Cat is vomiting - I have a few questions

[keez1978]

Hello all! Im new to this community and im hoping I can get some help with my furry friend.

My cat, Moo, is about 7 years old, and large (though he is a very large cat, nonetheless he does have some extra skin from being fatter in the past, and he is currently at 18 pounds and at a healthy weight according to his vet).

Recently, for about the past week, Moo has been regurgitating much more frequently. About an hour after he eats, he will vomit. Before and after vomiting, he is his regular self. He also lets me pet his belly without any issues whatsoever, so it really doesn't seem like he's all that sick. Also, he mostly only vomits after eating wet food. The dry food (he loves) is "Hills" Prescription multi-nutrition w/d. I try to give him wet food at least once a day because Ive always read that a sole dry food diet isn't good for your cat (I also want some advice about this, is this even true? why do people say that?)

Im suspecting this is because of a hairball that has yet to be passed or regurgitated, but my girlfriend thinks we should just stop giving him wet food completely. Im hesitant about that because of my previous statement. By the way, the wet food is Blue Wilderness (salmon and trout flaked w/ gravy).

Im here to answer any questions you may have that I missed! Dont worry, I am taking him to the vet this week for a wellness check up already so I have that covered!

[hazelrunpack]

Hi, keez1978! Welcome to the board.

Moo might be developing an intolerance to the fish. You might want to try one of the other proteins available.

The other thing that might help is switching to a pate instead of the flaked with gravy. One of my cats will throw up any time she eats anything that comes in chunks or flakes. Once I tried the smoother pate, it slowed down her eating, and the vomiting stopped. She was, apparently, just gorping down the flakes too quickly!

Btw, she also has an intolerance for fish. Now that we've switched away from fish formulas and gone to pate, she only rarely throws anything up.

As to why wet food is preferred: I've read that it has to do with dehydration. Cats don't have a strong thirst drive so they tend to get dehydrated easily, which is hard on the kidneys. Adding water to the diet can help keep them healthier longer, and wet food is up to 90% water. We feed our cats wet food and actually still add water--about 2 t. per meal, to keep them hydrated.

I'm glad you have a wellness exam scheduled! Vomiting always makes me nervous. Let us know how it goes--and if you have any pictures of Moo that you could share, we'd love to see them!

[Reg]

Welcome to the forum Keez1978...........
What kind of kitty cat is Moo? and we second the motion for pics.

Something I found out over the years is that when cats are having regurg problems, the vet suggested raising the dish because of their anatomy. It's hard to force food uphill and it gets lodged in the throat or esophagus. I started by raising the dishes for our 3 cats about 5 cm or 2 inches and this has worked well for years. Just recently our oldest, who is 13 now, and only 7.5 pounds, started again to throw up. I raised the dish another 2 inches - 4 inches - from the floor and that put an end to the throw up again.

Personally I would stay clear of fish and only use it for a treat once in a while. Remember that cats are a desert animal and they have a tendency to get addicted to the fish which can cause problems.

I go along with Hazel on wet food. I make my own and feed raw to my 3 and it's amazing how much dehydration they go through without being fed wet foods. Case in point, several years ago we were doing a move and for about 3 months I put our cats on kibble. For some reason I wanted to know how much it cost daily for litter, so I dated how long it took to go through a 40 pound bag. It was 69 days. Then I started feeding raw food again once we were settled, and the cats having been fed raw before, just tied into the wet food. And that bag only lasted 52 days. That's 17 days difference.......gives you an idea how dehydrated cats get being fed kibble.

The kibble being labelled "science diet" is only a brand name and doesn't distinguish it as being a higher quality food.

Here is a web site that I think you will find very interesting and informative on what happens to kitties that are not fed properly.

https://catinfo.org/


Please keep us informed of what is going on.......only too happy to help where we can.