Princess is throwing up... ?

Princess started throwing up 2 days ago. I noticed one pile that day, one the next day, and now one today.

I assume it isn't normal for her to throw up every day. She does clean herself a LOT, but then I've never had cats before and have been told that they hack up stuff sometimes.

She is eating Iams Kitten formula dry food, which I don't see on the recall list.

Her vomit is very dry, looking like puffy version of her food.. so I thought that since she came from a house with a lot of cats maybe she had to fight for her food before and now being the only cat, just ate too much.. but she keeps doing it.

Other than this she seems normal. She is eating, drinking and going to the litterbox as she always has.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Is she eating too fast ??? Is her dish elevated>?? How old is she ??? How long has she eaten that dry food???

Well, I thought that I could just fill her bowl with dry food and leave it there all day and she'd just eat what she needs, but since I suspected her of overeating, I cut it down a lot, say 1/2 cup. She will eat that 1/2 cup by the end of the day.

She is 5 months old.

Her dish is not elevated, it's just a ceramic black and white dish I got at Petco

I got her the Friday before Easter, but the first two days she did not eat, then she finally took interest in eating as she got more comfortable. The breeder said she fed her a brand called Exclusive chicken and rice forumla. I could not find that brand at the pet store, so I used the sample bag of Exclusive she gave me and mixed it with Iams Kitten dry each day till she would just eat the Iams alone.

So, I'm guessing about a week she's eaten this food.

I would still check with the vet, but from what I understand, if the vomit looks like a tube and undigested, then it's probably from eating too fast. They gobble it down, it absorbs all the water in their stomach, then up it comes. This happens to my 15 yr old kitty once in a while.
Keep us posted!

yeah, it looks a lot like that! Thanks, Hatzy I am almost positive that is what is happening. I am going to feed her a lot less more often and see if that solves it.

Thanks again

You might also want to consider the ingredients in Iams and whether it's something you really want to be feeding. I fed my cats Iams dry for years (it was the vet recommended brand) and it was honestly the worst mistake i ever made with them. They threw up all the time. I talked to vets about it, and they all said it was no big deal, cats throw up a lot, it's just hair balls. I told them that it was actually food, very rarely hair, and they just blew me off, said there was hair there and i just wasn't seeing it, or they are just eating too fast, so i trusted them.

And boy, were they wrong. When i switched my cats to a better quality food that doesn't have all that corn in it (Iams also contains by-products), they rarely vomit at all now. Their coats have also dramatically improved - i hadn't realized how dry and dusty they had become over the years until they started to look and feel better.

Just something to think about - i wish someone had said this to me when they were still kittens on Iams. You pay a pretty high price for it, but there are better foods out there for a similar cost, although a little less convienient to purchase.

And be careful limiting your kitten's portions - growing kittens need a lot of calories, you don't want to accidentally stunt her growth. Usually it's recommended that a kitten be free fed to ensure that she gets adequate caloric intake.

Try elevating her dish and spreading out the kibbles .... she is getting old enough to "gulp"... Iams is not a favorite brand of mine but no lecture

Originally Posted by luxum

You might also want to consider the ingredients in Iams and whether it's something you really want to be feeding. I fed my cats Iams dry for years (it was the vet recommended brand) and it was honestly the worst mistake i ever made with them. They threw up all the time. I talked to vets about it, and they all said it was no big deal, cats throw up a lot, it's just hair balls. I told them that it was actually food, very rarely hair, and they just blew me off, said there was hair there and i just wasn't seeing it, or they are just eating too fast, so i trusted them.

And boy, were they wrong. When i switched my cats to a better quality food that doesn't have all that corn in it (Iams also contains by-products), they rarely vomit at all now. Their coats have also dramatically improved - i hadn't realized how dry and dusty they had become over the years until they started to look and feel better.

Just something to think about - i wish someone had said this to me when they were still kittens on Iams. You pay a pretty high price for it, but there are better foods out there for a similar cost, although a little less convienient to purchase.

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I appreciate the info. Since I've never had a cat, and haven't had a dog in a very long time, I am confused with the whole recall thing and I don't know what to look for in the food. The breeder told me to pick something with a meat as it's main ingredient, hence the Iams Kitten, it's main ingredient is chicken.
I am open to suggestions on food. I am in the process of browsing these other posts for info. I appreciate the help!!

I feed my cat Purina ( the green bag) But I believe they also have kitten food ?? I am pretty happy with this brand, and PHX is too

Since I've never had a cat, and haven't had a dog in a very long time, I am confused with the whole recall thing and I don't know what to look for in the food. The breeder told me to pick something with a meat as it's main ingredient, hence the Iams Kitten, it's main ingredient is chicken.

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Well, here are the ingredients off their website (i've noticed that sometimes what's on the website isn't the same as what's on the bag). I'll explain my concerns with it, and maybe Sparky will be along to further inspect the list. Actually, this seems to have been improved from the last time i looked at it, but it's still not something i'd feed if i had better choices. Of course this is all in my opinion.

Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Corn Grits, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Dried Beet Pulp (Sugar Removed), Fish Oil (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Rosemary Extract

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OK, the first ingredient is chicken as you noted. However, you have to remember that "chicken" is mostly water. If we were to re-order the ingredient list on a dry matter basis, chicken would probably not be the first ingredient since it's approximately 70% water. The next ingredient is "chicken by-product meal". The problem with by-products is that there is a very broad range of parts that can be included in this - some of them are really no big deal for a cat that naturally eats prey whole, yucky bits and all, but it can also hide ingredients that are very low quality like feathers and eggshells. Sometimes these types of ingredients are added so that the guaranteed analysis of protein is high enough, but the protein may actually not be utilizable. The word "meal" means it has been rendered (water and fat removed) - this is usually a good thing depending on who you ask, as it concentrates the protein source, but i don't like the by-product bit. If it said "chicken meal" that would be better imho.

And now - my real beef with this formula is the corn. The third ingredient is corn meal, and the fourth is corn grits. One of the ways that manufacturer's confuse consumers is to split up an ingredient like this. If they just called it corn and lumped all the corn together that was in the recipe, it would probably look a lot less favorable, and if we allow for the water in the chicken, it may well be that corn is really the primary ingredient in this formula. I have real issues with feeding cats corn (and wheat, and soy). Some of them do just fine eating corn, but it is really not biologically appropriate (and this is true of all grains, and even of other sources of carbs - felines are true carnivores), and it often causes digestive issues (intolerance) and allergies.

The bottom line is - it's not a terrible food, and some cats may do fine on it indefinitely, but for the premium price you pay for it you could get a much better food for a similar price. Since if it doesn't agree with your kitten, you might want to try something else. Don't be like me and let her spend her life puking unecessarily, i feel really guilty about that.

Here's a site that has great info about feline nutrition, how to read labels, how to choose foods, etc. The site does push raw feeding (and i think the arguments for raw feeding are strong, but it's not for me), but there is a lot of good information on more conventional feeding as well.

http://www.catnutrition.org/clienthandout.html

Sounds like she's just gobbling it down, then it's not having time to settle in her tummy like it should. This happens to my 11 yo cat routinely, so I've learned to feed her small portions throughout the day. Also, if it's been awhile since my kitty's last feeding, I only put out a small amount (like 10 morsels), then wait about 20 mins before feeding her the rest of her portion. This really helps her keep her food down.

You can feed her on a plate with a lip or in a pie tin so it takes her a bit longer to eat it. Consider putting her on a feeding schedule and reducing the amount of food you're feeding her if you think she's getting on the portly side. Also, introduce some canned food to her diet to give her some variety and help increase her water intake. My 18 mo cat gets fed dry food 4 times a day (morning, noon, when I get home, then a few kibbles just before bedtime). She also gets canned food twice a day, morning and evening.

Stephanie

Thanks so much for all the great info and advice to all of you!!

I fed Princess about 4 times today in half handful amounts (my hands are small) and I am also spreading out the kibbles in the bowl.

I noticed that she eats it much slower, no gobbling! She hasn't vomited today!

I am looking into changing her food brand and type, but for now.. I think I'm going to stick with what I have just because of the massive recall and this brand seems to be okay right now.

Thanks again and Princess says thanks too!