How to settle a cats stomach

As cat caregivers, we know that digestive problems are a relatively common issue in felines. Causes of upset stomachs in cats vary. Treatment will always depend on the cause. If your cat is suffering from an upset stomach, diarrhea or vomiting, we recommend consulting a veterinarian as soon as possible.

If your cat does have an upset stomach, changing their diet is one of the first things you can do to help. Since your veterinarian will need to determine the cause of their gastrointestinal upset, you will have to amend their diet accordingly. Still, there are general guidelines on what to feed a cat with an upset stomach. Keep reading AnimalWised to find the best home remedies for a cat with an upset stomach.

As we have said, there are multiple causes of an upset stomach in cats. Each cause will be accompanied by its own symptoms. The most common causes and symptoms of upset stomachs in cats include:

• Intestinal parasites: especially common in kittens. If your cat has a swollen belly, it is likely to be infested with parasites. In more severe cases, this can cause diarrhea, vomiting or anemia. For more, read about intestinal parasites in cats.

• Infectious diseases: such as panleukopenia, also more common in kittens. Does your cat have an upset stomach and diarrhea? Infectious diseases in cats are responsible for cat having diarrhea with blood. This can be accompanied by vomiting, fever, anorexia and dehydration. For more, read about the causes of blood in cat feces.

• Blockage in the digestive system: such disruptions can include foreign bodies, hairballs and, in general, any ingested substance that can produce irritation. The cat will appear upset, experience gagging, stop eating, vomit, etc. For more, we recommend reading my cat keeps making chocking noises.

• Inflammatory bowel disease in cats: which can cause chronic vomiting in cats, in addition to soft stools, poor appearance of the coat and other symptoms. Is your cat vomiting and has diarrhea? If so, we suggest taking a look at causes of diarrhea in cats.

• Intoxication in cats: poisoning can also cause digestive symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea in cats, hypersalivation, hemorrhages or a neurological condition.

Before offering some home remedies for stomach pain in cats, we must distinguish between whether your cat’s clinical picture is mild or serious. If your cat’s stomach pain or discomfort is mild, you can try and treat it at home with these following remedies. However, if the case is severe, you need to consult a veterinarian immediately. If your cat is vomiting excessively and experiencing severe diarrhea, it can result in dehydration, which in worse cases can lead to death. Read how to tell if a cat is dehydrated. If in doubt, go to the veterinarian.

Soft diet for cats with an upset stomach

Does your cat have diarrhea, but seems fine? If your cat has a stomach ache, diarrhea and/or vomiting but is not presenting other symptoms, we recommend removing its available food and water. The reason for this is that if a cat has both food and water at its disposal, it is likely to vomit again. After half an hour or so, you can slowly give your cat a little water.

It is important your cat drinks so it does not become dehydrated. However, this drinking needs to be controlled so your cat doesn’t vomit more. If you see your cat is tolerating liquid intake, you can try give them some food. In this such case we recommend changing your cat’s diet to a soft diet for cats.

We recommend offering your cat ham or boiled turkey and chicken as food options. Make sure there is no salt, sauce and/or bones present in these foods. The chicken or turkey can be cooked alone in water and given in small pieces, without skin and at room temperature. Cooked ham should not be offered cold so it can be more appetizing for the cat. Offer small amounts at first. As your cat’s symptoms disappear, you can begin to offer your cat a little more. For a more detailed briefing, read soft diet for cats with diarrhea here!

Cat upset stomach home remedy: chamomile

Have you ever heard of the benefits of chamomile for cats? You can give your cat chamomile infusions to help soothe the symptoms of an stomach upset. To help, you can ingest the chamomile with a syringe (no needle, of course). Place it on the side of your cat’s mouth and administer a small amount. If your cat rejects it actively by vomiting again, DO NOT force it to drink the chamomile. Instead, offer your cat water or chicken broth.

Chamomile has digestive, soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, which is why it is good and effective to treat stomach problems in cats. However, as we’ve already mentioned, this depends on the cause and severity of your cat’s stomach upset. If the vomiting, diarrhea or pain does not remit, it will be essential to establish veterinary prescribed treatment.

Among our cat upset stomach treatment with home remedies we include:

• Cats like heat, so being able to rest in our arms or near our body can relieve them of discomfort.
• Some cats appreciate a soft massage in the abdominal area, but remember that it is a particularly sensitive area for them, so not all cats will accept manipulation in this part of their body. In those cases, just putting your hands around them to warm them up or wrapping them in a blanket is sufficient.
• It is essential you keep your cat in a quiet environment where it can relax and you can observe any changes to its behavior.
• Make sure to keep your cat’s litterbox clean, especially if your cat has been vomiting or has cat diarrhea.

As you can see, most home remedies for stomach problems in cats include a soft diet, warmth and a calm environment. We need to emphasize that these remedies are only effective in mild clinical conditions, produced by mild gastroenteritis, mild gastritis in cats, etc.

In severe cases, such as panleukopenia, veterinarian treatment must be established. Only symptom management might sometimes be complemented with these home remedies. If the cause is due to an infestation of parasites, it is crucial to administer adequate antiparasitic medication. If the cause is stress, you need to find the trigger and remove it.

For more about these causes and cat upset stomach symptoms, we recommend reading our following articles:

Stomach pain in cats or upset stomach in cats, as we’ve said, can occur due to several different causes. Some of these causes are mild, so they can be solved by applying the home remedies for stomach pain in cats. But there are serious situations of upset stomach in cats that do require veterinary attention, such as the following:

• Hemorrhages in cats, the appearance of blood in cat vomit or stool.
• Fever in cats.
• Vomiting or diarrhea that does not subside, worsen or other symptoms manifest.
• Lethargy and depression in cats.
• Abdominal pain in cats is not always caused by a problem in the stomach. Problems in other internal organs can cause discomfort or swelling in the belly.
• In the case of kittens and older or sick cats, we must be especially vigilant, as they can become dehydrated very quickly. This is why, in this case, you should consult your veterinarian as soon as possible.

For some more general information on what to feed your cats, take a look at our video below with a guide to the feline diet:

This article is purely informative. AnimalWised does not have the authority to prescribe any veterinary treatment or create a diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian if they are suffering from any condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to What To Feed A Cat With An Upset Stomach, we recommend you visit our Home Remedies category.

Do you suspect your cat has an upset stomach? Do you want to know what is causing it, how serious it is or isn’t, and what you can do to bring your cat some relief? We will give you the answers to these questions and tell you how to settle a cat’s upset stomach quickly with the minimum of fuss.

How Do You Know If Your Cat Has An Upset Stomach?  

Most of the signs are pretty obvious but one or two signs may pass you by unless you know what to look for!

The most obvious symptoms are vomiting, loss of appetite, blood in cat poop and diarrhea. It is pretty clear if your cat suffers from these symptoms that something is not right!

How to tell if your cat has a stomach ache? Lip licking. Yes, it is thought that more lip licking than usual is a sign of nausea in cats and that you can tell they have a dicky tummy from this hidden, often overlooked sign!

Want two other often-overlooked signs? Hiding and being less active than normal. Now at first glance, these might appear to be obvious tell tales, but in the real world you might overlook such signs and put these behaviors down to the weather outdoors or your cat’s personality.

If your cat is lip licking, resting more than normal, and seems to be off their food they may have nausea that might develop into an upset stomach!

Why Has Your Cat Got A Sensitive Stomach?

Most cats will get an upset stomach at some point, it is just life. Usually, the cause is pretty routine but sometimes serious health issues can be at play. 

Here are some of the everyday issues that commonly cause a sensitive stomach in cats.

Switching foods too often or suddenly 

Inconsistent food choices can make it hard for your cat’s digestive system to operate at full efficiency and this could result in a stomach upset. Apparently over half of the cats with an upset stomach return to normal when they are put on a regular, routine diet that does not chop and change – that is food for thought if you are a cat guardian who fears their cat might be getting bored of their food!

You have also got to be careful not to just carry out an overnight change. Say you feed your cat wet food but wish to move them to dry. If you swap to dry in one go you could induce an upset stomach. Far better to swap gradually by adding dry food to the meal mix and reducing the wet until after a week or so your cat has switched 100%.

Stress 

If your cat is stressed the stress may manifest via a dicky tummy. Stress in cats can be brought on by all kinds of events from the mundane such as a change of furniture layout in your home, through to changing shift patterns or home invasion by another cat to name but a few. Basically, cats are very routine creatures and any change in routine can be enough to create stress that might lead to stomach upsets or other abnormal behavior in your cat.

Ingesting Toxic Plants Or Bugs 

Cats are curious and that curiosity can get them in trouble. A chew on a toxic plant can be enough to cause a minor stomach complaint. You can check out a list of houseplants toxic to cats here. Most of these plants are not going to kill kitty but a chew on a leaf or a stem is enough to irritate the mouth and digestive tract and often this can take a day or so to resolve. 

Parasites 

Cats get worms. They need worming regularly to stay free of such parasites. These parasites are picked up from eating bad stuff on their travels and indeed, even just traveling and picking up eggs from vegetation on their coats and grooming the eggs into their system. One of the first things you should consider if your cat is showing symptoms of an upset stomach, diarrhea, loose stools, or scooting – dragging butt, is when was the last time you wormed your cat?

Food Intolerances/Allergies 

Cats, like us, can get food intolerances and also be allergic to some foods. Food intolerance tends to build up over time and then start to manifest. It is the opposite of our first point – you don’t switch food, your cat eats the same food for months and an intolerance builds to something in the food that causes an upset stomach. Often a food might include certain ingredients that upset your cat, but it takes a long term build-up before your cat falls sick. At this stage, switching diets can resolve the issue. You might try a sensitive stomach cat food at this point. These cat foods tend to have ingredients known to cause intolerances removed from them.

An allergy may manifest immediately. You might feed your cat dry food that has carbohydrates in the form of peas or corn contained within. Carbohydrate is generally pretty useless to cats on the whole and it might be that your cat is allergic to pea or corn or some other plant or ingredient that has been used to bulk out or bind the dry food. Your cat might have an immediate allergic reaction – vomiting in response to the ingested material.

What About Serious Issues Causing Stomach Upset In Your Cat?

I don’t want to scare you but stomach upset in cats can be caused by serious, life-threatening issues as well as the mundane issues mentioned previously. Cancers, kidney disease, and hypothyroidism can all bring about the symptoms of stomach upset in your cat.

When Should You See A Vet?

As some instances of stomach upset are caused by very serious problems you can’t just take the view that time may sort these issues out. In some instances, time might not be on your side! A cat can’t go long without eating and dehydration in cats from refusing to drink and or diarrhea can cause organ damage. So when do you get serious and seek veterinarian help?

As a rule of thumb if your cat is throwing up multiple times a day, or not eating for 48 hours, or has diarrhea in conjunction with these issues or just diarrhea alone for more than 24 hours, or has episodes of either throwing up or diarrhea more than once a month they need checking out by a vet to make sure there are no underlying health issues causing the symptoms. 

How To Settle A Cat’s Stomach?

On the assumption that your cat does not need a vet visit is there anything, you can do to settle your cat’s stomach? What can you feed a cat with an upset stomach? There are no amazing miracle cures you can carry out at home. Here is what you should do:

For the first 12- 24 hr period, you should put your cat on a fast to allow things to pass and settle. You should make plenty of water available in case they need to drink – dehydration needs to be avoided.

Once the fast has passed you need to follow up by putting your cat on a bland diet to let the stomach settle whilst providing adequate nutrition. Boiled chicken and a bit of rice (in a 1:4 ratio), small meals 4- 5 times a day for 3-5 days before gradually re-introducing normal foods is the order of the day. 

If chicken is a no-go you can exchange it for turkey, ground beef, or cottage cheese with greases drained off. If rice is an issue this can be substituted with canned or cooked pumpkin, yams, or sweet potato.

A tiny pinch of ground ginger added to your cats food may help settle the stomach down.

The fast and dumbed-down diet should settle your cat’s stomach and get your cat back to the good life.  

Can You Give A Cat Pepto Bismol For An Upset Stomach?

Nope, don’t try or consider giving your cat any human pain relief or stomach relief. Pepto Bismol is toxic to cats. It is known to cause respiratory failure and hypoglycemia. Do not prescribe any drugs to your cat without veterinary oversight.