Folded Ear Cat

　　Cats have the habit of licking their fur, and ingested hair often accumulates in the stomach, gradually forming hairballs. When the hairball reaches a certain size, it stimulates the stomach lining enough to reflexively cause the cat to vomit and expel the hairball. This is a typical example of physiological vomiting in cats. Additionally, cats may vomit after eating too quickly, too much, or consuming a large amount of green fodder like grass and vegetables, which is also considered physiological vomiting. During physiological vomiting, besides vomiting, cats exhibit no other abnormalities and will eat again afterward.

　　Vomiting caused by various pathogenic factors in cats is considered pathological vomiting. Many pathogenic factors can induce vomiting in cats, such as viral infections (e.g., feline panleukopenia), bacterial infections (e.g., salmonellosis), parasitic infections (e.g., toxoplasmosis), chemical irritants (e.g., various irritating foods, drugs, pesticides, toxic substances), and physical causes (e.g., food that is too hot or frozen). When a cat vomits, it is important first to distinguish whether it is physiological or pathological vomiting. If vomiting occurs only once or twice without other abnormalities and the cat eats again afterward, it is most likely physiological vomiting and can be ignored; however, if vomiting happens frequently, lasts a long time, the cat refuses food, vomits immediately after medication administration, and shows other abnormal signs such as lethargy, fever, diarrhea, etc., veterinary diagnosis and treatment should be sought promptly.