Vomit/pass out

My cat threw up a hairball on Sunday, after he seemed to pass out and became limp. After 30 seconds he came to and ran off and hid. He didn't appear to be choking. What could cause him to pass out? How concerned should I be? He's back to normal and I made a vet appointment.

Hello!  That sounds scary to witness and I have never seen it, although I have heard of presentations like this.  There is a vagal response to vomiting.  This happens when vomiting causes extra pressure in the neck (because the neck muscles contract), and this exerts pressure on the vagus nerve, which can in turn can slow the heart rate and lower the blood pressure, leading to light- headedness or collapse.  This could be one explanation and cats generally cope well with it; however, your vets might also want to rule out possible causes of vomiting in the first place, for example pancreatitis, liver / kidney disease etc , depending on your cats' presentation. Withing you all the best and please do let us know what you find out in his case.

Other causes of fainting can include heard disease, brain problems and fitting, so it's definitely worth a visit to your vets who will take a full history.  Best of luck and please do let us know what you find out

I'm so glad I found this post because my cat just threw up and fainted very briefly. Very alarming and I was so relieved when she got right up and ran off. She retched violently and threw up grass so at least I know why! Thank you :)

This used to happen to my dog, when he was about 1-2 years old, but then it stopped on its own. This recently started happening to my 10 year old cat - he throws up clear liquid, looses balance (he's all over the place tumbling on to his side), then regains control in 15 seconds and runs off. His blood work came back perfect. I don't know if I should ask for any other tests? Is there a way to treat this? He never used to do this, when throwing up...