My otherwise healthy kitty pukes. Frequently.

[OrwellwasRight]

I've been to the vet and had her tested. So far they can't find anything wrong. I've tried hairball remedies and homeopathic additives like Fresh Digest to no avail. My theory is she (VonnieCat) just eats too fast. My vet recommended some kind of puzzle bowl, but here's the rub. I have two cats and the other (Eugenie VeeDebs) seems the more interested in food of the two. I'm afraid that Eugenie will get most of the food if I make it harder to get, which will make Vonnie eat faster, which will exacerbate the problem. Except for eating, Vonnie is definitely the more aggressive of the two. The other issue is that my vet says Eugenie is overweight, though she looks ok to me. They share a half to 3/4 of a cup of dry food per day, plus a half of a full sized can of wet food each. Thanks for any advice.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I also have a puker. Pixie frequently hurls for no obvious reason,

but nothing seems to be wrong with her. She also tends to eat too fast, so I got one of those puzzle feeders where the cats have to fish out the bits of kibble with their paws. I filled the feeder and put it down on the floor, and all three cats went up to it, sniffed it, and gave me a look like, "Seriously? You want us to get the food out with our paws? That's work!" So I don't know what the answer is. Pixie eats and promptly blows chow (usually where I'll step in it), then goes and eats some more. I clean it up. I was thinking of getting one of these:

[OrwellwasRight]

7. i need that sign too.

Lol. Thanks.

[CC]

2. Have you tried feeding

them separately? Maybe the one eats fast because it is worried the other will eat it all. Many animals would prefer to eat alone, with out competition. I would try scheduled meal time and separate them. It will take extra work on your part and may take a few days for the cats to understand the change but they will get there.
Also on weight, feed each cat the recommended amount for the weight they should be, not the weight they are. Scheduled, solitary meals will help you control their intake better too.

Good luck.

[ginnyinWI]

5. I was going to say this, too.

When they eat together they will eat more aggressively, thinking that it is their only chance. It might take a while to break the habit. It's called "dog eating' because they wolf it down like a dog.

When my cats were eating more dry food, they would throw up regularly. Now they get maybe a half of a 5.5 oz can per day plus only about 1/4 cup dry each. And no puking.

[OrwellwasRight]

8. That's about the exact amount I feed them.

Feeding them separately is hard as I have no real doors in my house unless I feed one of them in a closet. But I guess I can try to be creative.

[ginnyinWI]

12. my downstairs is rather open, too.

They aren't exactly in different rooms, just not right next to each other, all in the kitchen. Two are out of each other's line of sight, and the third is maybe nine feet away on the other side of the room. It prevents one from intimidating the other out of their meal, at least. But I try to watch them all the same.

[OrwellwasRight]

13. Thanks.

I'm thinking about setting up feeding stations in different rooms even though technically I won't be able to keep them apart. Maybe that will help too!

[Sanity Claws]

3. Couple of ideas

1. Maybe it is the food. I had a cat who puked after Salmon but did fine on chicken. Try a variety of food and see whether the cat does not puke after eating certain ones.

2. Maybe he is eating too fast. Is that because of competition from other cats? Or maybe because you are feeding the cat meals and not letting the cat eat when the cat wants?
If the cat needs to free eat, leave out dry food that he can eat between meals.

[OrwellwasRight]

9. I used to leave them free graze.

The puking still happened, but maybe a little less. Anyway, the vet said they were getting too fat. So I feed them in the morning, a half to 2\3 a cup dry to share and that gets left out all day. They eat it all and act hungry when it's gone. I also feed them, also in the morning, a half of a large (5.5 Oz can) of wet food. They each eat what is in their respective bowls. So it is sort of free graze still but just less dry so maybe part of the rush is they want to get it quick because they know it will be all gone in the evening. Anyway, it seems the two problems (puking and getting fat) may have contradictory solutions.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. I also have a cat who pukes too often.

He eats too fast and too much at one time. I have split the feedings up from two a day to four a day, with less food at one time. My cat will eat all the food in the bowl, no matter how much is there. This is the first cat that I have had who was not a grazer so I have had to change my strategy. I have two cats and feed them in separate rooms as well as feeding less at one time and more often.

I also agree with Sanity Claws that it could be the food.

Good luck.

[ginnyinWI]

6. I have one like this, too

He eats really fast and I think he must have learned it as a kitten, being competitive for food. But--he never pukes. He's only about 1 1/2 years old. I also divide the food into three meals like this:

a.m. 1/4 of a 5.5 oz can wet food plus 1 T. dry (grain free high protein--40%--Diamond Naturals Active Cat--very reasonable at my local big box hardware store by the 18 lb. bag).

Noon: 2 T. dry.

Evening: same as breakfast. And a few more pieces of kibble scattered on the floor for them as an evening treat before bed.

When we go away and leave a lot of dry food out for them, at least one of the three has puked, according to the pet sitter. I think it's probably one of the seniors who are 11 and 12.

[OrwellwasRight]

10. I can try other food, but i seem to be feeding them the only stuff they really like.

Solid gold lamb katzenflocken dry --other drys I tried they seemed to dislike and hardly eat even though there was still puking. As far as the wet, the vast majority of the puling is the dry food, but I will pay more attention and see if I can spy a culprit.

Thanks for all the advice. It sounds like documentation of daily food is going to be key. Thanks!

[progressoid]

11. We've been having this problem lately too!

Both cats doing it more than normal. Sometimes in the middle of the night hours after they've eaten. And we don't feed them too much.

Just got off the phone with our vet. She suggested trying a probiotic. Google|+Branded|FortiFlora+Cats|Probioticpurina+fortiflora+probiotics&gclid=CIm1i4OB3MkCFQd3MgodtaUNhg&gclsrc=ds|Fortiflora. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon and try it. We have to introduce it slowly since they are already having sensitive stomach problems.



Fingers crossed.

[OrwellwasRight]

14. Thanks. I'll try that too.

It can't hurt...

[progressoid]

15. We've had a couple more incidents.

But it's only been one day. The vet gave us 7 days of the probiotic. We'll see in a few days if it makes a difference!

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Whatvkind of tests?

I had a cat that puked a lot and it ended up that she had megacolon.

[OrwellwasRight]

17. Blood tests for kidney function, etc.

All I know is it was 200and something dollars and they said everything was normal. What's megacolon?

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. It starts with constipation

The colon becomes distended with impacted feces and the upwards pressure can begin to cause the kitty to have trouble keeping food down.

[OrwellwasRight]

21. okay, so far no sign of constipation

From my kitties, so that's good news, I guess.

[HeiressofBickworth]

19. We had a cat who vomited frequently

Maybe not daily, but certainly a few times a week.

She died ---- when she was 19!!

So, I guess the vomiting did not prevent a long, healthy life.

[OrwellwasRight]

20. That's good news.

Although the frequent clean up probably wasn't fun!