Cat barfing LONG

michellek75

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Hi everyone - you all were so helpful with my Stewie and the ringworm - that I had to post again...this time for Dwight. A little background...dwight is about a year old - he's a long haired cat (haven't had a long haired before). He eats like a maniac!!! When we first got him - he would DEVOUR his food like he hasn't seen food before. He also eats EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. We've learned to wash our plates after dinner! He ate a 1/4 of a hot dog, bun, ketchup and pickles. He's eaten fries, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, you name it - he's eating it (I think he's a dog trapped in a cats body). We feed him the recommended dose of food and he is at a healthy weight (8lbs). When we first got him I thought his behavior meant he was hungry - so I fed him a tiny bit more. But that made him vomit. Apparently he doesn't know when to stop! His vomit would contain whole pieces of food. So we controlled his food and life was good.

Then about 2 weeks ago - he started this vomitting jag again. Huge amounts of vomit every day. It was only one time a day - but it was a lot. He was NOT lethargic in any way and still devoured his food (controlled portions) when fed. But this time the vomit included huge hair balls (not always but about 1/2 the times). I took him to the doc and he did some tests (fecal sample and xray of his stomach to make sure there wasn't anything weird going on). He came back with a clean bill of health! So we are doing the following:

1. Changed his food to Science Diet I.D. (which he and my other cat HATE!)
2. I bought a furminator and am brushing him a lot to help reduce the fur balls
3. Giving him furball carmel stuff to help with the furballs.

In doing all of this - he has stopped barfing. He did a tiny tiny bit last night, but that was the first time in several days.

My hunch tells me the Science diet i.d. food isn't what's stopping him from vomitting. I think it's the fact that he hates it and just eats slower. My other cat is getting really annoyed at the fact that he has to eat this bad food. When he gets mad - he pees! While he's not there yet - I'm trying to prevent that from happening!

Any ideas on how to slow down my cat? I work - so I don't have time to feed him tiny bits all day long!
 

jellybella

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I think the furminator and a good regular brushing routine will get you most of the way there if he was bringing up a lot of hair. I would say if you keep that up for a few weeks and see a reduction/elimination in puking, you might try giving her non-Rx food.

My puker is actually my short haired cat that doesn't like to be groomed. She is also a speed eater.
We have done the following:
large marbles/rocks in the bowl to make her slow down -this got kind of gross and she got good at getting them out of the bowl
elevated bowls -we still have her using a higher bowl
smaller portions more frequently -more work for me, but probably better for the kitties

I don't limit her food options because she was an equal opportunity puker. I think the smaller meals have been the best thing. I never give her more than an ounce of wet at a time.
 
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michellek75

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Hmmm...I NEVER would have thought about large rocks/marbles in the bowl...although that sounds like a good idea. I can try the smaller portions in the evening. Hopefully this does it! Thanks so much!!
 

kathryn41

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You could also investigate feeding a better quality high fiber food such as is offered by Royal Canin or Proplan or Max Cat. I have a very long haired cat who likes to taste all sorts of things around the house and develops very long furballs whenever I slack off of combing and brushing him enough. I give him a Canadian hairball formulation that he likes called Tonic Lax as well as Royal Canin Intense Hairball formula with 8.8% fiber. It will help any of the fur that he does ingest to pass through his intestinal tract more effectively. All my cats also all get a little bit of wet food several times a day rather than two bigger meals.
 

zissou'smom

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If you want to keep giving dry food, I have a good suggestion, but first let me ask you

1) What does the vomit look like? Is it hairballs and undigested food, and does it happen soon after eating?

If so, then you're right and it's from eating too fast. In this case, put the dry food in some sort of mug that their faces won't fit in. Fill it with dry food as you would a bowl, and then they have to dig it out piece by piece or two, eat it, and go back to digging. It isn't hard enough that they'll stop eating, but it is hard enough that it slows them down and they actually seem to enjoy the 'game'. A coffee mug works for normal-sized cats; mine I would have to use a more tapered sort of thing. Try something- you undoubtedly have something suitable in your kitchen. The only requirement is that they can't fit their whole head in it.

And consider adding wet food.
 

ticchick

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My cat used to barf a lot- I don't know what caused it, he would usually not throw up food, or at least not much, it was usually liquid and some hairballs. I was feeding him Iams at the time. I switched him to Science Diet and he stopped vomiting. I think the Science Diet is what actually did it for him. By the way, I first tried the SD "light" but both cats hated it so I switched to the regular adult hairball control and they love it.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by ticchick

I think the Science Diet is what actually did it for him. By the way, I first tried the SD "light" but both cats hated it so I switched to the regular adult hairball control and they love it.
it's probably the 'hairball' part that's helping. there are better quality hairball control formulas out there, if you're interested...
 
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michellek75

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Thanks everyone! I've switched him to 1/2 the i.d. and 1/2 the hairball control by SD. I'm keeping the i.d. because it's what's slowing him down. I will probably try the cup or rock idea...anything to get him to quite inhaling the food!

For the poster who asked about the barf...I can't coordinate it with when he eats because I don't usually see him barf. 50% of the time its got hairballs and undigested food - but sometimes its just a mess of barf.

I did take him to the doc and he said everything looked fine. So - I'm not worried about anything too severe - I think he just eats like a maniac!
 

sadie&midnight

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Another suggestion for slowing down his eating is to use an ice cube tray. Just put a few pieces of food in each ice cube hole. (Don't freeze it though
) Try to find a tray that makes the "circular" ice cubes, I tried the "cube" type and my cat couldn't get his mouth in the holes.
 

rone

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Originally Posted by JellyBella

My puker is actually my short haired cat that doesn't like to be groomed. She is also a speed eater.
We have done the following:
large marbles/rocks in the bowl to make her slow down -this got kind of gross and she got good at getting them out of the bowl
elevated bowls -we still have her using a higher bowl
smaller portions more frequently -more work for me, but probably better for the kitties
Question- why does an elevated bowl slow down eating?
 
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