What You Should Know About Vomiting in Cats and Dogs

1 Causes and Timing of Vomiting in Pets

Causes of vomiting in cats and dogs:

1. Diet issues: sudden food change, eating foreign objects, eating too fast, food allergy, intolerance to a specific food.

2. Gastric dysfunction: chronic gastritis, parasitic disease such as Physaloptera in cats, delayed gastric emptying, acute vomiting syndrome, gastric ulcer, polyps, tumor, bloat, gastric dilation-volvulus, esophageal disease, hiatal hernia, and gastroesophageal intussusception.

3. Intestinal dysfunction: small-intestine parasites, enteritis, bowel obstruction, diffuse bowel-wall tumor, fungal infection, volvulus and paralytic ileus, typhlitis, stubborn constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome.

4. Metabolic disorders: diabetes, hypoadrenocorticism, kidney disease, liver disease, sepsis, acidosis, hyperkalemia, hypokalemia, hypercalcemia, hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, and heatstroke.

5. Abdominal disease: pancreatitis, peritonitis, inflammatory liver disease, bile-duct obstruction, steatitis, pyelonephritis, pyometra, urethral obstruction, diaphragmatic hernia, and tumors.

6. Drugs: drug intolerance, such as anti-cancer drugs, cardiac glycosides, antimicrobials like erythromycin and tetracycline, and neuro drugs; misuse of prostaglandin inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; wrong or excessive use of anticholinergics.

7. Neurological dysfunction: mental factors like pain, fear, excitement; movement disorder; inflammatory injury; edema; epilepsy; tumors.

8. Toxins: lead, ethylene glycol, zinc, and other poisons.

9. Other factors: heartworm disease and hyperthyroidism.

When a cat or dog vomits, also note these points:

Timing: vomiting right after eating points to food-quality issues, intolerance, overeating, stress or excitement, gastritis, and the like;

Vomiting undigested or partly digested food 6 to 7 hours after eating points to delayed gastric emptying or a blocked gastric outlet.

Treatment varies by cause; general care removes the cause, controls vomiting, and corrects fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance.

When needed, use an anti-emetic to ease the case and cut fluid and electrolyte loss. Confirming delayed gastric emptying needs a biopsy of the stomach and intestinal lining.