If you have ever observed your cat throwing up white foam, then it most likely caused some serious concern. Sometimes, the causes of throwing up white form are obvious and normal, while there are also occasions when the vomiting of white foam can be due to serious health conditions such as gastritis.
Why is My Cat Throwing Up White Foam?
The 3 main reasons your cat is throwing up white foam is because of hunger, hairballs, and a condition known as gastritis.
Throwing up caused by hunger?
Whenever a cat starts to experience starvation, its stomach starts expecting food. As a result, it secretes various liquids such as bile, gastric juices, and other acidic secretions including hydrochloric acid.
If you cat has not eaten in a while, their body will start to go into overdrive, and there is a chance that he/she will throw up white foam. For this reason, it is always important to feed your cat on a regular schedule.
Foamy vomit and hairballs
Aside from hunger, white foamy vomit in cats can also be caused by hairballs. While hairballs naturally form in many cats, they can cause various stomach and intestinal issues.
If you want to confirm whether or not your cat is throwing up white foam due to hairballs, you should look for other symptoms as well. For example, if you feel that your cat is experiencing loss of appetite and shortness of breath along with white foam vomiting, you should immediately understand that your cat may have swallowed too much hair.
It is quite common that during the grooming period, as cats swallow their hair. Hairballs are formed when their body tries to remove that mass of hair with white foamy vomit.
Possible stomach inflammation and vomiting of white foam
Stomach inflammation is a temporary, yet painful condition in cats. It is also referred to as gastritis. You can identify this condition if your cat throws up white foam very frequently and suffers from excessive vomiting.
In this condition, loss of appetite is not observed. However, it is important to take your cat to the veterinarian for the proper examination. The vet will run a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis. If your cat does have gastritis, they will likely need to be put on a special diet with food that they can easily digest. If you have an older cat, it might also be a sign that they have thyroid disease.
What to do if your cat is throwing up white foam?
When your cat is throwing up white foam, you should immediately start monitoring them closely. If you haven’t fed them in a couple hours, you should try to offer them food. If they won’t accept food, you should try to give him/her a bowl of water. Another option is to give your cat some hairball medication. You should also check out the Best Cat Food For Hairballs.
If all of these fail to fix the problem, you should continue to monitor your cat for a couple more hours. If they continue to throw up white foam, you should take them to the vet.
Conclusion
If your cat throws up white foam just one time, there usually is no need to panic. It is important to just monitor your cat for other symptoms and see if they continue to throw up. If your cat regularly throws up white foam, you should immediately seek veterinary care. If your cat is facing loss of appetite, shortness of breath, and other such symptoms, any delay can lead to seious health issues in your cat.
The vet will provide your cat with various medications, along with intravenous fluids to stop the release of white foam. They will also perform tests to determine the root cause.
