It's the sound that makes you wince at 2am. Then you clean the rug and think, cats just do that.
Here is the short answer. An occasional hairball is normal, and cats do throw up now and then. But "cats just do that" stops being true when it keeps happening. Vets draw the line in slightly different places, so what matters is how often it happens and what comes up. A simple log answers both, and a video visit can work from that log without a trip to the clinic. If she vomits several times in a day, can't keep water down, or there's blood, go to an ER vet now.
How often is too often?
- VCA Animal Hospitals says occasional vomiting in an otherwise healthy cat may not mean anything, particularly if it's mostly hair. For hairballs, it says to contact your vet if your cat brings them up more than once a month.
- The Cornell Feline Health Center says a hairball every week or two is not uncommon in a cat with no lasting problems. It also says cats that vomit more often than once a week should be seen by a vet promptly.
- The Merck Veterinary Manual says a cat that has frequent hairballs or vomits repeatedly may have "something more serious than a hairball" behind it.
A hairball every few weeks is one thing. Vomiting every week is another. If you can't remember how many times it has happened this month, start writing it down.
What you can safely check at home
Don't try to work out the cause yourself. Notice, and keep notes on your phone.
- How often. Dates and times. Is it once a month, once a week, or every few days?
- What it looks like. Food, hair, clear liquid, foam, yellow liquid, or blood. Take a photo if you can stand to.
- Timing. Right after eating, hours later, or first thing in the morning. A cat who brings food back up right after eating, undigested and sometimes in a tube shape, may be regurgitating, which is a different thing from vomiting (Merck Veterinary Manual).
- Effort. Vomiting involves retching and belly contractions. Regurgitation is passive.
- Appetite and thirst. Eating less, begging more, or drinking more than usual. Cornell lists increased thirst among the signs to have checked.
- Weight. A scale reading if you can get one.
- Litter box. Diarrhea, constipation, or a change in how much she pees.
- Energy. Playing as usual, or hiding and sleeping more.
- What changed. A new food, a plant, a house move.
International Cat Care adds that coughing can look like trying to be sick: a cat crouched low with her neck stretched out may be coughing. A video helps a vet tell the two apart. If drooling comes along too, our post on why a cat drools may help.
Please don't give human medicines. Cornell lists them among the things that make cats throw up in the first place. Whether to skip a meal or change the food is a question for a vet who knows your cat.
When it's an ER vet, not a video visit
Video visits are not for emergencies. Go to the nearest ER vet right away if your cat:
- Vomits several times in a day, or can't keep water down
- Has blood in the vomit
- Hasn't eaten for a day or more
- Seems limp, weak or hard to wake
- Is a male cat straining in the litter box with little or no urine coming out. Cornell calls a urethral blockage "a true medical emergency" and says the cat's condition can get worse fast. Straining can look like constipation, so when in doubt, go.
- May have eaten something toxic or risky: a lily (International Cat Care says all parts are toxic, and even vase water can be fatal), string or yarn, antifreeze, or a human medication
For a possible poisoning, call ASPCA Poison Control at 888-426-4435 on the way. Don't try to make your cat throw up. If you're unsure, call the ER vet.
If your cat is also off her food, our post on why a cat stops eating goes through what else to watch for.
Why it's hard the old way
The appointment only sees one day, and your cat is fine in the exam room. She doesn't vomit on cue, so what the vet gets is your memory of it: roughly how often, roughly what it looked like.
Add the carrier fight and the cost of a visit for something that looks fine on the day, and many owners put it off. The pattern goes unrecorded for months. The old way sees snapshots, and the story is in the pattern.
What a video visit does
A video visit with Dr. Ellen's team starts from your log and your cat's records. Here's how it goes.
- The records get read first. Upload past visits and lab results once. The history is there before the call starts.
- You bring the log. The dates, the photos, a video of an episode, her food, and your regular vet's name. This is the part a one-time exam can't see.
- They look at your cat on camera. Her energy and how she moves. Your cat stays on the couch.
- They go through the pattern with you. How often, what comes up, and how it lines up with meals and food changes. You leave knowing what to watch and what to ask next.
- They tell you when it needs hands. Merck says finding the cause of severe or long-term vomiting may take blood, stool and urine tests, x-rays or an ultrasound. Video can't do those. If your cat needs them, you hear that plainly, and why.
- Your regular vet gets a summary. It goes to the vet who knows her, so everyone is working from the same history.
Visits are scheduled, and most are scheduled within 48 hours. In California you see a vet, and prescriptions are possible when they're right for your cat. In every other state it's a wellness visit with Dr. Ellen or a vet tech on her team: advice, a plan, and what to ask your regular vet. A video visit can't promise an answer or a prescription. It can turn a pile of "she did it again" into a clear next step.
Out of the loop
What wears owners down is the loop: the mess on the rug, the "she's probably fine", and then it happens again. A vet team that sees your log and the whole history can help you see whether it's a hairball or a pattern, and what to do next.
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FAQ
Why does my cat keep throwing up?
Causes range from hairballs and a food that didn't agree with her to parasites and kidney, liver or thyroid problems (Merck Veterinary Manual, VCA). If it has become a pattern, start a log and have a vet look at it.
Is it normal for a cat to throw up once a week?
It's worth a look. Cornell says cats that vomit more often than once a week should be seen by a vet promptly, and VCA's line for hairballs is more than once a month.
What does it mean when a cat throws up yellow foam?
Yellow liquid or foam is common, and many things can cause it. The color alone doesn't tell you much. How often it happens, how long since she ate, and whether she's acting like herself tell you more. Write it in your log, and have a vet look if it keeps happening.
When should I worry about my cat throwing up?
Go to an ER vet for the signs listed above. For anything that keeps coming back, book a vet to go through it.
Can I see a vet online for a cat that keeps throwing up?
Yes, for the pattern. Dr. Ellen's team reads her records, goes through your log, looks at her on camera and says when she needs an in-person exam or tests. In California that's a vet visit; in other states it's a wellness visit.
Sources
- Cornell Feline Health Center, Vomiting (hairballs, vomiting more than once a week, the signs that need a prompt vet visit, human medications and string as causes; last updated 2021)
- Cornell Feline Health Center, Feline lower urinary tract disease (male cats, straining, urethral obstruction as a true medical emergency)
- VCA Animal Hospitals, Vomiting in Cats (less than once a month, hairballs more than once a month, regurgitation, video of the episode)
- Merck Veterinary Manual, pet owner version: Vomiting in Cats (vomiting vs regurgitation, hairballs, causes, long-term vomiting and the tests it often needs)
- International Cat Care, Asthma and chronic bronchitis in cats (coughing can look like trying to be sick; take a video)
- International Cat Care, Poisonous plants (lilies, and not making a cat vomit)
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control, 888-426-4435: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control
