Eating too fast

Our middle cat Samba has a very odd problem, he eats his food too fast. This wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't started to throw up after it. We first only had a problem if we gave him more that one treat, now he has a problem with food two. Our cats all get two meals a day, one meal is dry food and one meal is wet food (usually, sometimes two meals of dry food). The other cats don't have a problem, only him. We don't want to give him more food later in the night because our cats are on a diet, but if he throws it all up the first time we can't just let him go hungry. Any suggestions on what to do?

Manda

I put a golf ball or two in their food dishes to slow my kitties down if they eat too fast. They eventually learn how to pull the food out of their dishes with their paws but at least it takes them longer to eat.
I don't think this would work with wet food though

I had that problem with Phoebe too.......she sort of inhaled the food, and sure enough....30 minutes later..up it came. She was eating Hill's Prescription TD...and it's expensive...too costly to be throwing in the garbage....so I bought some Iams Digestive....and it really helped. It's a new food, in a pink bag. She hardly has a throw-up now.
Actually, I haven't seen any hairballs either, in a while.

We had this issue with our kitten. Feeding him in a room alone helped so he didn't feel like he had to get it all in before the other cat.

Is he allergic to certain ingredient(s) of the dry/canned food?

Feed him in small amounts, 20-30 mins apart. For canned food I smear it on the dish so it takes longer for him to get it.

No, he isn't allergic to any ingredients, he only throws up when he eats too fast. We wish we could feed him every 20 minutes or so, but my husband and I both work , but we will try the smearing thing and the other suggestions. Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions!

Manda

If you aren't concerned about the other cats getting the food and would like to feed him at different times, you can buy feeders with timers that have doors that open at preset times to expose food. Petsmart carries one with 2 compartments and the Source (formerly Radio Shack in Canada) has a 6 compartment one.

I've read threads about this before. I recall someone saying that the vet suggested mixing walnuts in with the dry food (they don't like them, so they will pick around them) or feeding them off of a plate (the food won't be as contained). I think that one is for dry as well.

As for wet, the only thing I can think of is if you give him both wet and dry at both meals, in half amounts. That way, you can try the dry food "tricks" and smear a more manageable amount on the plate for the wet.

Descent sized rocks would also help. Stuart throws up if we don't have anything to slow him down. I used two of those small fancy feast cans (full so they are heavy).

Originally Posted by spookzilla

If you aren't concerned about the other cats getting the food and would like to feed him at different times, you can buy feeders with timers that have doors that open at preset times to expose food. Petsmart carries one with 2 compartments and the Source (formerly Radio Shack in Canada) has a 6 compartment one.

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We have an automatic feeder that spins out a set amount of food and we still have to put things in the dish because Stuart eats too fast. It helps though, because they eat three small meals a day this way.