my cat vomits everyday

Hi, I am desparate. I have 3 DSH cats. All went well until about over a year ago the oldest one, born March 1998, started to throw up often with fur in the vomit. She gradually loses weight. I took her to the vet. The vet ran blood profile on her with normal results. I started to give her Lex Aire. It did not help. Her appetite is very good. Currently she eats Science Diet, 2 tbs of FF canned food, and a little bit of FF dry as treats. She constantly grooms herself. The other two cats don't throw up except once in a while as normal cats do. I read in other posts about the rec. of using Petromalt. I will give it a try. Should I change the food, too? She started to get thinner.
HELP!

Hi there! Welcome, to you and your family. I would strongly suggest that you seek a second opinion for your kitty, preferably a feline specialist. It's not normal or healthy for a cat to vomit every day. As you mention, Petromalt is one alternative for hairballs if this is the problem, kitty grass which you can grow yourself is another idea. Also, brush her several times a day to help prevent her ingesting so much fur. Try elevating her food dish on a little stand or a couple of thick books. I also recommend that you work with your vet to try a different food, perhaps one for sensitive yummies, and also consider switching her to a primarily wet food diet.

Again, welcome, we're very glad you've joined us and hope can help you and your kitty. Let's move your thread to Health and Nutrition.

Ditto the idea of a feline specialist.. or at least a vet who specialzes in cats only...ie cat only clinic..

A wet food is great ....

Our last cat started vomiting regularly (and she always used to run away from the tiled kitchen to vomit in the carpeted lounge room - sigh). We finally worked out she had issues with chicken. Any food with chicken she'd barf up. Which was a shame because we were giving her raw chicken wings/legs for her teeth and she LOVED them!

Have you tried working out if she's allergic to something? I guess her in the vomit probably indicates more of a hairball type problem though... Could she have a skin condition?

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I went to two vets and even thought of writing to Dr Michael Fox but does not have his email address. The kind of canned food that I feed her is chicken because the other cat likes it so much. (My boy cat does not eat wet food.) I will change to fish in case this is a combination of food allergy and hairball. With 3 cats, I don't even know whether she has bowel movement. She does not throw up right after eating though. I will report back. Thanks again.

Has your cat had an x-ray ? This may show up any problems that would not necessarily show up in a blood scan.

Smudge used to throw up all the time and despite many check up the vets could never find the root cause of it all. Allergies were suggested but again despite many changes in diet nothing could be pinned down.

When an x-ray was finally done there was, what the vet described, as a 'mass' in her chest/stomach area.

It is not my wish to scare you, it could well be an allergy to chicken or some other ingredient. Or maybe something like hairs in her throat which may cause vomitting. I just wish someone had suggested an x-ray to me much earlier in Smudges illness.

Please let us know what happens.

The xray issue crossed my mind. I will start with food first. I will get her new wet food and Petromalt today. Going to the vet for xray will be the last resource. She is that last one in the litter that I could not find home for. She is very shy. My husband can't even touch her. Her mother was left out to fend for herself back in 1997. I befriended her when she had her first litter. Just a little bit about myself. I am a very active volunteer at the no-kill animal agency in my city. I had always been a dog person until I met Millie, the mother cat of Penny (the sick cat I wrote about). When Millie had the second litter in my neighbor's yard, I managed to get her and her 4 kittens into my screened deck. I found home for all except Penny. Millie died several years later of liver disease. At least her last years were safe inside.
Back to the subject, taking her to the vet will stress her out. I will report back. Thanks.

Penny just threw up, no hairball. She did not get any canned food since last episode the evening before. She ate some dried FF as treats and Sci Diet. I am going to withhold these 2 things and feed her IAMS. She used to eat IAMS in the past for a long time.
I hope you don't mind me sharing with you these details. I wanted to write these down and at the same time someone might be able to help me along the way.

Most of my cat's vomiting was related to IBD... but a portion of it was because his bowls weren't elevated. Now, all food is elevated and that solved the vomiting problem. Since you've mentioned hair in the mess, this might not help, but it did work for me.

i had this problem with my cat also, but lucky for me i just changed her diet, every time i gave her dried food she would puke it up, so i changed her food to more fresh sachets and more fresh meat and dairy products, try that with your cat, give them some meats like hams and cooked chicken, my cat loves those.

or it could be because your cat is old? maybe her stomach is not as strong as it used to be, poor thing .

My Pearl has thrown up nearly every day since I have had her. Sometimes it is a hairball, sometimes just food. She is a good weight, her coat is beautiful, and she eats just fine. We have gotten several opionions, had all kinds of tests run, and we cannot find a reason for it. She is a very nervous cat, due to abuse before I got her, and that is the only conclusion we have been able to come to, a nervous stomach. She will live with me as long as she lives, so I have resigned myself to "cat hurl patrol" every day. I hope you find out what is wrong with her.

Hi Shambelle, what is IBD? About elevating the bowl, did you cat vomit right after eating? Penny will throw up several hours after eating. The mess looks like food that has already been digested in the stomach.

My Callie used to throw up like crazy. After taking her to the vet and having tests run on her, I finally figured out it was the canned food I was feeding her. Any food with fish in it caused her to throw up. In addition, the dry food I was feeding her (Nutro indoor light) was giving her gas, which just aggravated the problem. We changed foods and she's been fine!

IBD is irritable bowel disease. A little while back, my Sierra was vomiting several times a day a while after each meal, not immediately. Her Vet recommended that she begin taking 5 mg of Famotidine (Pepcid) twice daily, and it has helped dramatically! Now, she vomits only a couple of times a week. You may want to consider discussing this with your Vet. Perhaps it would effectively help your little girl, as well!

We most certainly don't mind your detailed information, in fact, the more details, the better! This is exactly why we're here~for each other's kitties! Thank you for keeping us updated!

After changing to another dry and wet food, her food stayed in her body for almost 24 hours. At this point, I decided that chicken might be the cause. Yesterday, I got her Hill's venison and green pea dry. None of the cats like it but if they are hungry enough, they will eat, right? She ate a lot of wet food with fish ingredients. Before bed time, she was looking for food so I gave the new wet food I got from the vet, Royal Canin venison. She would not eat it so I added the fishy to the bowl. She ate around it and left the venison kind untouched. The other two smelled it and walked away. This morning all the food in the bowl was gone and no vomit yet. I will try this for a week. If no improvement, she will go back to the vet. Will report again. Thanks for listening.

Great report, thank you! You and Penny keep up the great work!

update: Yesterday Penny threw up small amount. Today no vomit. Mom is happy. She has been eating FF Oceanwhite fish and wet venison twice a day. We'll see.

Wonderful! Way to go, Penny!

I had a cat that used to throw up all the time with hair balls. The vet thought that it was probably a massive hair ball (I was only 15 so i don't know to many details) Unfortunatly my parents couldn't afford X Rays so we never figured it out. Maybe you can try getting some medacine that helps losen up the hairballs. The vet I went through had chicken and tuna flavor and I believe it was only like $7. I hope your kitty starts feeling better.