By William K. Fauks, The Edmond Sun, Okla. -- A longtime friend recently asked me if I thought he had a sick cat. He explained that every two or three weeks she vomited part of her daily meal usually on the living room carpet. He further pointed out that she always is ready to eagerly eat at the next feeding and never seems to lack for energy.

My friend, who is an enthusiastic cat lover, most probably doesn't have a sick cat, but he obviously has a cat with a problem. We know that in the general domestic cat population there are many that can and do throw up at the "drop of a hat." Mother Nature apparently has endowed these individuals with the ability to simply empty their stomach at the slightest sign of gastric discomfort or irritation -- this certainly beats sticking your finger down your throat or taking Tums all day.

Other common contributing factors that can promote occasional vomiting in the otherwise healthy cat are stress, over-indulging on food or grass, sensitivity to preservatives and hair balls. The latter cause, I believe, rarely occurs in short-hair cats, unless they're constantly licking due to a skin problem. But it's a different story with the long-hair variety. If their self-grooming habits are the least bit excessive, gastric hair balls can be a fairly common occurrence -- and troublesome if neglected. Luckily, this problem is pretty easy to treat by simply giving the cat a small dose of Petromalt or some other easy-to-administer intestinal lubricant, roughly twice a week.

To sum up, if your cat throws up part of its meal occasionally, but appears perfectly healthy in all other aspects, then not to worry. But if this becomes more frequent and is accompanied by any other signs of illness such as diarrhea, blood in the vomitus, listlessness, loss of appetite or weight. It's time for you to talk this over with your veterinarian to initiate a search for the underlying cause and a treatment regimen.

Cats who vomit are not always sick...........

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