06/04/2026
One of the most common things I hear from cat parents during consults is: āNo vomitingā¦ well, no more than normal.ā
And thatās the problem: there is no normal amount of vomiting.
If a person vomited once a week, once a month, or even every few months, we wouldnāt consider that normal.
Yet for some reason, weāve normalized vomiting in cats.
The truth is that regular vomiting is often a sign that something isnāt right. While an occasional isolated episode may not be concerning, cats that frequently vomit food, clear fluid, foam, or bile deserve a closer look.
Potential causes include:
š± Food sensitivities or dietary indiscretion
š± Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
š± Intestinal lymphoma
š± Chronic kidney disease
š± Hyperthyroidism
š± Pancreatitis
š± Parasites
š± Foreign material ingestion
š± Other gastrointestinal diseases
And before anyone says it: Coughing up a hairball is not the same thing as vomiting.
Hairballs occur when hair accumulates in the stomach and is eventually expelled. While frequent hairballs can still indicate excessive grooming, skin disease, stress, or gastrointestinal motility issues, they are a different process than repeatedly vomiting food or bile.
That said, many owners mistake vomiting for a hairball problem. If your cat is bringing up partially digested food, yellow bile, foam, or liquid, thatās vomiting, not a hairball.
Iāve diagnosed everything from food allergies to intestinal cancer in cats whose owners thought their vomiting was ājust normal for cats.ā
So if your cat is vomiting regularly, donāt assume itās simply part of being a cat. Mention it to your veterinarian. Sometimes the symptoms weāve learned to ignore are the very clues that help us catch disease early.
Healthy cats shouldnāt be throwing up on a regular basis.
