My Siamese/Tabby mix has been throwing up regularly after eating

Hi,

I have two Siamese/tabby mixes and they're about 1.5 years old. They both had stomach problems when we adopted them at 6 weeks but for the most part have been healthy!

Since probably September, Harper has started throwing up more and more. She's been on the same food since we adopted them (Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach Lamb and Rice), but since she was starting to get sick I decided to get a more "premium" grain-free food.

I went to Petsmart and ended up buying Nature's Variety Instinct brand, the chicken one. For about a week she stopped vomiting, but now it's started again.

The throw up usually is right after eating and has recognizable food in it.

I don't know what to do. She plays, snuggles, meows, and is overall healthy and happy.

Should I try a different food? Perhaps switch both of them to all wet food?

Help!!

clairejoy94 said:

Hi,

I have two Siamese/tabby mixes and they're about 1.5 years old. They both had stomach problems when we adopted them at 6 weeks but for the most part have been healthy!

Since probably September, Harper has started throwing up more and more. She's been on the same food since we adopted them (Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach Lamb and Rice), but since she was starting to get sick I decided to get a more "premium" grain-free food.

I went to Petsmart and ended up buying Nature's Variety Instinct brand, the chicken one. For about a week she stopped vomiting, but now it's started again.

The throw up usually is right after eating and has recognizable food in it.

I don't know what to do. She plays, snuggles, meows, and is overall healthy and happy.

Should I try a different food? Perhaps switch both of them to all wet food?

Help!!

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Welcome to The Cat Site! We have two Siamese mixes, too, and our vet told us Siamese tend to have stomach issues. She recommends feeding Siamese and mixes only wet foods that are low-carb, grain-free, and high in protein, so I think it's great you decided to feed Nature's Variety Instinct instead of the Pro Plan. I'm not sure if you're feeding wet or dry food but even if it's dry, the PP has corn and wheat ingredients and NVI does not, so that's a good start!

Food selection aside, if Harper's throwing up immediately after eating--regurgitating undigested food--she may just be eating too fast. One of our cats does this sometimes, too. It helps to feed the cats lots of small meals a day and spread Edwina's food out on her plate, rather than mounding it. This keeps her from eating too fast. It also helps to water down some of her foods so they can't be gulped. (I always add a little water when I serve pate foods to the cats.)

As far as wet versus dry, I definitely fall on the wet food side in the cat food wars. (That's not to say I don't recognize that not everybody can feed wet food: some cats simply won't eat it, sometimes it's just too expensive, sometimes the only food that works for a cat is dry, etc.) Switching our two cats, who are now about 2.5 years old, to low-carb wet foods, both canned and raw, without grains or potato or other carby fillers, has worked great for them. The simpler the recipe the better for these two. (That's another reason I'm so in favor of wet foods: there are fewer fillers that can cause food issues.) Since Edwina vomits if she eats too fast or doesn't get enough (small) meals in a day, those set meal times--including a high-calorie meal before bed, so she doesn't get hungry during the night--have really helped. We also figured out that she gets gassy and barfs if she eats foods with potato. (The vet said cats shouldn't be eating potato anyway!) It took us a while to figure out how best to feed the cats and I admit that I slip up every now and then by not leaving quite enough food out on a Friday or Saturday night, when I ought to remember there will be a sleep-in the next morning!

I'd love to see a picture of your cats! We have a snowshoe mix and a tabby/lynx mix, and they're wonderful cats.

The most common reason cats throw up after eating is eating too quickly. Try giving them smaller meals throughout the day so they can't engorge themselves. 

I'm wondering if they're developing a protein allergy. Cats on the same protein for an extended time have a chance of developing an allergy to that protein. I looked up both foods, and it looks like they both contain Chicken meal. I'd try a "Limited Ingredient" food that doesn't contain chicken. Merrick makes a "Limited Ingredient Turkey" kibble that the only protein source is turkey. My cats love it. It's grain free as well. 

Wet food usually works well for sensitive stomachs also. Merrick makes Limited Ingredient cans as well with single proteins.

Also, did you gradually switch the cats over to the new kibble? Cats have sensitive stomachs so it's recommended that you mix the foods together for a slower transition.

Here's a picture of my kitties.

I did gradually switch them over, and both the foods were dry. I will try wet food. I just have always left food out all the time so they can eat whenever they want since my schedule is so crazy. But I'll try feeding them on a schedule and feeding them wet food.

Any recommendations on a schedule? Like one can in the morning and then one can in the evening? I'm usually not home consistently in the afternoon.

Also, my husband and I are going to Europe over the holidays for two weeks and I was going to have my friends catsit for me while we're gone. And I think the feeding schedule may be too much to ask of them. Any advice on what to do when out of town?

Thanks guys!

Your cats are beautiful! They look almost like mixes of our Ireland (the lynx) and Maine coon cats. They're beautifully furry.

Hmm, I'm not sure what to suggest for catsitting... you might ask your friends what they can handle! And also think about what your cats can handle, in terms of dietary change, over the next month. (If they're resistant to wet food, I'd definitely wait until after the holidays to try to switch them.)

For reference, here's how we feed our cats. I work at home, which makes it easy to feed like this but we do a modified version when I'm traveling and my husband feeds them. That seems to work well, too.

First thing in the morning (before 7): raw food. (About the equivalent of half a small can per cat)

Later in the morning (10 or 11): 1/4-1/3 of a small can of food per cat (foods vary in calories)

Mid-afternoon (3): small serving of Rad Cat raw food

Evening (7-ish): raw food (as in the morning)

Bedtime (10-ish): 1/2 a can each of Nutro Natural Choice (this is a caloric food they will always finish), a few leftovers from the late-morning meal

When I'm away, the cats don't get Rad Cat and my husband leaves the late-morning meal out for them when he leaves for work.

The amounts are a bit flexible: our cats are small but they're young, active, and eat quite a bit. We adjust amounts a little if they seem especially hungry. Or not.

Since @Paiger8 mentioned the Merrick LID foods: Our cats aren't usually into pate-style foods but they love the duck and turkey!

They are gorgeous! It kind of depends on their weight, and activity level. Mine each get 2 ounces of canned in the morning, 2 oz canned or freeze dried raw at night and 1/8 cup of kibble right before I go to sleep. It keeps them from waking me up at 3:30am. They're super lazy pants though and aren't very active. I just buy the bigger cans of food and refrigerate the leftovers. Then warm and serve later. 

I keep them on a little kibble because they love it, and in case I ever want to leave for an overnight trip. I don't want to have someone have to come over 2x a day to open a can.

Do any of you know if Kroger has premium canned cat food? Or what to look for in cat food as far as ingredients go?

Also, you mentioned maybe she's become sensitive/allergic to chicken. What's another good protein? Turkey? Rabbit? Lamb?

I am not sure on Kroger's as there is not one where I live. All of those are great proteins, but turkey is probably going to be the easiest to find, and offer the most variety.

I stay away from cat foods with grains, corn, and rice. Cats have trouble digesting grains, and rice is more of a cheap filler that cats don't need. Rice doesn't hurt them, but it's kind of an empty carb. Cats are carnivores and need meat. I always make sure meat is the first ingredient in whatever I'm buying. I also stay away from fish flavors, except as a treat. Cats can get easily addicted to fish, and most fish has high mercury levels.

Paiger8 said:

I am not sure on Kroger's as there is not one where I live. All of those are great proteins, but turkey is probably going to be the easiest to find, and offer the most variety.

I stay away from cat foods with grains, corn, and rice. Cats have trouble digesting grains, and rice is more of a cheap filler that cats don't need. Rice doesn't hurt them, but it's kind of an empty carb. Cats are carnivores and need meat. I always make sure meat is the first ingredient in whatever I'm buying. I also stay away from fish flavors, except as a treat. Cats can get easily addicted to fish, and most fish has high mercury levels.

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Great summary! I agree about turkey probably being the easiest to find. And I also agree about rice being an empty carb.

This is just me but the first thing I'd do is switch to wet foods that don't have grains, potato, or other fillers. If that didn't help, I'd take out fish. Then chicken. But that's just me. And it's largely because our cats eat so much chicken that I wouldn't want to eliminate it unless I really had to!

I just wanted to let everyone know how the cats are doing, and what helped my cat stop throwing up all the time.

I got a bunch of wet food. Specifically Newman's Own. I first got the turkey and vegetable one, and the liver one. The liver one was made with beef which my cats have never had, so that made them both sick! But the turkey one has been working like a charm. Today I went and got two more flavors: plain turkey and chicken. That way they have some variety!

I feed them each half a can of wet food in the morning, and then before I leave for the day I put 1/4 cup of kibble in their bowls. But I make sure it's not in mounds so Harper can't gobble it too fast. I feed them another half a can at dinner time and then before bed put another 1/4 cup of kibble.

It works. Harper isn't throwing up. She did have a hairball the other day, but that's expected.

Thanks for all the advice! I hope this forum helps someone else.

Glad to hear it helped, @clairejoy94!

@clairejoy94  Awesome!! I'm glad you figured it out!