My Cat Has Gastritis: What Should I Do
What gastritis means in cats, what brings it on, how it is treated, and how to tell acute irritation from a chronic problem.
Gastritis means inflammation of the stomach lining. It is a description rather than a diagnosis: the useful question is always what caused it.
Acute and chronic
Acute gastritis comes on suddenly. The cat vomits, often several times, may drool and refuse food, and usually improves within a day or two once the cause is removed.
Chronic gastritis is intermittent vomiting over weeks or months, often with weight loss and a dull coat. This one needs investigating properly, because the causes are quite different.
What causes it
Acute: a change of food, spoiled food, eating something unsuitable, hairballs, plant material, medication given on an empty stomach, and swallowed objects.
Chronic: food intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal worms, chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism in older cats, and less often lymphoma.
Because kidney disease and hyperthyroidism both present as vomiting, an older cat with recurring gastritis needs blood and urine testing rather than repeated courses of stomach medication.
What we do
We examine the cat, and assess hydration first. Where the history suggests something acute and the cat is otherwise well, treatment may be straightforward: fluids, an anti-sickness injection, gastric protection and a bland diet for a few days.
Where the vomiting is chronic, or there is weight loss, we investigate: blood count, biochemistry, thyroid value in older cats, urine testing, a faecal test, and imaging where a foreign body or a mass needs excluding.
At home
While the stomach settles: small portions of a bland, low fat food several times a day rather than one large meal. Fresh water always available. No milk. No treats or table scraps during this period. No human medication of any kind.
Reintroduce the normal food gradually over several days once the vomiting has stopped.
When to be seen
Come in if the vomiting continues beyond a day, if there is blood, if the cat will not drink, if it is lethargic or painful, or if this keeps recurring. Repeated episodes are the point at which the underlying cause needs finding rather than the symptom being treated again.