Hairball or vomit or what??

My cat just Vomited for the first time. I've never seen a hairball before, but this looked like plain old Vomit. I saw no ball of hair and no droolie-stuff that I've heard people mention.

Poe started Yeowling like crazy and I thought it was because his mom just left and he was missing her (he does that once in a while), but it persisted, which he's never done before, so when I went to check on him, and he stopped yeowling and started convulsing. So I did what I usually do and gently nudged him to his feet to help the flow, and he just upchucked two globs of food onto the floor.

I was a little shocked to say the least since we've had him since the beginning of December and he's only "acted" like this 2 other times right after cleaning himself (but he never upchucked anything).

Do I need to be worried? He's been on the same food for months so I don't really think that is the issue. (if it was I think it would have become a problem long before now). The only thing we've done different is that my wife fed him some hairball control treats last night and she gave him one too many.

With just this one episode I would not worry. Just watch him and see how he does. Sometimes my cats will have bouts for a couple of days until they pass the hair. Then they are back to normal.

Agree with the above - if it's just happened the once, don't worry too much. Sometimes they eat too fast and will throw up. If it happens repeatedly or if your cat is lethargic, the third eyelid is showing, or there are other symptoms, then obviously a vet visit is in order, but just vomiting once I wouldn't worry about. If there is no other change in his behaviour, then see how he is after his next meal, if he keeps it down ok and is still acting normal then it could have been just that he bolted his food.

ETA: Furballs, in my experience, usually look like turd shaped sausages of solid vomit and you can see hair in them.

Thanks, I appreciate it. We will be keeping an eye on him.

He's passed out on the corner of the bed now, that's pretty normal. hehe.

My cats' hairballs are usually a dark brown or greenish color. It's not always obvious that there's much hair in it by just looking at it, but when you clean it, if you try to break it up in the paper towel or whatever, you'll see it's almost entirely hair. I sure wouldn't want that in my throat!

Originally Posted by Epona

ETA: Furballs, in my experience, usually look like turd shaped sausages of solid vomit and you can see hair in them.

Click to expand...

that is the most disgustingly accurate description I've ever read. Right on the money, though.

My Bella will upchuck if she's given too much food (she eats way too fast, not lady like at all), it usually comes up pretty much as it went down as opposed to the hairball upchuck which is sausage like as described above. The vet said this is part of a natural reflex they have and we've tried all sorts of things to slow her down (raised bowl, rocks/marbles she has to eat around, watered down food). The only thing that's worked is portion control.

You said he was convulsing. Do you mean like a fit? If so, this is very serious and he needs to see a vet ASAP. If you mean that he was doing the 'ack, ack, ack' that they do before vomiting or bringing up a hairball, I don't think you need to be worried, as the other posters have said. Cats and kittens do vomit occassionally but if his vomiting becomes frequent, he needs a vet visit.

If he puked up undigested food most likely he either has a hairball that he didn't puke up or he just plain ate too fast. Is he an emotional eater?

Also, I'm sure you aren't feeding any recalled food but just to doublecheck what food are you feeding and more importantly what brand are the treats?

still don't know why. He ended up barfing 4 times yesterday. He'd eat some food, and barf. We actually did find some hairballs (not really very big).

After the 4th time we removed his food dish and gave him a bit of milk (Sometimes he'll refuse to go in his litter box if it is not pristine, and I thought perhaps he had become constipated). To loosen things up, and to help keep him hydrated. He didn't seem sick besides the yacking and I was more worried about him becoming dehydrated than anything else. We waited a few more hours and put his food back out and he's been fine since. So whatever it was it seems to have passed.

Unfortunately he's not very lactose intolerant, at least not with the 100% organic milk we drink, so that part didn't work but it did seem to settle his stomach down.

The food was broken down, it was goo. hehe.