What to do with a sick kitty tummy?

Aw poor kitty. I bet he ate an old mouse or something. Could he have worms?

I have no knowledge of kitties, but if my dog throws up a couple of times, I give her a teaspoon of pepto. If she is no better in the morning, I take her to the vet.

This may sound weird to you, but I take my cat out on a leash and let him eat grass. He won’t eat it if he doesn’t need/want it. But if they have a stomach problem it’s a natural way to help restore order.

“Salicylates (Pepto Bismol) can be fatal to cats. Bismuth subsalicylate should NOT be given to cats except under direct supervision by your veterinarian.”

http://www.pets.com/petcare/articles/why-its-ok-let-your-cat-eat-grass

There’s not much you can do about it, I don’t think. Just keep an eye on things. Cats get minor bugs and illnesses just like we do and they can get into things and eat things that upset their stomachs and sometimes the only thing you can do is to clean up after them and let whatever it is run its course. If the vomiting doesn’t go away after several days to a week, then you need to take your kitty to the vet as vomiting can be a symptom of a more serious illness.

You don’t say how you know the cat has a tummy issue. I assume the issue is that, the cat is vomiting a lot? One thing you can do to cut down on the amount of mess (& maybe settle the stomach a bit), is lower the amount of food you are feeding it. I have a cat that started vomiting a lot & I changed how much I fed the cat & she has only vomited once in the past 6 months or so. I used to just fill a bowl with cat food & refill it when it got low. Now I only add maybe a quarter of a cup of food a couple times a day. So even if/when the cat does get sick, the amount of mess to clean up is a lot less, which makes me hate her less when she does it.

@rpmpseudonym Actually, you’re right. I just assumed that a cat’s “tummy issue” would present as vomiting.

@rpmpseudonym I was trying not the give everyone a visual. But my floor is like a landmine with the kitty barf.

What kind of food are you feeding the cat? Along with decreasing portion size, I switched to a ‘smart blend’ line of food that helps regulate the digestive system.

@papayalily Thanks for trying, at least, but the image of your floor, littered with “land mines of kitty barf” is now a bell that cannot be unrung. But we asked for it. What other choice did you have but to provide specifics? I can’t fault you here.

@lillycoyote Maybe it helps that I didn’t tell you what type of floor, granite, marble, laminate, tile, hardwood… Or is that not the point?

@papayalily The floor isn’t the issue. I’m just glad you spared us the details regarding the texture, contents and consistency of the cat puke even though those details would probably be more useful for trying to determine what the problem is. e.g. one of my cats once puked up a significant number of miscellaneous insect body parts on my bed, on my pillow, to be precise. It was pretty easy to figure out what was going on; what exactly it was that caused his “tummy troubles.”

@lillycoyote I suppose you could say it’s “the usual”, just a lot more, which is why I think he has a bug instead of just ate too much or something new.

It could be nothing much and your kitty will get over it in the next few days to a week or it could be something that indicates a more serious problem that you need to keep an eye on. Either way there’s not much you can do about it, as far as I know. No pepto bismol for kitties! They can’t talk so vomiting, etc., just as it is for us, is kind of their way of saying something’s wrong.

@lillycoyote As opposed to humans, where it’s simply a way to expel harmful substances without stating that something’s wrong?

when sasha was sick recently, the vet told me to get pepcid AC 10 mg tablets and give her a really tiny bit ( ¼ of one or less, she’s about 7lbs… also, i got the store brand because it was way cheaper). you could try that!

@papayalily I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Anytime any creature vomits, I think, it’s pretty much a matter of that creature’s system saying “Something’s wrong” except maybe when it’s something like morning sickness where the message is not so much “something’s wrong” but “there’s something intense going on that I’m not used to.” If your body has ingested harmful substances that it can only deal with by throwing them up, then yes, something it wrong. The body has the capacity to deal with and process the toxins and other things, etc. that it encounters on a daily basis only up to a certain point, and then it kind of has to start spewing them out. It has no other choice. Jeez, where are the doctors and biologists and veterinarians on fluther when you need them?

@lillycoyote I was just teasing you.

@papayalily I do have a tendency to get defensive and overly earnest, don’t I? Well, at least I know that you understand me and tolerate me anyway. But if you don’t stop pushing my buttons, I swear, I’m really gonna smack you one of these days. :-)

lol, that may have been one of the most amusing interactions I’ve ever seen on Fluther.

I wouldn’t give her anything. I would see if this continues, and of course take her to the vet if she doesn’t appear to be getting any better. You never can be sure what kind of stuff your cat has gotten into around the house, so it’s good to keep an eye on her. This time of year hairballs are common.
Are you visually checking the emesis for anything unusual? Worms, plant matter, anything else your kitty should not have in his stomach?

Did you bother calling your vet?

Sounds like a poisoning to me, get kitty to the vet ASAP………… don’t forget the cheque book! Also is there any diarrhoea??

Coin purse?

@lillycoyote I really didn’t hear defensiveness, I heard confusion. Which was my fault, because I often tease, but forget to put in the appropriate emoticon (because I think they’re for 13 year old girls and should probably get over that.)
But feel free to smack me anytime. I prefer the behind ;)

@lillycoyote Yes. Please, smack her.

@mama_cakes You don’t have to wait for @lillycoyote to smack me. You can smack me too.

@papayalily Who? Me? Confused? That’s impossible. Never happens, you know that.

I left out the emoticon above, because they are, apparently, childish. :-)

Lillies, lillies..

we all know that I get to go first. p-lilly – bend over.

@mama_cakes LOL. Is P-Lilly my rapper name?

And I don’t bend over for nobody! Unless you ask nicely, that is. Not into the dominance/submission thing. :-)

Well, clearly your cat isn’t that important to you. Call your vet, the internet isn’t a place to ask for medical advice, even if it’s for your pet. Sudden changes in behavior and especially clear warning signs like excessive vomiting are things you need to call an animal hospital about. You seem to be taking the whole situation very casually.

Perhaps you don’t mean to be seen in that light, but that’s the impression you’ve given me at least. Take proper care of your cat already.

It’s surprising to me that you haven’t answered my question.

I agree with @as. @papayalily, did you talk to a vet? You didn’t say.

@asmonet What? @papayalily is clearly concerned about her cat. If I ran to the vet in a panic every time one of my cats threw up I would be doing nothing else. Yes, it can be a sign of serious illness and should be a concern and something that a cat owner should keep and eye on but to say to @papayalily that “clearly your cat isn’t that important to you” is extremely unfair and not tremendously helpful.

@lillycoyote: I did not suggest she go ‘running to the vet’ – I said she should make a phone call because as she herself stated the vomiting was abnormal in its frequency and volume. It’s the bare minimum in veterinary care. As for not being tremendously helpful, she ignored the only common sense approach to the problem that was given to her. Other helpful suggestions were given, yes, but those suggestions are only useful when you KNOW your animal is not in danger. They’re helpful for getting through a symptom of a minor illness that poses no threat. All of the suggestions are operating under the assumption it is merely indigestion – which at this time cannot be known without consulting a professional.

As for the tone of my comment, I responded in an aggressive manner to catch the OP’s attention. Something that I felt was necessary.

I asked if she did the minimum which had not been done on the thread until that point, and was ignored while she chatted on about other unrelated topics. One would think that in a state of worry, out of love or compassion you would focus on what’s important to you. Based on that, I gathered the cat was less of a priority than her socializing.

Again, just my impression.

If I see someone jumping off a cliff I’m not going to let them rule the conversation, I’m gonna try and get their attention. Sometimes you need to be tough to be heard.

@asmonet GA.

If I’m incorrectly assuming the OP is female, I apologize. I’m actually not sure of the gender. So, sorry in advance. :)

@asmonet While I appreciate your clarification I still don’t think that it was necessary to accuse @papayalily of not caring about her cat. There are ways to get a person’s attention short of accusing them of simply not giving a shit about their animals.

I was honest, and gave them the benefit of the doubt. I won’t apologize for how their words came across to me.

Certainly not before they even respond personally. Let him/her fight their own battle. If they’re offended I’m sure they’re capable of letting me know.

I do appreciate your point however. And I’ll think on it while I wait for them to respond.

@asmonet I’m not trying to defend, protect or stand up for @papayalily. She’s more than capable of standing up for herself. I’m just being straight and honest with you and telling you what I think, that’s all.

@asmonet I didn’t respond at the time because it seemed pointless to say “I don’t know, it’s 11:30 pm so I can’t call right now”. And I’ve been at classes/doctor’s appointments/family dinner all today; this is the first time I’ve been able to type on my own computer instead of my phone. My cat is a very high priority to me, but in this (abnormally busy) week before my first midterms as a college student, replying to all fluther posts really isn’t. I did call the vet today, unfortunately today was her day off so the receptionist is going to pass on the message and I’ll hear back tomorrow.

@lillycoyote I <3 you a thousand times

@mama_cakes You mean like this? Or like this? Or would you prefer this? (Note: NSFW)

@papayalily: Good luck in school, I’m facing the same things. I just thought it strange that you came back to joke, but not respond. I’m glad you got in touch with your vet, the lack of info here was just worrying to an outside observer. I hope your kitty is okay. Again, good luck! :)

@asmonet It was because of the hour. I didn’t ignore it, I just made a note to pay attention again in the morning.