Vomiting Undigested Food

[lesulm16]

My three year old cat Ava has recently been throwing up undigested food. It has happened every few days but when I got home from work today there was two mounds of it. She acts normal and is still using the litter box. She is fed twice a day, around 8 am and 8 pm and she gets blue wilderness adult indoor cat food. She also has a raised feeding dish.

I have only had her for about two months so I am not sure if she vomited before. She loves food and I'm wondering if she is just eating too fast as I know her previous home had too many animals which is why she was surrendered to humane society I adopted her from.

I'm not sure if I should try a different type of food, the golf ball trick to slow her eating, or if this is something she needs to see a vet about asap. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Does she typically eat really fast or overeat? That's where the golf ball comes into play. If she doesn't do that, then it won't help. And you can tell those things because she will actually regurgitate her food within 15 minutes of eating it, rather than actually vomiting, although it's hard to tell the difference other than that time frame.

 

[lesulm16]

She does typically eat fast, the speed seems to have increased since I've had her. We are a one cat home and have no children so she is not rushed at all to eat before it is disturbed. I have never actually seen her vomit. Its always when I get home or at night (I woke up to one vomit this morning and it looked like the entire contents of her bowl. I fed her some wet food this morning (she gets it occasionally) and she hasn't vomited yet. Its been about a half an hour. She is currently trying to get me to feed her more but I want her to keep down what she has. I think I am going to call the vet this morning and see if they would like to see her.

 

[Antonio65]

It sounds like where she lived before she was bullied by other cats and she couldn't get enough food when she wanted to.
Now that she has full availability of food she can't believe her luck and eats as fast as she can to make sure no one else steal her food.
If she eats too fast I don't think there's much you can do but waiting for her to relax, but this could take time.

My younger cat took years to understand that nobody was going to eat her food.
I know there are food dispensers that forces your cat to slow down while eating. Ideally you could give your cat small amounts of food more times during the day but I do understand that it's not always possible.

If she only vomits her dry food then it could be that some of the ingredients is bothering her.

 

[lesulm16]

She went to the vet this morning and had an X-ray. Basically, she is constipated. The vet gave her some fluids and gave me some medication and easily digestible food for her. She is throwing up because her intestines are full. I'm supposed to watch her the next few days and see how things go.

 

[Antonio65]

OK, good to know that you have pinned down the issue.
Keep a close eye on her and her litter. Haven't you noticed her litter clean of poop lately?
Could I advise you on using Psyllium added to her wet food? It works a treat!

 

[lesulm16]

There has been some poop but not as much as normal and I didn't think too much of it until she started vomiting the last two days. The vet seems to think she should be fine once we get everything moving, now we just need to figure out why it started in the first place.

 

[goingpostal]

Possibly from the dry food, cats need moisture in their diet and don't have a strong thirst drive as they designed to get it from what they eat. Have you considered canned food?

 

[lesulm16]

I have considered it and my try a half and half. To start with and see if that helps. Has anyone had any luck with the water fountains. My parents had one when I was growing up and all their cats were fed primarily dry without any issues.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

If she likes to drink from any of your faucets, she might like a fountain. I had four cats (at one time). ONE loved drinking from the faucet, and when we got a fountain, she was the only one who ever drank from it. All the others would see what she was doing, and would go up to it and sometimes check it out, but I had to actually keep a water bowl next to the fountain for them to use .

If your little one is prone to constipation, I second the idea of feeding wet food, as kibble is very drying, and cats normally don't drink enough. Adding psyillium might be needed too, depending on how bad the issue is.

 

[lesulm16]

I've only had her about two months so I am not sure if she is prone to constipation but I am willing to try anything to keep her healthy (and keep me from spending lots of money at the vets).

 

[Clancy's Mom]

There has been some poop but not as much as normal and I didn't think too much of it until she started vomiting the last two days. The vet seems to think she should be fine once we get everything moving, now we just need to figure out why it started in the first place.

With my cat, constipation, vomiting, and eating too fast go hand in hand. He’s also on laxatone, which helps.