Feral keeps throwing up

I took a feral in, and he has been throwing up everyday for weeks.  I took him to the vet, nothing physically wrong with him.  Then, I switched his food...but he still throws up.  I've also started feeding him less, but more frequently.  That has not helped.  I don't think it is nerves because the ONE day he did not throw up was the day I brought a strange dog into the house (I was dog-sitting).    I thought for sure I'd find a surprise from him that day, but he did not.  And I know he could hear the dog in the house.  Any ideas?

May I ask what you are feeding and what you switched to?  Does he gobble up his food too fast?  Do you give him any milk?  How about grooming?  Are there other cats around and he is grooming them too?

Could be pancreatitis so you could try an enzymatic supplement chew to see if that helps.  Chewy.com has them.

If the food has meat byproducts in it that could be causing chronic gastrointestinal inflammation.  Result...he throws up.  What times of the day are you feeding him?  Do you have a set schedule?  Is he throwing up foam or food?

I switched from a grain-free organic dry food to Purina Cat Chow dry food.  He got so excited when I gave him the Cat Chow.  It was honestly the only time I have ever seen joy in his face.  He is so depressed...hence I am depressed.  I never wanted a cat, much less a feral.  He is throwing up food and water.  It doesn't seem to be bile.  I feed him twice a day (1/2 can of Fancy Feast).  I leave dry food out for him at night.  When I open the door in the morning, I find the throw up all over.  No hair in the throw up.  I've actually never seen him groom himself.   Should I quit free-feeding him in the evening?  I feel like I have to b/c he will NOT eat in front of me, and I don't think the 1/2 can of Fancy Feast is enough for him.  I also don't have the time to wait him out until he eats in front of me.  I am just so frustrated with this entire situation.  I cannot find any rescue to take him.  I've had him neutered and gotten all his shots, am willing to forfeit his adoption fee to any group that will take him in.  No one will.

If he wasn't throwing up on the previous food, I would switch back to that. When you do switch foods, do so slowly, mixing the two for a few days. Switching too quickly can cause upset tummies, even when they seem to love the new food.

A half can of wet isn't enough. If he eats it all, try lessening the amount of dry food and giving him another half can in the evenings. An all wet diet is best for him for the most part.

You can leave it out for an hour or so to give him time to finish it.

Please don't loose patience. He's adjusting to being in a new situation and it is going to take some time.

Thank you for taking in this challenge!

  What an ordeal for you two to be going through!  I salute you for not giving up .  Ondine's advice is right on the money - switching cat food should be done gradually. Also, make sure that the cat litter is unscented because cats have ultrasensitive sense of smell and the perfumed litters can cause irritations of the rear & mouth & nose - I have known a couple of cats to get chronic diarrhea when they use scented litter and my dad's cat used to keep throwing up till I switched to unscented litter.

     Also, Purina Naturals sometimes causes my cats (mostly outdoor ferals) to have bouts of vomiting. I am going to try Purina Naturals INDOOR because instead of wheat, they use brewers rice. I have tried other brands such as MaxCat but they continue to be sick and I think that it is the wheat. The kittens that I bring inside to tame are eating Variety's Grandma's Dinner Chicken and they do fine on that.

    If you can, try soaking the kibble and see if that helps. Also, try to give filtered water unless you have good well water. (Clean, unchemicaled water is best for you both, anyway). Soaked kibble and clean water are best for the dog, too.

    Please share with us any other solutions that you may discover - sensitive tummies are the "pits" to deal with!!!

My cats throw up too I have to feed Blue Buffalo dry food Sensative Stomach . The only canned they will eat and it doesn't upset their stomach is Friskies Indoor Formulas.
I used to feed dry Purina One Sensative Systems but I can't always find it at Walmart.

Okay, thank you everyone.  Once again, he threw up this morning.  I will try soaking his kibble.  I do use unscented litter, btw. 

Sorry that he continues to upchuck his food. Sometimes you have to take him off all food and do the boiled chicken & white rice routine. At first, give him only the chicken broth with unflavored pedialyte to rebalance his electrolytes. When he can keep that down, you can try giving him a bit of brothy chicken mixed with a little rice. After a day or two of that, you can switch to the boiled chicken and if he keeps that down, then add a bit of commercial cat food & see what happens. If he gets sick, just go back to the boiled chicken.

     Alternately, you can graduate from homemade chicken broth (you can add a little safe herbs, such as a tiny bit of carrot, celery or celery seed or dill weed plus some "pink" salt during the boiling, so it smells better as it cooks) to human baby food, chicken.  The goal is to allow his upset digestive system a chance to calm down and heal.  One never knows what toxins a cat has ingested when living on the streets - it could even be that he was poisoned and realized the danger before he ate enough to be fatal. If you can find a holistic cat healer, they might be able to recommend healing herbs that are safe for kitties, perhaps marshmallow root and red raspberry leaf and slippery elm. I hope that you have a good support system to keep you encouraged. Thank you for the update

If you have not actually witnessed him throwing up you may have a second feral in the vacinity. I was often greeted with vomit in the morning and concerned. Then one evening i found a large feral at the food bowl gorging himself. Within minutes he vomitted. I started taking the food away from my feral within 15 minutes of him showing up to eat. The vommitting stopped so i must assume it was another feral.

Could he simply be eating too fast? This happened to a friend of mine and her cat would vomit after every meal because the poor thing INHALED the food. She bought one of the bowls that have an obstacle in the middle to slow them down a bit. I'm sure you could make your own to see if it helps. (smaller bowl upside down in a larger one might work?)

TheForgottenCat said:

 
Could he simply be eating too fast? This happened to a friend of mine and her cat would vomit after every meal because the poor thing INHALED the food. She bought one of the bowls that have an obstacle in the middle to slow them down a bit. I'm sure you could make your own to see if it helps. (smaller bowl upside down in a larger one might work?)

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   Yes, this is definitely worth a go if you think he is eating fast.  If I give my girl any food that she just adores I have to put it in something that restricts the speed of eating, or it ends up all over the floor, almost immediately afterwards.

I do not think he is eating too fast b/c my vet told me to give him 1/2 cup in morning, and 1/2 cup in evening.  I separate the feral from the kitten, so the feral can eat in peace.  When I check on what he has eaten 15-20 minutes later, he still has some food left in his dish.  He is indoors, so there are no other ferals in my house.  He seems to like the kitten.  I am worried b/c he has literally thrown up everyday for 2 weeks.  However, I cannot pick him up to take him to the vet.  He has now taken to hanging out in the closet...which he always liked, but he used to come out more often than he does now.  He does not have diarrhea.  His vomit sometimes has hair in it, but most often it does not.

You do not know what the poor thing was eating before he came to you. Now he has a steady diet of good food. It may take him awhile to adjust to that. Take note of the times and circumstances when he throws up, as best you can. You may be able to identify the cause.

As for eating too fast, feed him on a plate rather than with a bowl. He can't "corner" the food and take large mouthfuls. That worked with one of my gulpers, who almost always tossed her food a few minutes later.

The hair may be some remnant of a hairball. Is the food you're feeding him designed to control hairballs? If I feed that type to our cats, they all throw up, mostly hair but the food comes up as well.

I would ask the vet for an opinion and wrangle the cat into a carrier if the vet thinks he/she needs to see him.

Ugh.  It's me again.  I just looked at my calendar...and my feral has thrown up everyday since November 6th...except for one day.  My vet thought I was feeding him too much, and gave me explicit instructions on how much to feed him.  I follow it to a tee, and he is still throwing up.  He is on a sensitive stomach formula.  I cannot catch him to take him to the vet.  I am so exhausted from this.  I did feed him some chicken baby food tonight...I am so worried he is dehydrated.  Btw, there is no blood in his throw up.  It is just regurgitated food.

Sorry you've had no relief from cleaning up cat vomit.  It could also be an undiagnosed thyroid issue.  I have a hyper thyroid cat and if she misses a dose of her medicine I'm cleaning it up, too.  I'm afraid your only recourse at this point is, as others here have recommended, another trip to the vet for blood work.

Just wanted to give everyone an update on my feral who throws up.  He has thrown up everyday (except one) from November 6th-November 22nd.  Yesterday (and this morning) he was throw-up free!  I can tell he feels so much better.  He is back on the cat tree instead of in the closet.  If he throws up again, I have a stand-by appointment at the vet's.  I think he was allergic to his food.  He is now on Hill's Science Diet for sensitive stomach.  I don't want to jinx it, but that stuff is a miracle!

Wonderful! Fingers crossed this is it.