So frustrated - Ripley throws up a lot but not sick - HELP!

Does anyone else have this problem? Is it common to long haired cats? We go through these stages with Ripley where he throws up several times over a couple of weeks and then he quits for a few weeks and then starts back up. He's back in the puke mode right now and he just made three gross spots all over the carpet. It's always in threes too, always. No matter if it's a lot or a little it's always three different spots.

It's not hairballs or at least there is rarely any hair found and we brush him daily (he rarely grooms himself). I've talked to my vet about this over the years and he suggested I rotate his food every three months between a couple of different brands - that doesn't help. I've tried Science Diet sensitive stomach and it made him throw up worse. Honestly it looks like he over eats and then gets sick but that isn't always the case. Plus any food can cause this - cat treats, the small amount of turkey we sometimes feed him, anything, but they don't always cause it.

There is no rhyme or reason to it and he has always done this. What is the deal? He is not sick and it is not underlying problem or it's been underlying for over 11 years.

I'm going insane - help!! If it is common to medium or long hair cats then it's only short haired kitties for me from now on!

By the way, Jazz and Scout have never thrown up.

Have you tried "hairball reducing" food? He may be grooming himself when you're not looking ... It's good that he is brushed daily.

Maybe it's his form of "artistic expression?" Just teasing ... I'm sure our multicat households will chime in with more experience!

Ripley sounds identical to Tex. Identical. And, to make it stranger, Tex is about as short haired as you can get. He, too, always throws up in 3s. I know the 'pre vomit' sound, and have learned to move fast, and quietly. So, he is very used to me putting something underneath him.

Tex's 'condition' was a complete mystery to many, many vets, even a vet specialist. I think I had a better grasp of it then they did. I wrote in T&P's thread about HT...which Tex was finally dx'd with, that for what ever reason, the meds have calmed it down. Now, not always...tonight, he has thrown up 4 times? I mean, four different episodes. I moved into my house b/c it has hardwood floors. I no longer stress about it.

Tex seems to throw up less when he has food constantly in his tum-tum. For instance, if I don't fill the food bowl before I go to bed, and it is empty in the am, I can count on Tex to have a superbowl of vomiting as soon as he does eat something. Beef seems to make him worse. I have tried most prescription foods it seems...not worth the money, really. I do **kinda** like this one called Science Diet Low Residue Adult Intestional. I do buy that for him...I think it is 15 for a 8 pound bag? But, he eats all the cat food for the other guys, too.

I really can't tell you what is wrong with Ripley. But, I might suggest a thyroid test. Is Ripley thin? Please feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.

(Tex is throwing up RIGHT NOW:D )

over the years I have had 2 chronic vomiters.
Amanda (RB) I swear to you, was bulimic! She'd eat fast and it would come back up. and then being hungrier she'd eat even faster and throw up even more. The only way I could stop the cycle was to feed her slowly. I'd either put her food on a very large flat tray and spread it around so she would actually have to move to get the next bite. OR I'd feed her one bite at a time and keep the pace slow. Once she was back to keeping it down, I could prevent further episodes by feeding her on a VERY strict schedule. NEVER LATE!!!!!!!!
Today I have Monte. His problem is hairballs, but not the big clumps you find on the rug, but rather the kind that when they accumulate in his tummy they prevent him from being able to eat (and keep down) a full meal. Hairball remedies helped a bit but I actually resorted to shaving him during the heaviest of shedding seasons and it worked wonders. No hair, no hair in tummy, no throwing up. He is in full coat now (short hair) and it seems to be starting again. Back to the old clipper.

So, things to try:
making sure he does not eat fast
hairball treats or medicine or food. (I found that the hairball food might cause diarrhea though because of the laxative effect.
brushing or shaving of the hair
one more possibility is if his teeth hurt he might not chew properly. check his teeth or feed a food with a small kibble.

I hope you can find some help for him because it is frustrating to both you and cat (cats HATE to throw up!)

Houdini is the same EXACT way! She vomits constantly and it drives me insane! And she is short haired too!

We have tried several different brands of food, hairball treatment.....so many things but nothing works. A lot of the times she vomits right after she eats so I have to clean up tons of half digested cat food and it's really disgusting. They are free fed so there is food out all the time, so it's never like she's overly hungry. We will be taking Houdini in for a thyroid test next month.

It seems all I do is clean up vomit some days! I know it is frustrating. My problem is I don't always know who is doing it! It's hard to keep up when your at work all day. I come home and there are three of four piles of puke, but I don't know who did it. I don't know if one is sick a lot during the day or if it is just one today and another tomorrow! It's funny but I hardly ever have to clean up vomit on the weekends or when I'm on vacation. I feel really guilty about that because it makes me wonder why they are sick when I'm gone. Could it be emotional?? I don't understand it either but I'm interested in reading the responses to this thread.

Wow, this is amazing. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone with this frustrating problem. It sounds like Tex and Ripley are long lost brothers.

I will check with my vet about getting a thyroid test on Rip and I will take your suggestions Jen about feeding him slowly. He just had a complete dental last spring and everything was fine, they cleaned but didn't have to extract any teeth but feeding him small sized food will probably help too.

It's funny, for a while when it was just Ripley, I bought cat food based on it's color so it wouldn't stain my carpets too badly. I'm pickier on the food I feed everyone now but I still hesitate to give him anything too dark.

Poor Rip is sleeping off his bad day right now so maybe the worst is over for now. He always acts like a baby after he's thrown up and today is no exception.

Kylie went thru that about a year and half or so ago. She is longhaired and does cough up a hairball every so often but this wasn't hairball related. I took her to the vet and he diagnosed gastritis. Gave her an antibiotic and with the exception of a hairball every so often, she hasn't vomited like that since.
I had switched her to light food and then back to her old food and he said that is probably what did it. And when I switched her it didn't give her enough time to recuperate. So when I switched her food this time I did it very very slowly, and no problems.
She never acted like she was 'sick' either. She would just vomit and go on about her business.

Out of my gang of three, Thumper is my barfer. She goes in spurts usually couple months inbetween and just for a couple days. Always in the early hours of a.m. when she gets up to eat when hubby gets up at 4 a.m. for work. Yep, she did it this a.m. She eats to fast and barfs. I keep telling her to slow down but Thumper has a mind of her own. :rolleyes:

Juni does that from time to time, not too often now. I used to feed her with dry food and add once in a while some canned food. I stopped feeding her dry food and I won't go into details about my idea about it, I feed her now with boiled fresh chicken, or fish or beef. On occasions, I buy some canned food. She rarely throws up now.
I dared to buy some dry food (her used to be favorite) this summer and gave it to her. I believe she threw up absolutely every piece of dry food. Then she ate again and the same story. I never gave her again.

My Siamese , do that as they Gulp thier food , and then throw it up . It is the nature of the breed , I think , to wolf down thier meals ! But it is Messy!

Another thing you might want to check with your vet on is giving him 1/4 of a Pepcid. Tubby has always been a puker. When it got to the point where it was almost every day, I took him to the vet. Turns out he is in the beginning stages of kidney failure (which, hopefully, your vet has already ruled out) which was partially responsible for all the throwing up. The vet prescribed 1/4 of a Pepcid every day. She said it was to "calm his tummy down" so he didn't throw up as much. He had lost weight due to his constant throwing up, and she said he should gain it back because his tummy will feel better so the food will stay down and he'll actually get the benefits of the food - which he couldn't do when it was constantly being thrown up.

Since then, he has gained some weight back, and he throws up a lot less. Not even once a month anymore....and I gotta like that with all the white carpeting we have in the house. :rolleyes: :)

But also since then, I have found that some cats have the feline version of acid reflux, just like some humans, and the Pepcid works on them just like it works on us, you of course just want to reduce the size of the dosage. My vet's exact words when she prescribed it were "It may not help, but it won't hurt either, and it's worth a try."

And if you've ever seen a Pepcid, they are the tiniest pills in the world, and trying to cut them into 4's isn't the easiest thing to do, but for Tubby - anything. ;) :D

Be sure and check with your vet first though. Good luck! :)

Bonnies another barfer !!! I put it down to eating far too fast, doesn't seem to affect her health at all as our vet says she is perfectly healthy, just a little greedy !!!

I wish I had the answer, but unfortunately I do not. However, there are alot of good suggestion in here.

I just wanted to let you know that Bob used to puke alot and then I got hairball treasts and that has slowed down alot. Now he only gets sick if he eats too fast.

Joey is my puker, or at least was. I used to be able to count on Joey ouking at least once every couple of days, sometimes daily. The hairball treatments help a little, however it was still faurly regular. Then she got sick on Thanksgiving, and ever since she has come back from the vet she has not thrown up except for the couple of days at Christmas. I have been feeding her I/D food. So it may have been a sensitive stomach all along.

Good luck and I hope you find a cause and are able to stop or at least slow the tide.

Just a suggestion, get a Bissel Little Green Cleaner. I got one for our RB Flicka when she had kidney problems, and it is great for cleaning up carpet messes. I don't know what I would have done without it.

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Originally posted by CatDad
Just a suggestion, get a Bissel Little Green Cleaner. I got one for our RB Flicka when she had kidney problems, and it is great for cleaning up carpet messes. I don't know what I would have done without it.

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An absolute must when you have carpet and own cats! I don't know how I survived before I bought mine! :)

That sounds like Felicia. She used to eat and throw up almost every time I fed her. She is better now; she is fed smaller portions, the dish is raised, and I changed brands of wet food.

I also keep her from drinking water right after she eats. This may not cause vomiting, but there is a lot more of it to clean up.

She is brushed every day too.

T&P,
They make a pill cutter! I use it for Tex...and it worked fine on the 1/4 tab pepcids...since that is what he used to be on.

Also, a dab of plain yougart first thing, then wait a few minutes before feeding, also seems to help.

I only time I recall my Lucy ever throwing up was when she would chase wasps and get stung in her mouth - this would always make her very sick, but she never got sick because of food. Gigi never got sick unless I gave her whiskas with gravy. For a very long time now I have given a mixture of cooked fresh meat and fish, some wet and dried cat foods (without preservatives/additives). Plus also some cooked vegetables. I also put water on some of their food. Maybe I have just been very lucky!

We switched to Nutro food, and rarely have this problem now. I swear by it.

Thanks everyone!

You've given me a lot of helpful insight and advice. Plus I don't feel like the only person in the world constantly cleaning cat yak.:D