Cat Fainted After Vomiting

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ToddyTiger

ToddyTiger

Member Since 2010
Hi All,

So, this is about FlapJack, who is not a diabetic.

He is about 2 1/2 years old, indoor only. no health problems that we know of.

But.. something odd just happened (30ish minutes ago) and as I recall he has done this once before. I was sitting in bed and at the end of the bed is one of those 3 foot high cat condos. He was sitting on the top of it, then he started making the "I'm gonna vomit" sound. Then he vomited a little (some food). He looked ok, but then all of a sudden he kind of, hunched into a ball, went limp and fell sideways off the cat condo and onto the floor, with a thud. I jumped out of bed and ran to him. He was on his side and not moving. I thought he had aspirated some of the vomit maybe, so I grabbed him and held him head down while patting his back. While doing this, he came too and leaped out of my arms and hid in the corner making kind of a growl sound.This all happened within 30 to 40 seconds. After about 3 minutes, he was himself again and went to go eat. He has been fine ever since.

Now, he has done this one other time. Exact same scenario, but he fell off of a 5ft cat tree instead. That time, I rushed him to the vet, because he fell so hard, I thought he might have hit his head on the wall or floor. The vet had no explanation for what happened, but said he was totally fine.


I just did a quick little search on Google. This was not a seizure. I've seen seizures and that is not what happened. He fainted. That is what I believe happened. So what I have found is that sometimes when cats vomit, their blood pressure drops and they can faint. Nothing to really worry about.. unless its a heart problem. Which of course, now I am freaked out about. He is due for his check up soon, so I'm gonna call tomorrow and set up an appointment.

I'm curious if anyone else has had a cat faint after vomiting. Should I be totally freaked out by this?

He has of course, vomited without fainting before. But he is terrified of vomiting (which is also new to me. I've never had a cat be scared of vomiting) but when he starts to get ready to vomit (he always vocalizes, so I know it's coming) he starts running around. Then he'll hide for a bit after he is done.

Thoughts?..

Thank you,
Sarah
 
before i even opened your post to read the content heart was what came to my mind too. although your kitty is young it's not unheard of. i have a nearly 2 year old myself with a bad heart so if perhaps others come along and agree perhaps a heart workup would be in order?
 
That is my fear. My dad died from Cardiomyopathy about 10 years ago (no one knew he had it, he just fell over and died while at work. he was 35) So I am super terrified that my Flappy has that. That seems to be the overall thought while searching Google for "Cat fainted after vomiting" but I've also read that sometimes it can just be a drop in blood pressure. Its odd, because he runs around like a crazyhead, playing chase and playing rough with all the other cats, but he's never been out of breath or tired or any odd signs he is not ok. So I have hope it was just an odd blood pressure thing and not actually heart related. I suffer from panic attacks, so sometimes when I get freaked out (like when *I* am about to vomit), I can get light headed and come close to fainting. Since Flappy is so scared to vomit, I have to wonder (and hope) it's something similar to what I go through.

-Sarah
 
Cindy, may I ask.. just in case it is heart related.

Is it hard to manage?.. I don't want to lose my baby Flap.
 
I don't know if it is the same, since Thomas has never fallen from a height. He always jumps down from whereever before he vomits, but several times he has what I call melted after vomiting. Sort of like his legs give out and he splays over. He was doing it a bunch a few years ago, and the vet did not seem to think it was a big deal, and he has done so a couple of times that I know of in the last few months, but he always comes out okay.
Dana
 
as far as my little boy, nope, it's not hard to manage. he takes what he thinks are treats (his medicine) twice a day and gets regular checkups both with the regular vet and the cardiologist. other than seeing the vet more frequently he's no different than the rest of my cats.
 
Took Flappy to the vet today to find out why he fainted. The vet said he looked and sounded great. She took some blood and urine, those should be back Friday. We talked about Thyroid (she said its possible) but she feels its the vasovagal thing mentioned above and unless it starts to happen a lot, it's not something to freak out about. However, if it does happen again or he starts acting odd, she said she would send us to a specialist. She also recommended getting him a "lion cut" to see if that helps with any future vomiting episodes.

So.. he's been fine ever since. I guess we'll see what the blood work says.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

-Sarah
 
Hi Sarah

Sounds like syncope to me. This happens to some cats after vomiting and can be unrelated to the heart. How often is your cat vomiting? If it is more than a few times per YEAR, I would consider getting a GI workup. Vomiting is not normal, and since your kitty has a history of syncope (vasovagal events), vomiting can be life-threatening.

PS If he vomits soon after eating, I would restrict his movements (keep him away from cat trees) for a bit after he's eaten.
 
he has had two vomiting episodes that have caused fainting. The one last Sunday and the one before that, which was a year and a half ago (according to the vet records) So vomiting is not something he does. The only other time he has vomited was when he had a flu type thing a year ago. No fainting during that, but I took him to the vet anyway. He was fine.


-Sarah
 
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