Food for cat that throws up after eating (too fast) that had UT issues

My oldest cat, Toby (he's 4), has always had issues with throwing up about 10-15min. after he eats. It's typically a twice a month thing, so not that often (although it happened twice in one week last week), but often enough to make me think that he's eating too fast. He doesn't get much, 1/4 cup in the AM (he eats Wellness or Nutro wet at night) of the Royal Canin UTI stuff (it's their perscription diet), but he WOLFS it down almost every morning. I swear he doesn't even chew, because when he does throw up, it's all the kibbles, intact.

He had some UT issues over the summer, but has been great ever since then. He is on the prescription diet, but I have mixed in some samples of different dry foods in there to see how he'd react (Eagle Pack, Chicken Soup, and Wellness), and he has been fine. I'm beginning to wonder if he even needs to be on a prescription food anymore. When he was having to UT issues, his pH levels were too high, and he did have some crystals (I posted about all of this on here).

I think he needs a food with a bigger kibble size, so he actually has to chew it while he's eating. I know that Nutro Max is the only certified UTI health food, does anyone feed this and can tell me how big the kibbles are? Or, should I even be worried about his UT now that he's been fine for awhile? Any recommendations would be great!

Males that have had UT issues often have them again unless they're kept on a diet to prevent them. It would have been his diet to begin with (given his metabolism) that created a pH that was too high - it is the diet over time that affects the issues, not individual meals.

I have no idea about Nutro Max being a certified UTI health food. It is a larger kibble.

However - please take the time to read this article: http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=2729

Given that your kitty has had problems with high pH levels, it would seem that slowly switching him to free feeding would benefit your boy. It may also help the problem he's having with wolfing his food down:

Originally Posted by Pet Education Article on FLUTD

Feeding methods: It is recommended that cats who are at risk for developing struvite crystals or stones should be fed ad libitum. After eating a large meal, the pH of the urine usually becomes more alkaline. By eating small meals throughout the day, the urine pH will stay more acidic.

Click to expand...

I would do this by decreasing the amount you feed him and increase the number of times a day you feed him. Our cats all eat 3 - 6 bites of food about a million times a day, and we feed them one wet meal each day - one can of food is split between each three cats.

To also help kitty not wolf food, you can set the bowl up on a low box - something he can get at, but not comfortably. This will also help slow him down.

Laurie

I have one cat who will throw up if she eats too fast. What works for us is to feed her her full serving over a length of time. So, when it's feeding time, I start out with about 7 morsels in her bowl. She eats and then I wait 10 mins (or longer depending on if I get distracted or not). I set the oven timer. Then I put down a little bit more than I put down the first time. She eats again and then I wait about 20 min. Then I put down a little bit smaller than normal food serving. Allowing the food to settle in her tummy keeps the food from coming back up. The only time I have problems is if she's having hairball issues or if she's not had a BM that morning/overnight.

I tried all the other suggestions of raising the food dish, putting the food on a plate, and feeding a food with bigger morsels. None of those things worked, so I came up with something that did. It's a bit more time consuming, but I usually only have to do this in the morning and since I'm getting ready, I can shower between feedings, feed, then get make up on & hair done, feed again, then get dressed.... It's not like a stand over the bowl and wait a set no. of minutes. It's a very laid back thing.

Stephanie

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think free feeding could work in our house though. #1, Toby probably would get HUGE this way. He's a big boy already (but he's all muscle now that he's lost some weight), and I don't want him any fatter. #2, Sneak, one of my other boys, has stomach issues if he gets into different foods. So I think free feeding is kind of out of the question.

As far as feeding him smaller meals, more often, I could probably do maybe one more feeding during the day, but that's it. I work, am in school, and have a horse, so I'm fairly busy throughout the day.
I was thinking about getting him a more elevated dish, to see if that'd help him not eat so fast. I really do think if he had a bigger kibble (the Royal Canin food is just the typical little 'x' shapes), it would help alot.

Max cat is fish heads ( medium size to me but I feed a larger kibble) with holes in the middle that may help get a fast eater to chew as it can get stuck on the tooth thus causeing at least one bit

petsmart has most foods actual size in pictures on what it carries