Cats can throw up at will. They do it get rid of things than are irritating their stomachs. When my Jake was still going out and hunting, he used to throw up the indigestible bits whenever he made a kill.
It's different than actually being sick. Squeaky throws up a hairball weekly. Jakey at least gets off the furniture and pukes on the floor. Squeaky just pukes wherever it is. Plus, she is a firm believer in hitting as many surfaces as possible with each event.
Between hairballs and"scarf and barf", she makes a mess.
The last time she upchucked from eating too fast, she hit the kitchen table, the back of a chair, the seat of the same chair...AND the floor.
Jakey was indisposed a couple of weeks ago and was vomiting against his will. He puked on the comforter in the bedroom and I thought his lungs were gonna come up.
Whatever it was. He was fine after puking other than being a bit depressed for a couple of days. I called the vet and he said, that as long as the puking had stopped and he was eating and drinking, it wasn't anything to worry about.
Jakey has arthritis and takes narcotic painkiller when he's really having a tough time. Since I puke from narcotics, I was wondering if it wasn't that with him.