Chances are, you’ve seen your cat vomit every now and then and you didn’t really give it a second thought. When a cat vomits, it can be something minor such as eating too quickly or can be an indication of a much more serious condition that will require immediate medical treatment. Typically, though, a cat will vomit because he ate something that didn’t agree with his stomach, ate more than he should have, or even played too soon after eating. On the other hand, vomiting can be indicative of systemic or gastrointestinal issues.
Diet as a Common Reason for Cat Vomiting
Poor Quality/Rendered Diet
If you are feeding your cat a diet that is poor quality or rendered, that can contribute to vomiting. The term rendered refers to the fact that the proteins found in the cat’s food are not approved for consumption by humans. They typically are made up of leftovers from the slaughterhouse such as hooves, heads, eyes, beaks, bird feathers, and animal skin. While it’s true that these pieces are considered to be packed with protein, they can also be quite difficult for your pet’s body to digest- which can result in vomiting.
Allergies to Foods
In some cases, your cat may develop an allergy to his food. This is actually a very common reason for vomiting over a period of time. If your cat is acting fine, is maintaining a healthy weight, has normal energy levels, and doesn’t seem sick chances are that it is most likely a food allergy.
Allergies to certain foods develop over time when a cat is given the same foods over and over again. There are lots of people that think, “But I can’t get my cat to eat anything else!” This is the main reason why cats are given the same thing repeatedly- not necessarily because their owners don’t know any better, but because the cat won’t eat anything else.
You may need to use a few tricks to get some variety in nutrition into your cat’s diet. You can look on YouTube for some great videos that address the issue of changing your cat’s food/diet.
However, if you find that your cat is vomiting on a regular basis, you need to address diet as the primary cause. Giving them the same type of protein on a regular basis- even high-quality, human-grade, can cause food allergies and even gastrointestinal inflammation. Therefore, it’s not just about the quality of the protein, but the need to switch from one protein to another on a regular basis.
The experts recommend that you gradually transition your cat to human-grade cat food and then to a raw-food diet, if at all possible. You can find videos on YouTube that will walk you through the slow process of diet transition step by step. Then, make sure that you do this every three months to avoid triggering a food allergy.
Cats are going to vomit every now and then. As long as your cat is healthy overall, you really don’t need to worry too much about it. On the other hand, if your cat starts losing weight and seems unhealthy, you need to visit your vet to figure out the cause.