Infrequent but annoying vomiting

We have recently taken on a 4 year old cat from a friend. He sems fine on the whole. Last Thursday we found he had thrown up his food, it didn't look like he'd even chewed it. Then nothing for a few days until Sunday, when we discovered he'd thrown up on our bed! After a late-night laundry session, he was fine until yesterday (Wednesday) when I found he'd thrown up again, this time the unchewed food pieces.

In himself he is just fine, he's as active as ever, I even found he'd climbed up on top of the closet and gone to sleep. It's just that there are now a few orange patches on our nice new carpet!

Could it be the food (Friskies Indoor Delights - I know, but we're on a very tight budget)
Could it be he's eating too fast? (I now feed him very small amounts more often and that seems to help a bit)
Is it something we need to worry about?

Is this food new for him? You said to took him from a friend, did the friend mention he had a finicky stomach? If Friskies isn't what he was on before then I'd get what he was eating and try to re-introduce the Friskies gradually. You might also try feeding him smaller amounts more frequently if you think he's eating too fast.

Stress from change can upset kitty tummies. you might try giving him a few days of eating boiled chicken blended with boiled rice. Also, if you can, try giving him a high quality food, such as Royal Canin for sensitive stomachs - the initial cost is more, but the kitties eat a lot less, and there's less mess (and smell) in the litter box, so it evens out in the end. You can even write away for free samples and/or samples for the cost of shipping (usu. $2-3) to try out with him. My cats love to get into the Indoor Delights that I keep on hand in the cat rescue kit, even tho their usu. food is Innova kibble and Royal Canin Maine Coon mix
Bless you for taking on your new kitty - he's very, very fortunate to have a family who wanted an adult cat
Sending prayers and vibes that he gets over his vomiting, for his sake, yours & that of the new carpet

My cat used to do this until we figured out that it was something in the food upsetting her tummy and giving her gas. Perhaps the kitty's got a sensitive tummy. Also, eating too fast will cause a kitty to throw up like that.

It could also be caused by hairballs...

Many thanks for your replies.
It's looking like it's his food, then. I now feed him very small amounts more often. He hasn't been sick for a couple of days now, so fingers crossed there.
We're looking at getting some better-quality food, but we'll have to use up what we have first, bought a huge sack of Friskies.
As long as it's nothing to worry about, I feel much better now. I'll just do what I've been doing for a while, keeping an eye on him that little bit more!

When it comes back up looking as it went down I know Rocko has eaten too fast. Feeding smaller meals throughout the day if you are home is a great way to deal with this. I also read here that if you put it on a flat surface they sort of have to "chase" the kibble around to get it into their mouth and it will slow them down.

Just a side note: In regards to the food. Feeding the highest quality food you can afford is a great way to keep your cat healthy. It prevents unneccessary vet bills due to urinary tract issues, etc. It's a smaller price to pay than a vet visit for sure. Look around as prices can vary. Petco sells the same food I get at Petsmart but it $4 more a bag at Petco! I shop when there is a sale also. I get the large bag of Nutro dry for $19 at PetSmart and it last my 3 cats a month. I also feed wet. But for one cat that should last a long time.

My vet told me if you can recognize the food kitty has tossed up, it's regurgitation - a lot of times related to eating too fast. True vomiting is apparently something the vets take way more seriously. But, with regurgitation, I was told just what you did - smaller meals, more frequently. A lot of times a new kitty will be afraid the food will disappear and will try to eat everything right this minute. My guy did just that, and calmed down a lot when he realized there would always be food.

If you change foods, do a slow change-over - the bags will usually have instructions - so their tummies don't get upset.

I get Nutro too (wet and dry) and find the 6 pound sack lasts two kitties close to two months, which isn't too bad. You might check the ingredients in Petsmart's Authority line as well. But, the important thing is that your cat has found a caring home. My two were about 4 years old when adopted - even though kittens are adorable, my adults have brought me such joy. Blessings on you for taking an adult - lots of people will pass them by.

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions.

We now know what was causing the vomiting. We had been giving him the Indoor cat variety of Whiskas Temptations treats with no ill-effects. Then when that pack ran out we got him the hairball ones. This time he would sort of half chew it, let it drop, then pick that up and eat it. About half an hour later he'd start mewling, licking his lips and then...well, you can guess the next bit! It just seemed a bit odd that most of the time he was fine, but he was only sick when we gave him these treats. So now we've passed the bag on to another cat owner with a cat with a less sensitive tummy and we'll get him some more of the indoor treats!

I'm glad we got that one sorted!