Morning sickness

[Kirsten]

For a while now, approximately once a week, it happens that Luna is getting sick in the morning, always BEFORE she had breakfast. It's just a clear liquid she's throwing up, sometimes with gras. She doesn't seem to feel ill, and her appetite is good. In fact, she seems to be very hungry in the morning; she's begging for her breakfast, and she always keeps it down. Wonder if the vomiting may result from her empty stomach, or her hunger?

Anyone else who has seen this in elderly cats? Luna will be 11 in April...

[Randi]

I wonder what she's doing during night. Do you have cat grass in a pot that she might chew on? I hope it's nothing serious.

Give her - and Lily some kisses form me.

[Kirsten]

She's sleeping in my bed during the night, but gets up in the morning hours, and that's when she starts chewing on plants... Wonder if that makes her sick.

[Freedom]

She is hungry; stomach acid builds up and causes the vomiting.

Can you feed her a bit at night before you go to bed? I know it is a bit trickier w/ cats. My Lacey (dog) needs one cookie at night before I turn in, to prevent the same problem.

[Kirsten]

She is hungry; stomach acid builds up and causes the vomiting.

Can you feed her a bit at night before you go to bed? I know it is a bit trickier w/ cats. My Lacey (dog) needs one cookie at night before I turn in, to prevent the same problem.

So they can actually get sick from hunger? I was wondering something like that...

I always feed them before I go to bed, and they'd eat it all at once. I was already thinking about taking some treats to the bedside table with me and give them to Luna and Lily in the early hours of the morning. Maybe it's worth a try...

[Freedom]

Yes, if too much acid builds up in the stomach, they throw up.

Try that w/ treats. Although around here, nothing is safe on my bedside table, Sparkle just helps herself! LOL

[rg_girlca]

She's sleeping in my bed during the night, but gets up in the morning hours, and that's when she starts chewing on plants... Wonder if that makes her sick.

Yes Kirsten, since you see some greenery in the vomit, it is definitely the plants that are making her sick. When I use to bring my cat Captain downstairs to eat some grass, he would always throw it up the next day and you could see the grass in it. Is this something new that she has started or has she always chewed on the plants?

[aTailOf2Kitties]

one of my dogs used to vomit clear (but slightly foamy) liquid when she had pancreatitis. It's been so long I can't remember if it was relevant to feeding time. I don't know if cats do the same thing or not, but the dog would do it if she'd gotten a lot of people food beforehand. My RB Montego had a touch of pancreatitis when he was having constipation problems (discovered via bloodwork), but he never threw up or showed any signs of illness.

[krazyaboutkatz]

My Storm is 15 now and if I get home from work too late or he goes too long without eating, he'll try to chew on something inedible to make him throw up. He does have small intestinal disease so he already has a stomach problem.

Yes, cats can get stomach acid just like people. Storm gets pred in the morning to help with inflammation and 5mg of the regular strength pepcid which is half a pill at night to help with his stomach acid. I just put his pills inside part of a pill pocket and he thinks he's getting a treat. One night I forgot to give him his pepcid pill and he sure let me know about it. He was very uncomfortable and restless. I finally figured out that I had forgotten his pill. You might want to talk to your vet about Luna's tummy problems. Good luck.

[Kirsten]

Oh, I sure hope it's no pancreatatis! I always thought if she had that, she wouldn't keep her food down, either?

Yes, sometimes there's green stuff in the vomit, but not always. She's only chewing on plants in the morning before she had breakfast, either because she's hungry, or because she's already nauseous from the acid in her empty stomach. She's never chewing on gras after she has eaten.

I started giving them a little bit of dry food very early in the morning today, and of course they loved it! We'll see if this helps. But I think it's a good idea to ask the vet about this, nonetheless...

[Kirsten]

Here's an update: Since I started offering Luna some kibbles of dry food in the early hours of the morning (before breakfast), she didn't throw up anymore - until today, when I forget to give her her "pre-breakfast meal". So I'm pretty sure it's this stomach acid thingy that makes her sick when she's hungry. I have also asked my vet about it, and she said that some cats have these problems when their stomach is empty.

Lily, btw, is more that happy about the additional treats in the morning. Whenever I reach for the drawer of my bedside table (where I'm storing the food), she would get up and start begging. lol

[Freedom]

Lily, btw, is more that happy about the additional treats in the morning. Whenever I reach for the drawer of my bedside table (where I'm storing the food), she would get up and start begging. lol

Go Lily!

I'm glad it was an easy thing to fix for Luna.