My cat vomits if he eats too much food on an empty stomach. Please help??

[Rooker]

Hi! So I have been having trouble with my 2 year old long haired male kitty. He has been vomitting food for almost a year now and we still have no idea why that happens. He will vomit guaranteed if he has not eaten anything for longer than 3-4 hours and then eats "more than his stomach can handle", which is approximately 2 table spoons of food. He is more likely to vomit wet food over dry food. And he will vomit it within 5-10 minutes of eating. My vet tested him for GI, Pancreatitis, and all including his blood work looked perfectly fine. I fed him raw food and he would still vomit, fed him the EN Purina prescription wet food, and he will still vomit if he eats too much of it on an empty stomach. The key here is that his stomach, when empty, literally seems to be unable to handle a lot of food all at once. The food needs to get introduced by very small amounts (one teaspoon) every hour, or else he will vomit. My vet recommended I give him pepcid before he eats, and that has helped some, however, it has not solved the problem. He has also been having dark blood on his poop, so as per my vet, I have given him probiotics, which helped him to pass stool without blood, but did not do anything for the vomitting. My vet thinks the bloody stool and vomitting have a connection.
Is there anybody who has similar experience? How did you find out what the problem was? Please help, any advice is much appreciated at this point.

 

[rubysmama]

I don't have any advice for you, however, a similar thing happens with my Ruby when she goes several hours without eating anything. Sometimes, in her case, particularly in the mornings, she'll vomit bile before she actually eats anything. However today, she napped too long, which meant she went too long between breakfast and lunch, and once she did eat something, it came back up a short time later. It happens more often when she eats kibble on an empty stomach, but it will happen with canned food as well. With Ruby it's not all the time, as she has learned to graze her food, so her stomach doesn't get empty as often.

Ruby, also, from time to time will have softer/diarrhea-like stools, but we mostly control that with limited ingredient foods. And since I think she has a sensitivity to chicken, I feed her food with no chicken at all, whenever possible.

Because it doesn't happen every day, even though the vet knows of Ruby's sensitive digestive system, we've never done testing to determine whether she has IBD or not. If you think your cat might have IBD, here's a TCS article on the topic, if you want to check it out: Inflammatory Bowel Disease In Cats – TheCatSite Articles

 

[vince]

I have one that does the "scarf-n-barf." The solution is to not feed them too much at a meal (I have to follow it with all the cats, as he'll eat their food too and vomit it). I usually have to sit with them at mealtime to make sure everybody eats their own.

I don't think there's a physiological problem with him. It's behavioral.

 

[Rooker]

He probably has IBD but we have not tested him for it since it is invasive and expensive. My vet also said that his stomach is probably making too much acid, which is why we give him pepcid.
It will often happen that he will nap for hours and then eat, and immediatelly vomit, too. Like you described with your Ruby.

 

[Rooker]

I have one that does the "scarf-n-barf." The solution is to not feed them too much at a meal (I have to follow it with all the cats, as he'll eat their food too and vomit it). I usually have to sit with them at mealtime to make sure everybody eats their own.

I don't think there's a physiological problem with him. It's behavioral.

Hmm it could be. Honestly I have seen him just force the food down at times, even though he was full, you could tell he was "struggling" to keep on eating, but he did anyways because it just tasted too good, I guess?
Other times he is super hungry since he has not eaten all night, and then he will scarf it down like a hungry wolf. And then he vomits because he ignored his stomach telling him "slow down, I'm full!".
This part could be behavioral, but what about the bloody stools? My vet thinks it has a connection.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Rooker , has your Vet determined if this is truly vomiting, or regurgitation? One way to tell is if you can see his tummy contracting before the food comes back up. If so, that's vomiting. If not, if he basically just opens his mouth and the food flows back out, that's regurgitating. Regurgitation usually happens within 15 minutes of eating and is typically from eating either too fast or too much and those two issues can often be resolved by how you feed. You can use a slow feed bowl and raise it up to help, and, of course, feed less food at each meal, but more meals. If it's true vomiting, then that is something your Vet would need to work on figuring out, like with the Pepcid. Ulcers can definitely cause bloody stools and vomiting, not saying that's the issue, but the pepcid made me think of it.

 

[Boris Diamond]

I have a cat that is a compulsive eater. I have to feed him separately from other cats or he will eat the other cat's food. I use a slow feeder bowl. If I give him more than an eighth of a cup of food at once, it is likely that he will throw it up. Sometimes I will give him a little extra food an hour after his eighth of a cup. If the other cats don't eat all their food, I have to put it up. He rarely throws up with using this method.

 

[Rooker]

Rooker , has your Vet determined if this is truly vomiting, or regurgitation? One way to tell is if you can see his tummy contracting before the food comes back up. If so, that's vomiting. If not, if he basically just opens his mouth and the food flows back out, that's regurgitating. Regurgitation usually happens within 15 minutes of eating and is typically from eating either too fast or too much and those two issues can often be resolved by how you feed. You can use a slow feed bowl and raise it up to help, and, of course, feed less food at each meal, but more meals. If it's true vomiting, then that is something your Vet would need to work on figuring out, like with the Pepcid. Ulcers can definitely cause bloody stools and vomiting, not saying that's the issue, but the pepcid made me think of it.

It is definitely vomiting. He vomits about 10 minutes after he has eaten too much and his tummy definitely contracts.
He is only 2 years old, not sure where would the ulcers come from?

 

[Rooker]

I have a cat that is a compulsive eater. I have to feed him separately from other cats or he will eat the other cat's food. I use a slow feeder bowl. If I give him more than an eighth of a cup of food at once, it is likely that he will throw it up. Sometimes I will give him a little extra food an hour after his eighth of a cup. If the other cats don't eat all their food, I have to put it up. He rarely throws up with using this method.

Yeah, this method works for my cat as well, minus the bloody stool. Problem is, I am at work the whole day and cant always give him bigger meals within an hour. And then he still has the bloody stool which my vet thinks is connected to the vomitting...

 

[rubysmama]

Problem is, I am at work the whole day and cant always give him bigger meals within an hour.

You could look into a timed automatic feeder. Most work best with kibble, but some will also work with canned food.

Best Automatic Feeders For Cats (including 17 Detailed Reviews) – TheCatSite Articles

 

[stephanietx]

I had a cat who did this and figured out she couldn't tolerate any fish flavored foods. Are you feeding wet or dry? You might find he stays fuller longer with wet food. You could also try giving him a little bit of food to settle his tummy and then feed him the rest of his food serving about 15 minutes later. Cats are grazers by nature, they eat several small meals a day. We feed our cats 4-5 small meals a day.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It is definitely vomiting. He vomits about 10 minutes after he has eaten too much and his tummy definitely contracts.
He is only 2 years old, not sure where would the ulcers come from?

Age really has nothing to do with cats getting ulcers. They can be caused by certain stresses, parasites, infections in the digestive tract, etc. Since your Vet things the vomiting and bloody stools are related, has he tried to discuss your cat's case with anyone else. Often Vets can confer with local Veterinary Schools to get their take on things, since the Vet Schools are normally up on the latest issues. I would ask them to do that if they haven't already. Or get a second opinion from another Vet, taking copies of all his records so you don't have to start over again from square one.

 

[Rooker]

I had a cat who did this and figured out she couldn't tolerate any fish flavored foods. Are you feeding wet or dry? You might find he stays fuller longer with wet food. You could also try giving him a little bit of food to settle his tummy and then feed him the rest of his food serving about 15 minutes later. Cats are grazers by nature, they eat several small meals a day. We feed our cats 4-5 small meals a day.

I'm feeding wet and occassionally dry. He seems to throw up wet food more often than the dry and fish is something he is also sensitive to, so I feed him chicken-only food. His stomach usually settles when he gets at least some food in, then hour later he is able to eat normal portion. However, this is not always the case and sometimes even 5 pieces of dry food will make him vomit.

 

[Rooker]

Age really has nothing to do with cats getting ulcers. They can be caused by certain stresses, parasites, infections in the digestive tract, etc. Since your Vet things the vomiting and bloody stools are related, has he tried to discuss your cat's case with anyone else. Often Vets can confer with local Veterinary Schools to get their take on things, since the Vet Schools are normally up on the latest issues. I would ask them to do that if they haven't already. Or get a second opinion from another Vet, taking copies of all his records so you don't have to start over again from square one.

Thanks, that is a good point and I'll do that. Thank you!