Cat Nausea Medicine
Being nauseous is extremely unpleasant, and that's true whether you're standing on two legs or four. For those who don't know what we're getting at here, it means that animals - including your pet cats - get nausea too and they'll appreciate relief from it in exactly the same way you do. You do have choices in how you'll help them find that relief from nausea in cats, and if it's an ongoing problem then most cat owners will choose to use some type of cat nausea medicine. If you're a person who's new to being a cat owner then being able to identify cat nausea symptoms is going to be helpful too.
Unless you are familiar with veterinary medicine yourself, you probably won’t know that one of the primary causes of nausea in cats is when the cat’s digestive tract and nervous system are very imbalanced. Most often this occurs when a combination of dietary deficiencies and ongoing stress or anxiety factors come together to make the dog very unwell. Other causes of cat nausea are gastrointestinal parasites, viral or bacterial infections, or diseases of the liver, pancreas, kidneys or intestines. Untreated heartworms can cause nausea in cats.
Cats can also be situationally nauseous in circumstances like, for example, being placed in a carrier for extended travel in a vehicle, train, or airplane. There’s more to what can make a cat have nausea, but we imagine that your interest is primarily going to be in what cat nausea medicine works best.
Cat Nausea Symptoms
Knowledge is power when it comes to be able to identify what’s troubling your pet, but at the same time don’t overlook the fact that there are going to be times when it’s best to leave the diagnosis to a veterinarian and their professional experience. You can be on the lookout for cat nausea symptoms though, and the most common of them include:
- Panting
- Drooling
- Retching
- Trembling
- Swallowing
- Restlessness
- Lip licking
- Vomiting
- General anxiety
Other more behavioural cat nausea symptoms are vocalization (for nausea in cats this will be excessive meowing), nervousness, and anxiety. We mentioned above that there is a connection between heartworms and nausea in cats AND dogs, and if your cat is coughing excessively and is reluctant to be physically active then these may be cat nausea symptoms that are occurring as a result of heartworms. We won’t go on too much about this, but the good news is that many of the best flea and tick medications for cats will also work to kill parasitic worms in cats, heartworms included.
How to Treat Nausea in Cats
Veterinarians see nausea in cats quite regularly, and they will usually suggest that cat owners give them an effective cat nausea medication. Some of the best meds to treat nausea for cats are Metoclopramide and Famotidine. These are pharmaceutical nausea drugs for cats and as such will require a prescription from a veterinarian, but most of them will be quite willing to write one for you if you have a nauseous cat. These medications are only to be taken exactly as directed in the prescription, and should not continue to use them if your pet does not experience relief from nausea. Instead, see your vet again.
For anyone who’d prefer a natural cure for cat nausea there are other options for you to explore. Natural homeopathic remedies include Nux Vomica, Arsenicum album, and Pulastilla along with slippery elm herb can be effective natural nausea treatments for cats, and another helpful choice is to give your cat probiotics to improve their gut health. Better intestinal health can promote a reduction of the animal’s nausea symptoms. When it comes to how to treat nausea in cats, you don’t have to rely on a pharmaceutical medication.
One last mention here will be for those of you who have cats that experience nausea resulting from anxiety related to being confined during travel. If it requires you to have cat in a travel carrier then try to have one that has other view openings other than the front cage (side and rear cage windows models exist), and then if you’re in control of the vehicle try to make stops from time to let your cat be out of the cage.
Anxiety isn’t the only cause of cat nausea, but it’s a big one. Doing what you can to reduce the severity of it for your cat is part of being a caring owner, so good on you for doing that. When you think about it, your cat has probably relieved you of stress and anxiety with a perfectly-timed snuggle on more than a few occasions so if you can return the favor then you should help your cat deal with nausea.
