Is this just aging?

My indoor Calico is now 6. She has gained an incredible amount of weight this year. She has always had acne on her chin, but it's gotten much worse and it's black and flaky now. Her eyes leak a lot now. Very liquidy and sometimes a pinkish color that drys brown. She still seems very happy. She plays with the younger cats and
comes to bed with me for her nighttime cuddle. She eats and poops normally. Someone suggested I switch her food to grain free. I have another cat who vomits his food a lot, I feel it would help him also. Has anyone had the same experiences and switched to grain free? Im also looking into raw or making my own food.

A 6 year old cat is not old by any means. I'm someone who will argue till the cows come home that most things people pass off as "aging" are things that are very treatable.

My first suggestion is to have her seen by a vet. Pink discharge from the eyes doesn't sound normal or comfortable, and may even be conjunctivitis. I know many cats who have come from shelter environments where sick cats are coming and going by healthy cats, so "cat colds" and URIs commonly spread among the shelter's population and clear but runny (teary) eyes can come and go even after they've left that environment as a result. Having it be a coloured discharge raises a flag for me though.

A cat as young as yours would do well on a diet if you know she's gained a substantial amount of weight, and it'll certainly extend her lifespan to be back on the right track now. Some people argue for grain-free overall, but switching to grain-free won't solve these issues if she has no sensitivities to grain. It may help in some ways with weight loss and a better diet, but there is more behind it than grain. Wet food tends to be better for managing weight, portion sizes, and ensuring proper hydration, and there are quite a few brands of grain-free wet foods out there, some very affordable too (Fancy Feast pate, Grreat Choice pate - from Petsmart, Performatrin pate - from Pet Valu). For the weight loss, check out Lisa Pierson's page on obesity: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

She has a general guide to count calories: [13.6 * ideal weight (I would suggest consulting a vet for her ideal weight) ] + 70 = total number of calories per cat per day, but if your cat has quite a bit of weight to lose, start tapering down from her current amount of food. You can base this off of how much food they are free fed and how much of that food is eaten daily, or you can start off by feeding them based on their current weight and work down from there, pound by pound so they aren't shocked by the sudden lack of food. Of course, getting your cat(s) more active more often will also do more good.

I like using this tool to calculate the calories (and carb content) of each food I have the cats try: http://fnae.org/carbcalorie.html

A lot of wet foods I've found average around 28-30 calories per ounce, whereas dry foods are closer to 100-125 calories per ounce. The higher protein and lower carb, the better the food. The same site also has a dry matter basis calculator, which will tell you how much protein is in foods (since it can be difficult to determine when most of the percentage is taken by moisture in wet foods). TCS has an article discussing dry matter basis: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

This page can also help as a guide: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/03/weight-loss-for-fat-cats.aspx

If they've always been free fed, these articles should help with the transition to wet meals too:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

Sometimes vomiting can be the result of a sensitivity to certain ingredients, and sometimes it's grain, sometimes it's a protein source (chicken isn't an uncommon one, unfortunately, and LOTS of cat foods contain chicken, but non-chicken ones are out there), sometimes it's an additive in the food. You might want to get both cats into the vet so you can discuss what the other cat may be sensitive to and what you can try as an elimination diet if it's become problematic.

What kind of bowls do you use for the cats? Plastic bowls are notorious for harbouring nasty bacteria because they're so porous, and they usually have a lip that the cats' chins have to touch when they dip their faces in to eat. If you can switch to stainless steel or ceramic serving bowls or shallower/flat serving platters for the cats, this would help a lot. We switched our cats from deep plastic bowls to flat ceramic saucers for food and stainless steel bowls (filled to the brim so they don't have to stick their faces in deep) for water and the problematic cat's chin has since healed up completely. In the meantime, just help her keep the area clean by wiping it with a damp cloth after meals - at least twice a day. Some vets will recommend using human acne wipes; just watch to avoid getting those too close to her lips, and avoid using them when the skin is broken (because that stuff STINGS!). If it's just flaky and the skin isn't broken or open, plain water should suffice.