Eating To The Point Of Sickness . . .Will She Grow Out Of It?

My youngest kitten Zazzles (6 months) will eat until she throws up. It took me weeks to figure out that this was the reason for her vomitting. Now I've had to put down two seperate bowls for her and LoLa is seperate rooms and not let Zazzles out until Lola is done eating. If I don't seperate Lola and Zazzles, Zazzles will scarf down what's in her bowl and then push Lola away and eat Lola's food.

Last night I absent-mindedly left a tupperware container of roast beef with the lid not sealed on the kitchen counter before I went to bed. I woke up this morning to vomit in the bedroom, in the hall, in the living room. The amount of roast she ate would be enough to make *me* feel uncomfortably full.

Has anyone had experiences like this with their kittens? Did they grow out of it?

She's an indoor cat and I've had her dewormed and checked for other parasites. There's never been a shortage of food, and I feed her the exact same times every day. I'm a bit worried that there might be something more to this behaviour that I need to be concerned about.

Other than the roast incident, is she vomiting dry or canned/pouch food? Have you explored the possibility of food allergies?

Some kittens/cats do the "scarf and barf" thing. I have one adult cat who does this, mostly with dry food. It has mostly been resolved by slowing her food intake using Durapet slow feed bowls. Before I used them I put a golf ball size ball in her 5" across bowl to slow her down. I gave up the ball thing because I was worried about bacteria growing on the plastic ball's surface. The Durapet bowl is all stainless steel.

I have 5 cats and I have to isolate all but 2 of them from each other during their one canned/wet pouch meal per day. They get about 30 minutes to eat this meal. If I don't separate them like this, they don't all get their share. For their two (measured amount) dry food meals per day, they all use the Durapet slow feed bowls (if interested - Amazon has best price) so that the one who eats too fast and then vomits, Lily, doesn't do the same with their bowls. They all have access to the 5 dry food bowls, to eat the kibble as slowly or fast as they want. Lily vomits about once a week now. Before I found the way to slow her down, she was vomiting nearly every day.

Robin

I don't know if he still would, as I don't tempt fate, but Wesley used to scarf and barf his wet food when I used to put out too much and thats when he had dry available for free feeding. He just really loved that wet flavor.

Kittens in particular have tiny tummies, so if you have a very food motivated kitty, then very easy for them to eat too fast and barf... and then eat their barf.

There are special bowls with dimples you can use, feed smaller portions, or you can try this:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=226592

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Other than the roast incident, is she vomiting dry or canned/pouch food? Have you explored the possibility of food allergies?

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Yeah, I thought it was the food at first. She was throwing up the raw food I was giving them and I thought maybe it was just to wet and rich for her (it's a pate consistency) . So I gave her Orijen kibble. Then I tried Whiskas chunks.

As along as she only eats the small amount that I've given her, she's fine on raw, dry, and canned.

The attitude she's developed towards food is bordering on desperation. When I let her out of the room after Lola is done eating, she runs to Lolas bowl so fast she loses traction and slides across the kitchen floor.

Have you discussed this with your vet?

I'd wonder, particularly if she is very thin, if she may have a thyroid problem. I'd get it checked out, if she were my kitten.

That being said, kittens can display a lot of kooky behavior that they do grow out of.

If you are sure she is getting enough calories, then I'd continue feeding her the small amounts she can keep down. It may involve 6 or more of these mini meals a day. But it will probably go away in time, unless there is a health issue.

And I'd discuss the situation with a vet that I have confidence in.

And the kibble feeding ball may be a good thing to try with her.

Robin

She's a healthy weight, she's even getting a bit of a squishy tummy already.

She's going in to get her rabies shot and her spay on the 2nd, so I'll definately be discussing it with her vet then.

After seeing all the vomit everywhere this morning, I'm concerned. I know she's a little piggy and I thought maybe she was just being competitive with lola. She does have a "Me first, it's all about me" kind of attitude. But to eat that much food . . .

I wish I lived in a bigger town. The selection of vets is small and between working at in Animal Control and my own pets, I've delt with all of them and none of them are what I'd call good or great.

I have piggy kittens too, seven months old. I have to feed them smaller meals (three small meals and one evening/bedtime small snack). If you feed smaller amounts of the wet food, it will stay down easier. Perla will scarf and run to the other's bowls too, so I have to supervise feedings. Yes, it is more work They all just devour their meals, but seem satisfied until the next feeding. I do not leave food down, because my older cat will eat all day if he can. I think I own Pigs not Cats .. I don't have any problems with the scarf and barf, they do scarf, but it must be the right amount each feeding because they keep it down.