Home Remedies for Cat Vomiting

If your cat has suddenly been acutely vomiting or has been vomiting on and off for a couple of weeks, the very first thing to do is to assess how seriously sick your cat is. For you to decide whether to use home remedies or to see a vet, these guide questions will help you access your cat’s condition:

-  Is your cat still very alert, active, eating and drinking? If that’s the case, your cat is a good candidate for home remedies.

-  Is your cat lethargic or dehydrated? If yes, then that’s something more serious and would most likely need an urgent veterinary attention.

Common causes of cat vomiting

· Hairballs

Cats constantly groom themselves and long-haired cats or cats that have excessive amount of hair loss or shedding are very prone to hairballs.

· Ingestion of Substances

Cats sometimes end up eating random things that may not agree with their stomach. It can be food lying on the ground, plants, string, medicines or chemicals left unattended.

·Food Intolerance or Food Allergy

Two most common allergens for cats are fish and dairy. Food allergy may be manifested by vomiting or diarrhea, sometimes skin lesions, hair loss or scratching around the face.

·Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Feline inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition in which a cat reacts to something it has ingested causing its gastrointestinal tract to become chronically irritated and inflamed. This condition could cause chronic vomiting and/or diarrhea.

· Metabolic Diseases

Vomiting in cats may be a symptom of more complicated metabolic disease such as liver disease and kidney disease.

Home Remedies

·Appropriate Diet – To help your cats with hairballs, make sure that they’re on appropriate diet. Opt for canned food with additional essential fatty acids instead of dry kibble. This will give them healthy hair coat and they’ll be shedding less hair which means less hairballs.

·Grooming – Groom you cat more often. You don’t have to spend so much on it though. Just get some de-shedders and remove some of the hair so they don’t end up ingesting them.

Vaseline (unflavored petroleum jelly) – Help your cat ingest ¼ inch of Vaseline twice a day for 2-3 days to expel that hairball.

·Chamomile or Peppermint Tea – Leave your tea bag for 10 to 15 minutes so it’s reasonably strong. Let it cool and give 5mL or 1 teaspoon to your cat 2-3 times daily.

·Homeopathic Arsenicum Album 30C – This is homeopathic remedy that is most often used for vomiting and diarrhea. The standard cat dose is 1 30C capsule twice daily

· Slippery Elm – This remedy is specifically for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Depending on your cat’s weight, the dose should be 400mg/10lbs, taken once a day. Just Break the capsule and mix it with cat food, or give your cat 1 capsule orally/day

· Famotidine (10mg) – This antacid is an over the counter medication also known as Pepcid.  This remedy is intended for a short term use and should be given at 2.5mg every 8 hours for 2-3 days.

Probiotics (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) – A quality probiotic supplement is a good idea for ANY cat that is chronically vomiting. The good bacteria can decrease gut inflammation, lessening the vomiting.