Eating problem or disorder?

[geegeex57]

I have a 7 year old tortoiseshell. When I first got her from a shelter, she didn't eat much, even for a kitten. So I tried different cat foods, and finally found one she really liked. She ate it with zeal and gained appropriate weight. A year or so ago Purina announced it would stop making the cat food. I bought as much as I could, and finally exhausted my stock about 4 months ago. I did supplement her dry food with wet food, the Sheba Cuts. I gave her 1/2 of one of the pods in the morning and 1/2 in the evening before I went to bed. Those come in a 2 pod package that you break a part. So 1 pod lasts 1 day.

Since then she cries constantly. I have not found a dry cat food she will eat. She throws up everything I give her, usually within 20 minutes of eating. So I buy small bags of cat food, and give it to her, then wait to see if she throws up. She still eats the wet food, but since she is throwing up the dry food, she isn't getting enough and all she wants is the wet good now, all day long. She cries so much, she is losing her voice. I don't understand how she could be so hungry all day.

I worry about her nutrition if she is throwing up like that. Should I just do away with the dry food, and just feed her entirely the wet food? Also to note, I had to buy a slow feed plate, to put the wet food on. She was eating it so fast, she threw that up too, until I used the slow feed plate. Now she doesn't throw up any of the wet food.

Any thoughts?

 

[Norachan]

G geegeex57 This could mean she has an intestinal blockage, allergies to something in her food or even hair balls. Has she been checked over by a vet recently? That would be a good place to start.

 

[geegeex57]

Yes, I think it's time to take her to the vet, she needs a check up anyhow. Thank you.

 

[FeebysOwner]

While she may need a vet check, I would increase the amount of wet food per day and eliminate the dry for now. Eating too fast is/was probably occurring because she is constantly hungry from throwing up the dry she eats and not getting enough food in total. I would guess that once she is eating a proper amount of wet food that you might see her slow down on her own.

Many cats don't do well with abrupt dry food changes. Ideally, one would need to start testing a new dry food by adding just a bit to the 'old' food and then increase the new food while decreasing the old over time. I realize you don't have this opportunity since the food she used to eat is no longer available and you used all of the spare you had.

You could contact Purina and ask if there is a comparable food to the one they discontinued. They should be able to tell the ingredients of the old food as well as what they suggest for a replacement so you can compare the two and see how different they are. Adding just a small amount of dry to her food regimen as you continue to give her a proper amount of wet is one way to handle the situation if you think you want her to be eating some dry as a supplement to her wet food in the long run. But, you might want to wait awhile to do so, just to let her digestive tract settle down from all the vomiting/changes in dry foods.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I have a 7 year old tortoiseshell. ... wet food, the Sheba Cuts. I gave her 1/2 of one of the pods in the morning and 1/2 in the evening before I went to bed. Those come in a 2 pod package that you break a part. So 1 pod lasts 1 day.

Since then she cries constantly. ... She cries so much, she is losing her voice. I don't understand how she could be so hungry all day.

I worry about her nutrition if she is throwing up like that. Should I just do away with the dry food, and just feed her entirely the wet food? Also to note, I had to buy a slow feed plate, to put the wet food on. She was eating it so fast, she threw that up too, until I used the slow feed plate. Now she doesn't throw up any of the wet food.
...

I would definitely recommend doing away with the dry food (esp. since you cannot find a reliable one that doesn't make her vomit), and feed her predominantly wet food. You've worked out that a slow-feed plate really helps her to pace herself.

But I do wonder if you are giving her enough of the Sheba -- are you only giving her a single pod per day? That is not enough food for her. That could very well be why she is crying- she's a bit hungry! If you only give her wet food, and no dry food, you will need to increase the amount of wet food so that she gets enough kcal per day. I looked at the Sheba web site and it looks like one pod alone is meant to be one meal (one serving).

I have a cat who will be 7 in a few weeks, and I don't feed her Sheba Cuts but, for her canned/wet food, she eats at least 5-to-8/9 ounces per day and she maintains her 10lb- weight quite well. I would say she eats 2-3 ounces per meal (I feel her several times a day). There are some times that she doesn't eat all of a meal at one sitting, but many canned foods can stay out for a little while before they get yucky. Sometimes she eats 1-2 ounces; then 20-40 minutes later, she goes back to the dish to finish. If I were feeding her Sheba Cuts, I'd probably feed her 3-4 times a day using at least a pod each time.