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My cat is vomiting bile after new food. Does he need ER care?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 6 years and 4 months old | 12 lbs

My cat has vomited 12 times in the past 24 hours. The first vomit contained food, but all of the others were purely bile, no trace of blood. Stool and urine are normal. Gums are tacky but pink, slight dehydration indicated via skin tent. Behaviorally normal. I am offering him warm water flavored with wet food one tbsp at a time and he is lapping it readily. He has a vet appointment in 7 hours. I believe this was triggered by a new wet food given yesterday. Does this warrant emergency care?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on May 13th, 2017

I'm sorry to hear that Corndog has not been feeling well. Thank you for the thorough assessment and good work assessing his hydration! While a sudden change in diet may have caused gastroenteritis (inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract), I would expect to also see diarrhea in addition to his profuse vomiting. That does not necessarily rule out a diet change as an underlying cause, but it forces us to also consider other alternatives, such as a foreign body intestinal obstruction, pancreatitis, cholangiohepatitis (inflammation in the liver and gall bladder), viruses, kidney disease, among others. To err on the side of caution, I do recommend taking Corndog to an emergency vet now rather than waiting another 7 hours. If he does have an intestinal obstruction causing his vomiting and dehydration, these are best managed when surgery is performed as soon as possible rather than waiting and risking the development of intestinal perforations and/or sepsis. The vet will be able to perform any necessary diagnostic testing (x-rays, blood tests) so that he can be treated appropriately (likely with IV fluids and medications). I hope that all goes well and that Corndog is feeling better soon!

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    It's very borderline , if you judge that he is starting to be lethargic then i would definitely recommend taking him to the emergencies. if he is insured or if you can afford an emergency apointment then i would take him right away, it's very unpleasant for him to throw up so much and so often. if he continues to be alert and overall bright, then you might be fine waiting for his normal apointment in 7 hours.

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