Regurgitating food only after morning meal! Need new ideas!

Hi Everyone, 

I'm new here and have searched the forums on this topic, and tried all the suggestions already, so I need some more brain power! 

My 6 yr old neutered male (Toby) has been known to sometimes wolf down his food and immediately vomit some back up. In this past this has been an occasional thing, not really a big deal. 

He is an indoor cat, a shorthair, and gets canned food twice a day. 

About 4  weeks ago he decided he didn't like EVO canned food (mostly because when it had been refrigerated) so we switched him to Fancy Feast (classic pate in chicken, beef, or turkey). 

He LOVES the fancy feast so much, that he will scarf it all down immediately (in the past he was more of a grazer). 

In the morning only, he will eat really fast, then regurgitate up most of his breakfast within 15 min or so. He isn't showing any signs of hairballs ( no heaving at other times, no hair in the vomit ). He used to vomit once in a while on EVO, but apparently he never liked it much because he would eat it so slowly. He eats really fast at night too, but doesn't puke! After he throws up he goes right back to his dish and eats the rest of his food. 

His stools and urination are normal, activity is normal, and he doesn't do this in the evening!  I also don't think he would be that much hungrier in the morning, since his feedings are usually almost 12 hours apart, and usually the longer period is during the day. 

It happens with all three flavors of fancy feast, so I don't think it is a food allergy.

Here is what I have done so far: 

- raised the food dish up a couple inches as someone suggested

- spread the food out on a larger plate

These things alone don't really seem to help. The one thing that does seem to help a bit is to give him just a tiny spoonfull of food first (or a treat), then wait a few minutes, then give him a bit more, then wait a bit, then finally give him the rest. But even that doesn't always work, and it is really a pain to feed him that way.  When force him to eat really slowly he usually doesn't throw up, but if I just give him his food in the morning, he almost always throws up. Again, at night he still eats fast, but keeps his food down. 

At this point, I am feel like it is either nothing, or he has some horrible expensive illness..... Anyone heard of a male cat with morning sickness? jeeeeez. 

I should also mention that he turns into a vicious demon beast at the vet... so I really want to avoid unnecessary vet visits.  

Any ideas??

-Dana 

Side note: A couple months ago he was treated for an infected anal gland and constipation.... prob unrelated but thought I would mention it. 

That is odd.  I know sometimes cats can have excess stomach acid from an empty stomach but I don't get why it's only in the morning when the meals are about 12 hours apart.  What you are doing giving a small amount of food then giving the rest usually helps.  The small amount of food soaks up the excess stomach acid.  Many people give Pepcid for excess stomach acid.  The dosage varies.  When Patches was sick I was giving him a half pill twice a day.  It was the regular strength 10 mg Pepcid not the complete.

If my cat is sick it is always, always in the morning after eating too fast. I came to the conclusion that a big portion of food on an empty tummy is too much. Only thing that has worked for me is to give him a larger (the largest) portion of the day in the evening, just before I go to bed.   I wonder if you could just give him 2 smaller portions in the morning, half or an hour apart if you're home? Or space out the meals, 1/2  portion 4 times a day if its because of tummy acid or something?  I wonder too if the food is cold in the morning after sitting in a colder house all night (perhaps no central heating when you are in bed). Cold food sometimes makes cat's vomit.. My mum used to put the dog food on the radiator for 20 mins to take the chill off in the morning for the dog, otherwise he threw up too. 

I hope you find something that works for you both!

My cat Ozzy has the same trouble.  I thought it was a hairball issue but am not sure now.  Anyway, I just recently am trying a new trick--I give him a few treats--Greenie's Digestive Care (figured it can't hurt and might help!) while I get his food ready.  That way, Ozzy has something in his stomach before he starts snarfing breakfast.  

He hasn't been sick the past few days but honestly I don't know yet if that's coincidence or if the little pre-breakfast snack is working--but it might be something to try.

Try feeding him three times a day, if you're giving him two meals a day. Use the same amount of food, just split it three ways. Feed him before work, after work, and before bed.

Either that, or consider some freeze dried meat treats. Feed him a few small pieces before bed, and a few small pieces shortly after you get up. Give it 10 to 15 minutes, then feed him his breakfast.

As Denice points out, reguritation after the morning meal only is usually due to acid build-up.

Also, if he doesn't like refrigerated leftovers, you can still use the larger cans: just portion what's left into meal sizes, and freeze them individually in baggies or ice cube trays. Thaw by putting in a baggie in warm water (if you use sandwich size baggies, and smoosh the food flat, it warms up in lukewarm water REALLY quickly). This keeps the food fresh - no stale taste.

I would try feeding smaller meals in the morning.  I myself have GERD and I can't handle big breakfasts or I get sick.

Ah these are all good ideas! And I'm glad there aren't 10 people telling me he has a tumor.  

Fleabags Mom, that is something I hadn't thought of, but is definitely possible.  Our apartment definitely gets cold at night, but is much warmer during the day. I'll trying warming the can up in warm water first. 

I had considered giving him a bigger meal at night as well, and I like the idea of treats as appetizers. I had been doing the treat thing and it worked for a few days, but then today it didn't. I might not have waited long enough before giving him his main meal though, so I will keep trying and wait longer.  I had been hiding dried beef liver treats around to keep him from bugging me while I make my own breakfast ... spoiled cat  

I thought it must be linked to something (acid, hormones, whatever) that builds up at night. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why it builds up more at night than during the day? It's strange because sometimes there is actually a much longer separation between his meals during the day. I'm a grad student so I am often at my office for long hours. 

Is he adjusted to your schedule? Does he sleep more at night? I wonder if just being awake and more active means more water drinking, which maybe keeps things moving through the digestive tract? :dk:

I do know feeding more frequent but smaller meals does help - as does closing the gap between that last meal of the day and the first meal of the morning.

Would a probiotic help?

Hmmm Probiotic might help...he does get some digestive aid treats, but they don't seem to help much.  He typically sleeps a lot during the day and the night, mostly just active in the mornings and evenings. Especially now that it is cold at night he is sleeping a lot more at night. During the summer he is most active at night. Usually the gap during the day is actually bigger than the one at night. 

But, happy to report that last night I gave him a bigger dinner than normal last night, then this morning gave him a treat 15 min before his breakfast, and warmed his food a bit, and no vomiting! Hooray!

We'll see if the trend continues (and it would be nice to figure out which things is the most important trigger). 

-Dana

Glad that today was a better morning for kitty - and you had no clearing up to do!! :-)
As you work such long hours, would a toy that holds treats in be any use I wonder? Could fill it up in the morning and the evening perhaps.  I've seen some in a ball shape that the pussycat have to kick around for one to fall out. Just wondering if that would be a good way that your cat has a small steady flow of things in it's tummy, rather than getting everything all at once? I don't think all cats like them tho, mine looked at me as if I was crazy when I got him a treat ball. My fault, he's used to the easy life !

Oh that's great news!

The treat ball is a great idea. FYI, you can break up freeze dried meat treats into small pieces to work in those things.

Yeah, I have been thinking of getting one of those treat balls! I've seen the Kong ones for dogs, don't know how well they work for cats?  I can prob try and make one. I make small cardboard ones out of paper towel tubes for my bunnies to destroy, I wonder if they would work for cats... We also have some whiffle balls around, those might work too. 

I do sometimes hide his treats around the apartment for him to find throughout the day, so I can start doing that more regularly as well. 

Also, fun fact, for anyone interested, he found that he loves to catch and eat live crickets... We have a gecko as well, so when we feed the gecko we'll let Toby catch a cricket too! He loves playing with them, and they are probably good protein for him too (I saw a study that found that a large portion of wild cats' diet is insects). 

I would suggest feeding him less in the morning and make sure the food isn't cold. You could always buy those bowls that are meant to slow down fast eaters. If nothing else helps I would suggest a supplement. My friends Main coon would do the same, all though he also had loose stools, I gave her some of a supplement that I like to use and it helped him with his digestion and stools, this is what I gave her
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/supplements/perfect-form
I would also suggest this
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/supplements/pro-bloom
Crickets are very high in protein and low in fat so its very good that hes eating some! Quite healthy. I could give you some links to kitty treat balls from eBay that I found reasonably priced.

Day two of warming the food before feeding, and giving him a treat 15 min before, no vomit! Yaay!  I have also been spreading the food out over a whole dinner plate. 

I feel like I need a chalk board to write, "Days since last vomit" like they have at construction sites for injuries, haha. 

Thanks for the link on the supplements, I'll check them out. His stools do look fine though. 

danamorton said:

 
Day two of warming the food before feeding, and giving him a treat 15 min before, no vomit! Yaay!  I have also been spreading the food out over a whole dinner plate. 

I feel like I need a chalk board to write, "Days since last vomit" like they have at construction sites for injuries, haha. 

Thanks for the link on the supplements, I'll check them out. His stools do look fine though. 

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ahahaha   that would be funny

I had a cat who did this.  What worked for us is what you already have tried.  Feed late at night just before bedtime, then in the morning, feed a small serving then wait about 15 minutes and feed the rest of the serving.  I would prepare the whole bowl, then spoon out a bit onto a plate or other bowl.  I put the rest of the feeding in the microwave so she couldn't jump on the counter and finish it off.  Then after waiting, I'd put the rest of her food down for her.  It's a pain, but you gotta do what you gotta do for your kitty. 

Also, you might talk to the vet about giving something to settle his tummy, like Pepcid.  SInce he's approaching "senior cat" status, you might want to have blood tests done to check kidney function.   My kitty who would throw up her morning meal was diagnosed with chronic renal failure and having nausea is a symptom/result of the CRF.  You might want to work on figuring out why his tummy is upset in the morning. 

stephanietx said:

 
I had a cat who did this.  What worked for us is what you already have tried.  Feed late at night just before bedtime, then in the morning, feed a small serving then wait about 15 minutes and feed the rest of the serving.  I would prepare the whole bowl, then spoon out a bit onto a plate or other bowl.  I put the rest of the feeding in the microwave so she couldn't jump on the counter and finish it off.  Then after waiting, I'd put the rest of her food down for her.  It's a pain, but you gotta do what you gotta do for your kitty. 

Also, you might talk to the vet about giving something to settle his tummy, like Pepcid.  SInce he's approaching "senior cat" status, you might want to have blood tests done to check kidney function.   My kitty who would throw up her morning meal was diagnosed with chronic renal failure and having nausea is a symptom/result of the CRF.  You might want to work on figuring out why his tummy is upset in the morning. 

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Day 5 of no vomiting! 

It seems that warming the food just a bit really did the trick! I am still giving him a treat about 15 min ahead of time, and then I have been giving him the warmed food all at once about 15 min later. He's doing great! 

We recently had a significant drop in temperature, so I guess the cans were getting a bit too chilly for his tummy. 

stephanietx, I will keep this in mind. If he starts getting sick again even with the warmed food, it will be time for a vet visit. So far I think it was really related to the food temp, since it happened right around the onset of cold weather where I live. 

For the future, I am working on finding someone who will make house calls for basic appointments. It is annoying because he is totally fine with being manhandled (we trim his nails, check his teeth, etc), but he just gets soooo stressed at the actual vet's office and in the car. 

So glad to hear that warming the food has helped.

My Willow used to do that often. For her, I'm pretty sure it was a blood sugar thing bc anytime she went a longer period without eating (4-6 hours), she would wolf down her food then throw it back up. After many $$$ at the vet, what ended up working for her was leaving a little kibble out for her to snack on overnight. I also gave her a small amount in the morning, then waited a bit to give her more.