cat vomiting

[Ben E Gas]

Is this normal?

When ever I give my cat something different to eat, he ends up vomiting it out a few hours later. He is still a little guy, only 8 months old. He is fine when I just give him the IAMs wet and dry kitten food. I try and give him some treats, he can take a couple, but more than that he'll lose it. I once tried to give him a bit of wet Adult cat food but he couldn't hold it down. He doesn't cry at all when he does this.....actually....this is gross, but he tries to eat it afterwards.

Again, I ask, is this normal? Should I be concerned?

thanks,
Ben


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Igor Inc. (c)2001

[aly]

Maybe he just has a really sensitive stomach. You might want to mention it to your vet and see if they recommend any type of food for cats with sensitive stomachs.

Him trying to eat it afterwards is normal though. Shiloh tries to eat hers and also Reece's..ick.

[This message has been edited by aly (edited May 29, 2001).]

[Ben E Gas]

could it be because I just let him pick at his food anytime he wants? I just make sure there is always food in the bowl.
Should I hold back on feeding him in this manor? Maybe just give him a certain amount each day?

[nsweezie]

My cat Scooter is alergic to most commercial cat foods, he will eat them fine, but then within about an hour he throws it back up. He can tolerate most types of IAMS food, and that is about it, so that is all he gets.
So it could be a food alergy or sensitivity.

[thelmalu99]

Hi Ben
Charlie "loses his lunch" sometimes too.
I feel so bad, but I have noticed that this usually happens when he eats more than usual. I leave his dry food out all the time too, but he only pukes when he overdoes it. Last night, when I got back from my long weekend I noticed that he hadn't eaten as much as I thought he would. As soon as I walked in, we cuddled for a while, then he immediately went for the food. I gave him a little wet food (because I was feeling guilty for leaving him, sucker that I am!) Anyway, he ate too much and this morning I found a puddle of the stuff in the middle of the floor. I think Charlie is just being a little piggie, just like Spencer's kids.

[4 feline house]

Ben-it's a sad fact of life that cats barf. Regularly.

[Pam]

Ben...My Trevor used to throw up occasionally when I fed him canned cat food. (He's on a diet now, eating only Iams Dry Less Active). That's because he would eat it at the speed of light. I found if I sat by his bowl and dolled out little bites, bit by bit, he didn't have a problem. He used to do this maybe once a week and it was always from eating too fast as far as I could detect. The funny thing is that Andy always ran right over and tried to cover it up, to no avail, since he was pawing on the carpet (oh yes Trev usually chose the carpet to make his deposits..never the kitchen floor where it would be easy to clean up). He never tried to eat it but I have had dogs in the past who have done that. My son called it "recycling."

[Ben E Gas]

thanks folks.

[Logan]

Someone mentioned eating grass....and my Mimi does it quite often. But, we just had our second time of a grass blade going the wrong way and ending up in her nasal passages. She started snorting and sneezing on Friday, and this lasted through the holiday weekend. She was able to expel it before I could get her to the vet....but she was miserable, and the sight of that grass blade coming out of her tiny nostril wasn't too pleasant either. And the first time it happened, we had no idea what was wrong, just that Mimi was very uncomfortable, coughed a lot, and had the stinkiest breath ever. Two weeks later, after a course of antibiotics, the vet put her under to get a good look, and found a blade of grass in between the back of her throat and her nose. YUCK!!!

Just be careful with that grass eating...it isn't always the best thing.

[This message has been edited by Logan (edited May 30, 2001).]

[Ben E Gas]

yeah,

I had grass growing in my apartment in a pot for the cat. He ate too much one time and threw it up with his food.

[Linelle]

Just this morning I was greeted by barf on the couch! Can they go outside? Can they do it on the hard floor. No, of course not...it must be on the carpet or furniture, in the middle of the night.

My 3 cats are Barf-O-Matics: hairballs, grass, general principle. If I remember to dose the longhairs with Laxatone 3 times a week, plus brush them everyday, it really reduces hairballs. Luther, who has profuse hair, is getting shorn tomorrow.

When my cats were more outside cats, I didn't notice the throwing up. But since they now have a catdoor, they prefer to barf inside.

At work this morning, the cat people were discussing this very topic. It's a fact: cats throw up.

[AmberLee]

I've found a couple things that help at our house, but maybe it's coincidence or luck.

I'll list them anyway in case they do really help...

Grass: I find that clipping the grass to about 1 - 2 inches satisifies the cats and cuts out barfing/grass in nose factor. (Or maybe it's coincidence that it works for us...)

Cat treats: All our cats love the Pounce brand cat treat, but when they were kittens they needed to be limited to only a couple a day. I was told that these treats have a lot of salt and sugar in them compared to standard cat food and are too rich for kittens on a regular basis. (On the other hand, I'm unfortunately gullible when it comes to cat info.) But the cats can handle much larger inputs of Pounce now that they are older without upchucking, so it could be true.

Hope this helps!

[catwoman]

I have a cat that I swear uses food to "loosen up" stubborn hairballs. She might vomit a couple of times after eating for 2-3 days, until she passes the hairball.

She also vomits when she eats too quickly. (If I give her some tuna as a treat, for example.)