You are not alone if you encounter your cat’s puke in the house. An upset cat’s stomach is one of the most common reasons people visit a vet’s clinic. All cat owners want what is best for their cats.
However, not all meals we give our cats are equally healthy for them. Some dry or wet foods might boast health benefits, but several cats need gentler food for their sensitive stomachs.
Let us look at some of the best ways you can help your feline friend with a sensitive stomach.
Why Do Cats Have an Upset Stomach?
Your cat could have an upset stomach because of several reasons. A slight change in its diet can also upset the stomach if your cat has a sensitive stomach.
You can categorize an upset stomach into two types.
- Inside Gastrointestinal System,
- Outside Gastrointestinal System.
These things often inflame the gastrointestinal system of cats.
- Intestinal foreign bodies,
- Parasites,
- Stomach ulcers,
- Inflammatory bowel disease,
- Furballs,
- Ingestion of toxic substances,
- Allergies or Food sensitivities,
- Bacterial overgrowth, etc.
Other severe diseases like liver, kidney, hormonal disorders, etc., can also result in an upset stomach.
How to Treat Your Cat’s Upset Stomach?
Upset stomachs can cause problems like diarrhea, vomiting, and more. The best you can do on your own is to give a healthy, balanced, and vet-recommended diet. For instance, you can try these food options for cats suffering from diarrhea. You might need to visit a vet clinic for diagnosis if the problem continues.
A decent treatment always targets the underlying cause by reducing inflammation and nausea. Visiting a vet as soon as you notice your cat is suffering from an upset stomach is the best way to tackle this problem.
Appropriate nutrition is a primary factor in soothing a cat’s upset stomach. Feeding the vet-recommended healthy food to your cat minimizes pain, discomfort, and nausea and helps speed recovery.
So, your first step should be to give your furry friend the vet-recommended cat food, and if the circumstances do not change, visit the vet as soon as possible.
What to Do if Your Cat Is Not Eating Anything With an Upset Stomach?
You need to make sure that your cat is getting a healthy diet regularly as prolonged loss of appetite during an upset stomach. But it is never that easy. Your cat can develop fatty liver disease if it does not eat properly. A fatty liver can be potentially fatal and sometimes life-threatening.
Here are some working methods you can try to turn your cat’s nose up at her food.
- You might need to warm the food in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds. Warming the food makes it smell more appetizing. Do not forget to test it before serving to ensure it is not too hot for your furry friend,
- Try to feed canned food if you were giving it dry food before. You can also try to do the vice-versa,
- Make this process of putting food in the bowl and calling it to eat more pleasant. You should try to speak more gently and pet it if it allows you.
- It is high time to involve your vet if your cat has not been eating for more than one or two days.
Start a Diet Trial
After you get a green chit from your vet about the cat’s upset stomach, starting a diet trial can be a logical step. It is a logical way to narrow your feline friend’s food options. You might have to continue until you find food that suits your cat’s sensitive stomach.
There is no such thing as one cat food or quantity for all cats. Every cat responds differently to each diet. You might need to spend more time with your vet to find the most suitable food for your cat.
You have to be patient too. It can take up to two to four months for your feline to clear the old diet from its system. After that, you can rightly evaluate the new diet and its impact.
You can try these small changes regarding your cat’s diet.
- Try feeding it a hypoallergenic diet (Vet-prescribed food, limited ingredients, hydrolyzed food, etc.)
- Try changing the form of food (Replace dry food with low-carb or canned food that has higher protein),
- Try changing the feeding routine (Prioritize giving it small and frequent meals).
Conclusion
It can be emotional and hectic if your feline has an upset stomach. Be more patient and logical at times like these because emotional decisions can severely damage you and your feline friend.
Talking regularly to a vet is the best thing to do if changing food and routine is not helping much. Be transparent and honest with your vet about the food, remedies, and other things you try to make your cat feel better.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
