My Pet World: Wait... why are so many cats vomiting?

Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on Mar 15, 2023

Catherine in Porter, Indiana, says, "The cat may have chronic pancreatitis. The condition does not always appear in blood test results. My male cat had the disorder. When I started feeding him a wet diet, he improved greatly, from vomiting nearly daily to every couple of weeks."

Mary from Tucson, Arizona, has a cat that likes to chew on plastic, "like the heavy plastic for grapes, shopping bags, etc. When he does this, the vomiting increases. Removing household plastic seems to have had the most effect," she says.

But sometimes it is the start of an undiagnosed illness. Catrina in Tucson, Arizona, says her cat was eventually diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.

Some of these reader suggestions might be worth trying if you have a vomiting cat and your veterinarian continues to rule out illness. It’s important to find out why since they could be getting into something they shouldn’t. Otherwise, another vet visit may be needed since some illnesses take a while to diagnose.

Dear Cathy,

My friend brought me a column of yours that she had been saving from January 20th about dogs having the zoomies. My Havanese had terrible thunder issues, and with monsoon season, he really was suffering.

I tried all the remedies, but with no success, until my nurse friend got a referral from one of her hospice patients for something called Bach Rescue Remedy for Pets®. It is considered original flower remedies and is 100% natural from England. Oliver takes four drops in some yogurt at the onset of storms. He is doing much better unless I miss the beginning, and he is already shaking and experiencing trauma. It's an interesting product I wish I had known about 11 years ago when this started.

— Autry, Tucson, Arizona.

Dear Autrey,

I used to recommend (and use) Bach's Rescue Remedy for Pets®, but I didn't have much success with my storm-stressed dog, and it apparently dropped off my radar. My dog, Maggie, often started shaking before I knew a storm was approaching. Once that happens, reversing the stress with natural products can be challenging. (Thank goodness we can now get weather alerts on our phones.)

Sometimes, it's not one product that works but a combination of things, so I should definitely add Bach’s Rescue Remedy for Pets® back into the mix. Most of their products are for people, so anxious people can check out their products too.

As for the zoomies, that is different from the stress experienced during storms. Zoomies are the release of pent-up energy, which makes the dog or cat run around the house.

You can counter this by giving your dog more exercise and playtime and introducing puzzle games to engage his mind. (All good things to do before a storm as well.) As the saying goes, "A tired dog is a good dog."

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)