2023-08-04 15:00:00
Seong-Woo Shin, CEO of Dongtan Blue Bear Animal Hospital, a peer-free center of care
Because cats groom themselves, they sometimes vomit hairballs (a hard ball of hair that the cat swallowed while grooming and accumulates inside the body). Seeing this, some guardians mistakenly believe that cats are naturally good at throwing up. However, if you continue to vomit more than twice a month, whether or not you vomit hairballs, you should check for underlying health problems.
If your cat is vomiting chronically, the first thing to suspect is inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, small intestine, and large intestine). The exact cause of inflammation is not known. However, in the veterinary medicine community, it is speculated that inflammation occurs because the immune system of the gastrointestinal tract overreacts to specific proteins and intestinal bacteria.
Symptoms vary depending on which part of the gastrointestinal tract is inflamed. If inflammation occurs in the stomach, chronic vomiting occurs, and if it occurs in the intestines, chronic diarrhea appears. If inflammation occurs in the upper small intestine, chronic vomiting occurs, and if it occurs throughout the gastrointestinal tract, vomiting and diarrhea are accompanied. In other words, the main symptom of feline inflammatory bowel disease is chronic vomiting.
In addition, weight loss and loss of appetite may occur. This is because the gastrointestinal tract’s function to digest and absorb food is impaired as the gastrointestinal wall thickens due to infiltration of inflammatory cells.
However, there are quite a few diseases that cause chronic vomiting and diarrhea, so it can be difficult to diagnose at once. Therefore, if you visit a veterinary hospital with these symptoms, you must undergo various tests, including blood tests, to identify and exclude suspected diseases.
The only way to confirm inflammatory bowel disease is biopsy. To perform a biopsy, it can be burdensome for pets because they have to insert an endoscope into the mouth or rectum or open the stomach. Therefore, if it is confirmed by abdominal ultrasonography that the intestinal wall is thickened, it is presumed to be an inflammatory bowel disease and treatment is performed.
When diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, the treatment is divided into two main categories. If an inflammatory bowel disease occurs due to an excessive immune response to a specific protein, dietary therapy can be used to treat it. It is to consume a protein source or hydrolyzed protein that you have never eaten before. For drug therapy, immunosuppressive steroids are taken. At first, take a high dose, then gradually reduce the dose as directed by your veterinarian.
Recurrence of inflammatory bowel disease is common even after complete recovery. However, the earlier the treatment is, the better the prognosis is, and if the caregiver continues, a healthy life and a long lifespan can be maintained. Misunderstandings caused by hairball vomiting can lead to missed opportunities for early diagnosis, so if your cat vomits frequently, don’t overlook it and be sure to visit the veterinarian.
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