Applehead Siamese: Chronic Up-Chucking: Please Advise!

Hullo! Thanks for viewing my post especially if this topic has been covered previously (newbie).

I have two spayed female Siamese ages 8 and 7. I have been having problems with them throwing up their food. Large piles which look as if they have unchewed pieces in them. Sometimes it is a tubular kind of shape of mass.

They are otherwise in excellent health.

Currently I am feeding them "Meow Mix" by Purina.

Has anyone had success with Hairball formula catfoods?

Has anyone had this problem that can make any suggestions at all? I would so appreciate it. Thank you.

I have a Russian Blue mix that had/has the same problem. The vet told me that she has a sensitive stomach and that I just needed to try different foods until I found one she seemed to tolerate the most. I tried the sensitive stomach formulas, the hairball formulas, light formulas, etc., etc., and etc. (you get the picture). Eventually I discovered that her digestive problem not only had to do with the formula but also the size and shape of the morsels. She is currently eating Purina One. The morsels in Purina One are much smaller than some other foods (not as small as Iams, but she couldn't tolerate the formula of Iams). She is doing much better on Purina One; she hardly throws up anymore.

Meow Mix has dyes in it which could also be triggering sensitivity in your kitties (I believe I also heard that they recently changed the formula of Meow Mix and a lot of cat owners are having the same problem as you). I suggest you try another food to see if it's just Meow Mix. If you get the same results then carefully try different foods to see how they do on them. It takes time but it's worth it! It took me over a year to come to Purina One as the best one for my baby.

I feed all my cats Purina One, and will sometimes even put some of the food into a baggie and smash it up with a hammer, so the pieces are easier for the cats. If your cats have long hair, it could be hairballs, and brushing them daily will help, plus adding cod liver oil (a few drops) to their food will help as well.

Yup again, the #1 cause of vomiting is a food intolerance and usually giving them a little fish oil in the food helps to prevent any unwanted hair blockage.

I'm so excited: thank you for the advice I will definitely try the Purina One and the fish oil!

I've also found that my burmese Nikki tends to throw up simply because she's 'pigged out' on her food. If I hear her crunching through biscuits for a long time or she seems to be pigging out on her dinner excessively, esp if she's just come in from running around , I take it away from her for a while so that she has time to digest...seems to do the trick more than changing brands (she'll regurgitate Purina just as easily as anything else)

I just wanted to say thanks again for the advice. I have been using the Purina One Adult formula for two weeks. I have had only one incidence of spit up. This time it was not a gross tubular mass of whole pieces; it now looks like baby spit up. I guess the word is "masticated." It was only a little bit and may have been because she ate too fast. A huge improvement!

I definitely feel that the dyes and artificial substances in the Meow Mix were at fault here. I also think the shapes and sizes were a culprit, like you guys suggested. I mean quite honestly I really don't think my cats care if their kibble is fishy-shaped or not

I hope this food continues to work out.

Destiny

I'm sorry, but Purina One is nearly as bad. All grocery store brands are so disgusting I won't even tell you what's in them, and they are really overpriced for what you get.

Petsmart has an alright brand, Nutro Max Naturals. Science Diet and Iams are ok, but expensive. Look on line for natural pet foods, many deliver in bulk as well, it's great.

My cat used to do this too. She was abused and neglected, and I think she was always afraid she wouldn't get enough. So finally I started putting down so much food, 6+ bowls of it!, there was no way she could eat ti all. SHe finally got the message that she will always have enough food here and has stopped the vomiting.

I feed Nutro - Adult (cuz I have "adults", although they act like kiddens). I was feeding, IAMS and the lady at my Co-Op said a different company took them over and it was mostly corn - went way down in quality. So she suggested nutro - my katz love it. Also, Nutro puts in Taurine, which is great for UTI prevention. can't remember the name - NO CORN.

They have kidden, Adult, and for those heftier katz a kind of low fat diet stuff....


I used to feed just kibble - I don't like moist (ash). But now I'm feeding Science Diet Fancy Dinners in Sauce cuz of my new cat Jinxy - Ya know the "ooohhh, somthin special to share with Jake" thing. Just till he's comfy in his new home. The only time I would feed anything off a grocery store shelf is if I run out and need somthing quick. I just don't trust them.

Hmmmm, I have been feeding my kitten IAMS, firstly because it was recommended and what he was eating when we got him and second, because I believed it wasn't full of corn!!! :disturbed I agree that grocery store brands, especially Meow Mix, is not good. My last cat used to puke up that nasty Meow Mix and I could kick myself for ever getting it in the first place for my baby!

So where can I get Nutro? Jinxy loves the taste of IAMS kitten formula. (Not that he tells me, but he sure scarffs it down like crazy)! Have you heard if the taste is comparable? I dont want to upset him unecessarily.

I wish I could remember where I found the info all about cat foods and what they really are. Ugh!

I feed my kitties the canned Iams kitten food (in the purple), it's the only one that doesn't look and smell nasty.

For dry food, I was doing Iams as well, but they really love this Nutro Max Naturals, and they have several lines for different ages, etc. Ah, after looking at the site, the name is actual Nutro Natural Choice Complete Kitten.

Here is Nutro's cat food site. http://www.nutroproducts.com/indexcat.html
On the left you will see a 'where to get' link, and on that page you can put in your address and it will tell you the closest place.
There is also a page where you can input info on your pet, even things like bad breath, loose stools, throwing up undigested food, along with age, weight, etc, and it recommends which nutro products.

Nutro Naturals Kitten FOod Ingredients:
http://www.nutroproducts.com/naturalkitten_product.html

Purina One Ingredients:
http://www.purinaone.com/products/ca...product=Kitten

Purina One lists several types of animal meal or animal by-products. These are ground up parts that aren't normally eaten. Claws, hooves, beaks, eyes, hair, skin. Nutro naturals and other good pet foods do not use these.

Thanks a lot Alicia. I am going to look it up right now. I also give Jinxy a scoop of the Iams kitten (purple). He loves it and your right it doesn't smell nasty at all!! :laughing2

I looked it up and it sounds good, so I called my vet to see if she had it. She said they don't carry it, but that they do carry Pro Plan. Does anybody know anything about Pro Plan and whether of not it is comparable or better than Nutro??? :flower: :flash:

Actually, that's what I was feeding them, until I found out how bad it was. I researched all this because my cat was throwing up undigested food. Part of it can be because the food isn't nutritious enough so they eat and eat. Anyways, sorry, but ProPlan's not that great.

Here's search results from Google on natural cat food
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=natural+cat+food
, but I am sure some of the pet stores (supply) will sell a good brand. Do you have Petsmart or Petco? Or even smaller chains will probably sell a good rand, you just have to look at what you are buying.

Pet Co sells Nutro, I believe petsmart does as well. We tried it, but 6 out of the 12 didn't tolerate it. I was going to try wellness but the only pet store that sells it, also sells puppys and kittens. I wont patron stores who do this and I dont want to mail order food. I think Pet Co sells one more brand of natural food.

Thanks Alicat and Sandie. I'm glad you posted because I would have went to my vet on my way home from work for the ProPlan. I guess I had better do some reasearch before acting hastily. I know there is a Pet Smart around me, but I am not sure about Pet Co. The web didn't indicate that Pet Smart carried Nutro, only Pet Co. I guess Jinxy can wait a couple of extra days until I find something better than Iams. In the meantime, he is a happy and healthy little boy!

Well, I searched using your county, but I'm not sure if places are close to you or not. PM me your zip and city and I'll try to find closer places. I'm not sure about Petsmart. I looked and found Nature's Recipe, but I think I tried it and it didn't go over well with my kitties.

So far in my searching, I have found that Nature's Recipe is made by Heinz, and looks okay except they use anumal by products, part you and I wouldn't eat and aren't digestible for kitties.

Iams and Eukanuba are the same company!

ProPlan is made by Purina! It's the same as the grocery store stuff in a prettier package with a mark up.

Man, these pet food people are tricky!

I found a place in Somerset, NJ that sells Nutro and seems to be a very ethical place, called 'Pets, Pets, Pets'. 3 locations:

438 Route 513 Califon NJ 07830 908-832-0533
2 JFK Blvd. Somerset NJ, 08873 (732)545-6675
US Hwy #1 South Brunswick NJ 08852 (732)329-0070

They also sell several lines from Naturapet that look promising. I may end up using one of theirs if I can find them on this side (I'm in Seattle!)

The key is to avoid anything that says 'by-products' or corn, except corn hull glutens.

Oh wow! I went to Natura Pet's site and found this:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.asp?sc=7-3&hsc=
It's a comparison generator between ingredients they will and won't use! Very interesting!

Okay, I know for a fact Petsmart carries Nutro. I went to RI tonight and looked at their food selection. The only reason I am pro "larger pet stores" is because they tend to be a little less expensive than the feed stores and such.

Thanks so much you guys!! I have been terribly busy and have not been on line for a few days. I did find two places on the web near me that say they sell Nutro. Now that I know Petsmart carries it, I will go there first. I plan on getting it at some point this week if possible. I'll keep ya posted. If I have trouble, I will seek your help again. Me and Jinxy thank you again!!

hows things????