Can you help? My cat is throwing up but not hairballs.

Hi,
My nuetured cat has been throwing up his food for 1 1/2 yrs. or so but lately has gotten more frequent. Espescially when I won't let him outside and he gets very upset running around the house meowing until he throws up. It's not hair balls it's hard cay food that is soft from all the water. Some times he'll do it in the middle of the night after drinking alot of water. I did start him on Iams hairball forumla and I think that might be part of it but he's been doing it for most of his life. Though it wasn't but once a month before the recent 3 months that he now does it every other day. Other than the throwing up his behavior is normal.
thank you!-Karlianne

if your kitty has been throwing up his food for over a year now, he needs to be seen and diagnosed by a specialist vet.

In the meantime, you can stop feeding him a lot (if you are) Remember to feed the cat and not the bowl. Elevate his bowl a little bit off the ground to help him and even break up his kibble by crushing it a little. But he really does need to be seen by a vet who specilizes in kitties. Sometimes, not easy to find either. Good luck!

Could be an ingredient in his cat food that bothers him. I used to have a cat that would throw up his hard food too. I tried all sorts of different kinds. I found he was less likely to throw up hard food if I gave him a specific amount only. Then I finally landed on a brand of food (Acana) that suited his tummy and it stopped altogether. I still use that brand with my new cats.

I don't want to scare you, but please take your cat to his vet. If the vet doesn't have answers, ask to be referred to a specialist. Our tuxedo cat, Cary, died 3 years years ago from lymphoma in his gastro-intestinal system. He was throwing up his food also. We kept taking him back to the vet, who did blood work and x-rays to no avail. He kept telling us that nothing was wrong - some cats do this. Finally, my husband decided enough was enough and we went to another vet. Though she didn't find anything on examination, she felt an internist should be consulted. We took Cary in and the specialist did an endoscopy and found the cancer. We tried chemo-therapy but we lost Cary anyway.

Sometimes you just have to keep going until someone listens. We will never let another cat go with symptoms as long as we did with Cary, just because the vet didn't know what was wrong.

I hope you get to the bottom of this problem soon.

karenlee - I am sorry about your kitty Cary. That must have been heartbreaking!

Debra - Thanks for your reply. It was very sad and we still aren't over it.

I hope that your kitty is OK. This has turned me into a worry-wart about the health of our fur babies.

I have a 2 year old who has been throwing up most of her life too. I switched her food gradually to Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, and now she only throws up a couple times per month as opposed to 2-3 times per day.

Just a suggestion......

Thank you all for the advice! I have taken him to a specialist, but he couldn't find anything wrong except to say that he might be sensative to corn products(or some other type of grain...). Until now I didn't have the money to start trying more expensive brands. But that is my goal today, to find a cat food that might work. If anyone has any more ideas or expiriences I'm open to all advice.
-Karlianne

Science Diet Sensitve Stomach works well, but I have actually just switched my cats to the Science Diet that is all natural. She hasn't thrown up in over 3 weeks!!!!! (She usually throws up 2-3 times per day).

Whatever brand you choose try to faze it in slowly. Mix the food together for a few days so your cat doesn't get fussy. Good luck.