Cat sometimes vomiting after meals

My cat Dakota seems to be having this same issue. Some times is mostly liquid with bits of food, sometimes it looks to be undigested food.

This seems to be an off and on thing. It'll happen one day, then she'll be fine for a couple weeks, then she'll string a day or 2 together where this will happen.

I never really thought about it, but she never had this problem prior to me switching foods last year. When I moved in with a friend of mine and her cat, I switched over to the food she was feeding her cat, Dad's Original Blend, so there would be no issues with food.

Is it possible that there's something in the Dad's food that isn't agreeing with her? What about eating too fast?

First of all, I would recommend consulting with your Vet about Dakota's vomiting. Sounds as if you could be right on target that perhaps something in Dakota's new diet isn't agreeing with his tummy. However, I would think he may be vomiting more consistently if this was the case. You may want to gradually change back over to his old food to see if it helps. Another way to look at it would be that he never vomited before the two of you moved.

You mention he may be eating too fast, would he be feeling this is necessary due to any sort of competition with the other cat, in that he feels he needs to eat his meal as fast as he can to keep his new roommate from getting to it? A solution that often helps a kitty who sometimes vomits due to eating too quickly is to elevate the dish on a stand or a couple of books or perhaps a couple of thick phone books. Also, serve Dakota's meal on a plate instead of a bowl, and spread it out on the plate. This way, it takes longer to eat and isn't as easily gobbled down so quickly.

Thanks for the response.

The only thing about switching back is that her old food was Iams kitten food and now that she's just over 2 years old, not sure if that's the right thing to do. I could switch over to Iam's adult food, I'd have no problems with that as I've read on here in the past that Dad's isn't the greatest food in the world. The primary reason I switched to Dad's is because my roommate's cat was eating Dad's already when I moved in and I didn't want to get cats sick by mixing and matching food.

As for being rushed...I have 2 bowls of food, one for Dakota and one for my other cat, Montana (3 total cats in the house). They both eat out of separate bowls and I've never witnessed Montana attacking Dakota while she was eating, so I don't think she would be rushing to eat out of fear.

I'll raise the food up a bit, see if that helps in the meantime. That's something I can try right away.

As for a previous history of this, well, we moved in with my friend a year ago, this past June, so we've been living in the same place for about a year and a half now. Before the move, I can only recall 1 time that she vomitted food, it was a couple weeks after I brought her home from the shelter.

Dear Buckeye,

Please, please get any other brand of cat food than Dad's. You won't want to know what the ingredients are, but that brand ranked lowest on the list in articles written about suspicious ingredients in cat food.

Your cat is probably reacting to drugs used to anesthetize the animals used in this brand of food. I won't specify the animals. Please do your cat a favor, the better quality food will be cost effective in the long run since your cat will be healthier and live longer!

Wow, reading the above post, I'd start slowly switching all the cats over to a different cat food (just start mixing the new stuff in with the old and slowly encorporate more and more of the new stuff, until it's completely new, as sharp changes in diet will cause vomiting) and see if that helps. If it doesn't (though improving food quality won't hurt anything, so no need to worry), and your cat is still throwing up when it's completely used to the new food, then it's very possible it's eating too quickly. The plate trick usually works, you can also switch to feeding more often and then less. Are you consistent in the times that you feed them? Or is it just adding new food whenever you notice the food is gone? I think cats tend to respond a bit better to the regularity of feeding schedules (at least ours do).

Originally Posted by gizmocat

Dear Buckeye,

Please, please get any other brand of cat food than Dad's. You won't want to know what the ingredients are, but that brand ranked lowest on the list in articles written about suspicious ingredients in cat food.

Your cat is probably reacting to drugs used to anesthetize the animals used in this brand of food. I won't specify the animals. Please do your cat a favor, the better quality food will be cost effective in the long run since your cat will be healthier and live longer!

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I'll start incorporating different food in with the Dad's until they're completely switched over. Any suggestions? All 3 cats we have are adult, one is like 3-4 years, and then my 2 are both just over 2 years old.

As for a feeding schedule...I try to keep it as consistent as possible. I usually fill the bowls before I leave for work, around 7:30 pm EST - give or take 15-30 min. And I only fill once per day.

My little girl Cassidy sometimes does this. Right after eating her food will come back up. I discussed it with my vet and had a complete check up when it first started happening. What we have decided since she is in perfect health is that she is eating too quickly. She is the low cat in the hierarchy of a four cat household and even though they all have a separate bowl, we think she still is wolfing the food down just so as not to be in competition with the others. Not that I have seen the others do anything to her at dinner time. But I do notice that she will not eat when the others are at thier bowls but dart in when they have walked away. It doesn't happen all the time just every once in a while so I am at loss if there is anything I can do about it.

Tricia

It's extremely likely that your kitty is reacting to something in the food. My Callie did this exact thing. The vet told me that whatever was in the Nutro I was feeding her was causing gas in her tummy. When she'd eat it would all come back up. I switched her to Royal Canin and she's not thrown up in MONTHS!!

Stephanie

Well, after about 4 days of having the food raised off the floor, I've yet to have another incident. So at this point, I'm willing to say that it was that Dakota was eating too fast. I still plan on switching foods from Dad's to something else.

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice.

Originally Posted by buckeye23

Well, after about 4 days of having the food raised off the floor, I've yet to have another incident. So at this point, I'm willing to say that it was that Dakota was eating too fast. I still plan on switching foods from Dad's to something else.

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice.

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That's good news. Good to hear also that you are planning on switching to a better food. Just an aside, you'll probably find that once you switch to a better food the kitties won't be eating as much.