7 Reasons Why Does My Cat Vomit White Foam?

To start answering your question about “why does my cat vomit white?”, we will talk about gastritis, enteritis, and gastroenteritis in cats as they are some of the most common causes. It is inflammation of the stomach, the intestine, or both. They can have food causes, such as spoiled food, an allergy, indigestion, etc., or be caused by bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections, or even be an effect of diseases, such as kidney disease. Furthermore, these gastrointestinal conditions can be acute or chronic.

Main symptoms of gastritis, enteritis and gastroenteritis in cats They are:

• Vomiting of different types, including white foam.
• Diarrhea.
• Abdominal pain.
• Anorexy.

It is necessary to go to the veterinarian to determine the main cause that has triggered this problem to apply the appropriate treatment that, for these causes, is usually asymptomatic treatment: gastric protectors, antiemetics, antidiarrheals, probiotics, fluid therapy…

The inflammatory bowel disease in cats is one of the most frequent causes that explain why your cat vomits white foam.

Faced with this condition are common vomiting white foam, but another very common symptom is diarrhea that does not stop. Therefore, as it is easy for the cat to become dehydrated and begin to have more problems, it is necessary to go to the vet as soon as possible to, on the one hand, rule out other serious pathologies, such as lymphoma, and, on the other hand, so that it begins to have a diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.

It is common for cats to swallow hairballs, which accumulate in their gastrointestinal tract and can become very hard if they take time to expel them. If this happens, surely the hairballs cannot go outside by themselves, with the normal reflex of making the cat vomit them.

The presence of these hardened balls, as well as other possible foreign bodies that may have been swallowed by the cat and that they may have become stuck, irritates the gastrointestinal system of your feline and can cause injuries. When trying to expel the foreign object, they may vomit foam or even vomit bile, which looks like yellow vomit. To extract the object, it may be that finally, the animal manages to throw it up or, that you have to operate. Also, on occasion, a stuck foreign body can cause a segment of the intestine to retract into itself, a case where it would be surgery needed as fast as possible.

When the liver does not work as it should, liver problems occur and, although there are several liver diseases, they usually present with these symptoms:

• Vomiting of different types, from white foam to some more liquid.
• Diarrhea.
• Polyuria and polydipsia.
• Jaundice.
• Anorexy.
• neurological symptoms.

Liver failure in cats can be produced by food, infectious or toxic causes. It is diagnosed by the symptom picture, an ultrasound, and a blood test. The treatment is symptomatic and a special diet. Also, to treat this problem, antibiotics may be given if an infectious disease is confirmed.

It is characterized by excessive production of pancreatic enzymes, which can occur due to food, toxic, traumatic, metabolic, or infectious causes. The symptoms of pancreatitis in cats They are:

• Vomiting or foam.
• Diarrhea.
• Anorexy.
• Strong abdominal pain.

Treatment is symptomatic, antibiotic, and analgesic. An easily digestible diet, low in protein and fat, is very important so as not to stimulate the production of enzymes of this type.

The pancreas secretes little insulin or may even produce no insulin at all, causing increased blood glucose Importantly, it can only be treated by insulin injections and strict diet control. The main causes of diabetes in cats are autoimmune destruction of the pancreas, infections, important risk factors such as obesity, etc.

Main symptoms of diabetes in cats They are:

• Vomit of white foam.
• Liquid vomiting, with or without food.
• Very thirsty almost constantly.
• Increased urination, both in frequency and volume.
• More appetite than usual.
• Weightloss.
• Lethargy.
• He grooms himself much less.
• Poor looking fur.
• Weakness and difficulty moving, either to walk, jump or climb places.

We recommend you read these other posts on How to know if my cat has diabetes and How to treat a cat with diabetes.

The thyroid gland produces an excessive amount of T3 and T4 caused by hyperplasia. Increases basal metabolism and leads to weight loss is important. The thyroid enlarges and produces a goiter, which may be palpable as a lump in the neck. can be seen symptoms of hyperthyroidism in cats:

• foamy vomiting
• Increased desire to eat.
• Tachycardia.
• Tremors.
• endocrine alopecia.
• Polyuria and polydipsia (drinks and urinates a lot).
• Heat intolerance.
• Diarrhea.

The diagnosis is made by measuring the total T4 hormone in the blood and, if the problem is confirmed, the treatment will be oral methimazole.

It is a disease where the main cause in cats is that they have polycystic kidneys, but they can also be infectious, toxic, endocrine causes, kidney stones, idiopathic… This disease consists of the incompetence of the kidney to eliminate all the waste that it should from the blood. This causes the following symptoms of kidney failure in cats:

• Polyuria and polydipsia.
• Weightloss.
• Anemia.
• Soft spot.
• Lethargy.
• Hypertension.

It will be necessary to perform a blood test, among other tests. The treatment is usually a strict diet, ACEI drugs, and, in some cases, also diuretics, mineral supplements, symptomatic medication, and everything that the veterinarian considers necessary depending on the severity of the patient.

If you want more information, we advise you to read these other articles on How to know if my cat has kidney failure and How to treat kidney failure in cats.

Another frequent cause for which your cat may present vomiting white foam are the internal parasites, which tend to affect puppies more than large cats. This problem produces vomiting and diarrhea where, sometimes, you can see small worms. If the cause is confirmed, your veterinarian will tell you the antiparasitic that your feline needs to end the infestation as soon as possible and will indicate the most appropriate deworming schedule for your feline, to prevent this type of infestation.

Here you can learn everything about How to know if a cat has parasites.

After knowing the causes, we will give you some tips on what to do if your cat vomits white foam:

• In general, vomiting in cats is not usually treated because it usually stops, but if you notice that your feline vomits very frequently and you can also see other symptoms, such as diarrhoea, that he drinks, urinates and/or eats more than usual, which is down, etc., don’t hesitate to go to the vet to rule out any possible disease.
• write down the symptoms that you observe your feline, as well as the frequency and quantity in which vomiting occurs, so its diagnosis will be much easier.
• Make sure you always have water at your disposal in this situation, since vomiting produces a lot of dehydration.
• Keep in mind that each cat needs nutritional requirements that must be provided, avoiding foods that are difficult to digest or heavy, as well as foods that are too high in fat.
• Follow the deworming guidelines that your veterinarian tells you to avoid pests of parasites in your body.
• You can brush your cat to remove dead hair and try to ingest as little hair as possible so that the hairballs do not get too big or too hard. In addition, we recommend giving him some malt for cats. Here we explain how to give malt to a cat.
• From 6 or 7 years old, it is recommended to go to the vet at least annually, in case any of the diseases described or others appear, to be able to treat them as soon as possible and prevent them from getting worse.

If you want to read more articles similar to Why does my cat vomit white foam?we recommend that you enter our Pets category.