What would cause a cat to throw up a large volume of blood?

by Connie
(Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.)

What would cause a cat to throw up so much blood that he needs a transfusion? My friend has seven cats from same litter. They are now ten years old.


The other morning, she woke up to one of her cats throwing up blood. It was very dark in color, almost black.

The vet could not diagnose it, neither could a specialized cat clinic. She paid $3,000 for tests.

They could not diagnose the problem, but ruled out feline leukemia, and most common poisons.

The cat could not be saved, and died at the hospital. Now one of the other cats is vomiting blood, and still the vet is unable to diagnose it.

What could this be that two cats came down with it, and neither could be saved?

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Jul 27, 2018
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by: Kurt (Admin)

I'm sorry to hear about your friend's cats. Unfortunately, sometimes a necropsy is the only way to determine the cause of death.

With two cats vomiting blood, my first suspicion would be some type of (uncommon?) poison. Do the cats have access to any plants, flowers, household chemicals, or medications? Were they given any medications recently?

If not a poison, then I'd suspect either an infection of some type, something that may have caused liver failure, or a foreign body. I hope none of her other cats fall ill and the veterinarians can figure this out.

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