vomiting one who threw up a hairball so hard he made his throat bleed and he point blank stops eating if he pukes (bad sign apparently) one who will puke enormous hairballs occasionally and go right back to eating as soon as I've cleaned it up (he won't eat until I've cleaned it)

I have three cats one I've never caught vomiting one who threw up a hairball so hard he made his throat bleed and he point blank stops eating if he pukes (bad sign apparently) one who will puke enormous hairballs occasionally and go right back to eating as soon as I've cleaned it up (he won't eat until I've cleaned it)

2 of ours - never unless they're ill and need to see the vet.

1 - rarely, but often enough not to be a worry if that makes sense? Usually lots of furballs when she does vomit too.
1 - a real scarf and barf cat. It's not a day with a y in if if he's not thrown up somewhere! Doesn't matter how much he's fed or what, he'll eat too quickly then be sick most days. Nothing wrong with him, he's done it forever and has had enough tests to rule everything out! He's a former feral and sometimes forgets he doesn't need to eat everything at every meal.

The two cats we had with lymphoma didn't throw up at all, just ate less and less and lost weight quickly. One was quite young and it was a huge shock, the other much older so not as unexpected.

One of mine probably has a weekly vom.. usually due to overeating/bolting food.
Portion control of especially favoured foods, raised feeders helps.
Your anxiety around this is understandable - I think you were very unlucky with your previous cat.

Sorry for the loss of your beloved cat.

Mine throws up about once in ten days and it's a furball, and then for the next two days she throws up grass just to make sure she got all the fur up.

My last cat threw up once a fortnight. Furballs again.

Our cat specialist vet reckons that, for some cats, puking is just their hobby... 😁

If your (most beautiful!) boy is still quite new, it could be an adjustment to his new environment - ours two were like that for a year or two because of that, and I guess because young cats are still finding out what they can and can't eat, and the limits of their appetite. As long as he's otherwise well, I wouldn't worry; just get it checked if there are any changes.

For what it's worth, I think it was totally the right thing to let your girl go in dignity rather than putting her through distressing treatments and vet visits. I'm glad your gorgeous orange lad has found people who clearly love cats and are good owners! Sorry, slaves...

I've had 6 cats in my lifetime (2 at a time!). 2 of those were pukers. I think it was usually having eaten too quickly but it was fairly regular. Either of my current pair seem to be a puker though. It's quite refreshing (especially as I no longer have my dog who used to clear up! Disgusting but oh so useful)

Thanks for all these replies - so many pukey cats! I feel like I was a bit “gaslit” by the vet being so unconcerned about our previous cat (not because they are not good vets, just that she was “well” in terms of her appearance and bloods/physical exams and if we hadn’t been insured to the max we probably wouldn’t have been referred out to the specialists even) so I am on constant high alert.

Her diagnosis was such a terrible shock but @Compash i do think it was the right thing by her to let her go. My best beloved girl, i miss her so much 🤍

Even when it's expected it's still a shock to have to make that decision about a pet. It takes a long time to go away.

I think it’s the hardest decision I have ever made, but also one of the easiest decisions - because although I would give my right arm for her still to be here with us, I would equally have cut my own arm off if it meant she didn’t have pain and suffering. They break your heart.