14 month old male cat vomiting/regurgitating food

[ZsadistRaven]

Hello, I have two orange tabby cats about 14 months old, one male and one female. Lately, it seems like my male cat has been vomiting/regurgitating an hour or so after he eats. Not after every meal, but often enough to worry me since the stuff is undigested food with no fur. (I never catch him in the act, so I'm not sure if it's just him or if his sister is also doing this also, I'm just going off of his guilty behavior when I find the mess.) This issue has been going on for about 2-3 months; originally it was about once every week or so and now, as of this past week, its about every other day. He hasn't been acting any differently, he's still overly playful and rambunctious, and neither of them has lost any weight nor are they dehydrated.

About 2 months ago I started feeding them both dry adult cat food, at first mixing it with their dry kitten food for about a week or so. Then, this past Friday/Saturday, he woke me up really early and proceeded to try and hack up a hairball (I think) but all that he spit out was this clear, frothy stuffy. Then, for the rest of the morning, he was on and off licking his lips and swallowing loudly like he was nauseous. I spoke to a Vet Tech and she believed, due to his age and his normal behavior, that is was most likely a hairball. (This would have been his first hairball ever, neither he nor his sister have coughed one up.) To help him, I gave him some over the counter hairball medicine I remember using on the cats I has growing up. He seemed fine for the rest of the day until he ate dinner, which he threw back up, so I started putting his food out on a cookie tray just in case the issue was him eating too fast. Sunday he was perfectly fine, didn't vomit at all.

Yesterday he really kind of scared me. He was completely fine and normal in the morning, then around noon, I found what I believed was a runny hairball until I went to clean it up. He'd vomited the pieces of shoe laces he'd eaten back in March! (I'd taken him to the vet when I realized he'd eaten nearly 6 inches in total of shoe laces [3 inches off each side of the laces]. She did a through exam and determined he'd most likely eaten them in small pieces since nothing seemed wrong and they would pass through his system in about a day. He never had any issue eating, drinking, or going to the bathroom so I assumed they'd gotten out of him.) I kept a close eye on him for the rest of the day after I found the mess and he had no other issues. Then today, I found another pile of regurgitated food that must have been from what he'd eaten for breakfast. Again, aside from the vomit I keep finding, he has been just like normal. I will also point out, his sister hasn't done anything or acted in any way that would even hint she's the one throwing up. Both of them have not lost any weight and are not dehydrated, so they are getting nutrition.

I'm a little worried about my cat and I tend to over explain things, so, sorry this is so long. But, basically, I would just like some advice on what to do. If there is anything I can do that might be able to help him out? Anything I might need to change with their diet or whatnot? Or if this seems like it might be a symptom of something worse. I don't have money right now and am not sure I could afford anything past a simple exam (if I had anything extra, I'd be taking him to the vet in a heartbeat). Thank you for your time and advice.

 

[fionasmom]

There is an established pattern of regurgitation and/or vomiting which would make me want to seek some veterinary care. Do you suspect that he has gotten into other things like the shoelace and eaten them? If I am understanding you, he has not really ever thrown up actual hairballs? Cats who eat too fast will regurgitate, but it is usually infrequent. Frequent regurgitation is usually linked to issues in the esophagus. Some of these would be unlikely in a young cat, but I do think that this is happening too often to ignore. I would definitely consider a vet visit.

As for what you can try at home, consider switching to wet food and see if there is an improvement. You do have a timeline that might be related to the switch in food to the dry. Sometimes elevating the food dish will help as it changes the position that the cat uses to eat, but if he is a very fast eater, change to a dish that makes that more difficult to do. There are some on the market, but you could also use a flat dinner plate which is harder for cats to navigate.

 

[ZsadistRaven]

I am positive that he hasn't gotten into anything he's not supposed to. After the shoelace incident I have been extremely careful with any type of string, I won't even leave the toys that have anything string like out when I'm not able to watch him. I'm also very careful with anything he might chew apart since he loves chewing on things. Unless it is very sturdy or has proven it can withstand his teeth, he's not allowed to play with it without me. I also keep anything remotely dangerous to them behind doors they can't open and in places they absolutely can't get to, so I know he hasn't gotten into that stuff. And, no, neither of my cats have had a hairball yet. I'm currently putting their food on a flat cookie tray and it seems to have slightly slowed his eating down.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would still raise his food dish. Since you are feeding them on something flat, then perhaps you have put his food on a dinner plate, or even a paper plate and raise it up. You can use a large can for that purpose to get you started. But the suggestion of feeding wet food is appropriate too as it helps with hairballs. I would also keep giving him the hairball gel that you talked about. It sounds like there is definitely something in there. Definitely call the Vet and let them know that shoelace JUST NOW was vomited up from March! I think that's important. Did all of it get vomited up, or just one half?

 

[ZsadistRaven]

I’ll try raising the tray. I’m looking into getting one of those activity feeder things that makes the cat dig the dry food out. I have to be careful feeding them wet food since he will inhale it while his sister is more of a nibble-throughout-the-day kind of cat and I don’t want to leave wet food out for too long. As for the shoestrings, I am mostly positive he got those out of his system since it was just the two pieces of those, however he did manage to eat two smaller portions of some ties off my clothing about a month or so after them. (He got into my hamper when I wasn’t home.) But they were nothing near as much as the shoestrings and I did notice one of those in his vomit. He’s been fine since I posted this, no sign of vomit or hairballs anywhere, but I will call the vet if I find anymore. Thank you for the advice.