Cats throwing up

How often does your cat throw up? Mine, on average throws up once a week. I don't know if this is normal..

TMI: its not a all hair.. its food as well. We feed him Science Diet and once in a while a Fancy Feast.


He also gets boiled chicken.. should I be worried. His tummy is fine, he's active and drinks water. He also eats really fast sometimes.. scarf down his food and then plays.. I'm a little worried. This has been going on for a little bit..

Re: Cats throwing up

I've had a puker, and now I have one that rarely throws up.

My puker had a sensitive stomach, and having had a fractured pelvis as a young cat didn't help much either. I fed him special food, added olive oil to it, brushed him every day and he still puked at least once a week. He just couldn't digest or pass his furballs. He got used to me shoving a paper towel under his face when the heaving started.

The one I have now has only thrown up twice, and that it because she got into my tissue paper and ate a little too much of it.

Re: Cats throwing up

i have a puker!
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we discovered there are 2 things that make her puke.
1) she eats way too fast. sometimes i feed her only a little bit of her food at a time and let her take breaks in between, or talk to her or pet her periodically while she's eating.
2) certain types of fancy feast make her puke. she can only handle the "classic" kinds. any of the "chunky" "sliced" "minced" or anything with globs of juice is a no-no. she will puke 100% of the time. oh and she only eats fancy feast (in addition to dry food).

I, personally, would not worry. My girl is almost 17. Still pukes 1-2x a week, and still perfectly happy.

Re: Cats throwing up

Cats puke.

However, I would just get it checked out to make yourself feel better, especially if he is always puking food. I had a cat that had IBS. He puked every day and it was food, not hairballs.

Now I have cats that go through puke phases.

Re: Cats throwing up

we have a puker too. she will usually puke once every 2 weeks or so, sometimes more, sometimes less. it's always food and/or hair.

on a side note, the first time i saw a hairball, i thought it was a piece of doo doo. they are so nasty

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stubby was puking out of nowhere we switched food and gave her a hairball supplement (basically castor oil) and no vomiting.

they are now on blue buffalo diet but they were on blue buffalo protein only and that was fine but the iams or blue buffalo regular seems to bind them.

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I had one also that was a puker. I got Petramalt (sp?) you can get it at Petsmart or Petco - it's a gel in a tube and it's tasty for them too. I would put about an inch on my finger and let her lick it off. It aids in digestion and some of them also have extra vitamins.

If you have trouble getting your kitty to lick it off your finger, you can take your finger and "wipe" it on the roof of their mouth and they have to swallow it.

If you are uncomfortable with the puking and it doesn't get better I would have a consult with the vet.

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You are right that it is not normal for a cat to be puking on a weekly basis or on any sort of frequent basis. I have had cats my entire life, and if they are puking regularly (hairball related or not), that is not normal. I have two cats now, and I can count on one hand the number of times they have vomited combined in the two and a half years I've had them. It really bothers me when people write off frequent vomiting by just saying, "eh, they're cats and cats puke a lot." They shouldn't be vomiting regularly.

If it's hairball related, the hairballs need to be treated and a hairball prevention plan in place (including regular grooming and dietary changes if necessary).

If it's not hairball related, it's diet or health related. My first suspect would be the food. Science Diet is not a great food (though Hill's does make some good prescription foods, one of which I feed). It used to be among the best years ago when it was first develped, but currently isn't something I would recommend feeding. My cats were on it for a few weeks, and I have never looked back after switching. Their breath smelled awful and they weren't thriving. Fancy Feast is also not a high quality food and not one I would recommend feeding. Among other reasons, it contains wheat gluten. Sure, some cats do relatively fine on these foods... but your cat is clearly telling you something is not right by vomiting so frequently.

Also curious why you say his stomach is fine when the cat is vomiting regularly and not due to hair... What did you mean by that? It seems to me that if he's not having major hairball issues, he's definitely having digestive issues - diet or health related. Do you mean he's not having bathroom issues?

Are you feeding mostly / only dry food? If so, I would switch slowly to a high quality wet food and see if you see a change. I understand having a cat who won't eat wet food (I actually have one, though he's the only one I've ever had turn his nose up at wet food). If wet food absolutely isn't an option, I would still look into changing his food to something of better quality. And better quality may not necessarily mean more expensive. Science Diet is overpriced for what it is. I would still try a good wet food first, though.

I would definitely research better food options and if you are still having a vomiting problem, talk to your vet. A special food or supplement/medication may be necessary if your cat has a really sensitive digestive system. Bottom line, though, is that your cat shouldn't be vomiting on a weekly basis.

Good luck! I hope you can get to the bottom of it soon!

ETA --- I see you said that it's food and hair he's vomiting, so it could still be a hairball issue. I would give your vet a call. It probably won't involve a visit, but a phone consult may help you make some simple changes that can make a big difference.

Message edited 1/19/2011 8:58:16 AM.

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i do a mix of blue buffalo (teaspoon of wet and 1/4-1/3 cup of diet dry) twice a day

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Thank you everyone. I was out for a few days. I want to say that my cat has not puked since I have wrote this last week. Ok, answering questions..

Bear,

Same here with mine.. he eats like someone will take his bowl away from him. I usually only get him the Turkey and Chicken delights.. and I think its sliced.

IrishLass,

I look into the digestion aid.. I used to give him vitamins when he was a kitten, and I used to give it to him in a dropper. Once he became two and ½ I stopped.

Jenn,

Castor oil? Really.. haha.. I think may have some at home. Good to know.

Kara,

He’s a semi long haired cat and we groom him about twice a week and his food does have something for hairball.

When I said his tummy is fine.. we have felt his tummy, massaged it, it seemed normal. His bowel movements are fine.. pee and poop on a regular basis.

He has been on Science Diet for a year and change now.. his vet recommended it. As for wet food, the occasional Fancy Feast (once every two weeks or so) is what he gets. Otherwise, I give him boiled shredded chicken as every couple of days. He loves it. He drinks water as well.

Andrew,

I noticed him puking after his morning feed. He’s a bit of a chubster, so I control his portions. After he eats at night about 9 or 10 pm, he will start crying for more food at in between 4 and 5 am.. sometimes, I give him a little bit at that time, or else I wait till I wake up.. and then while I run around get ready, that’s when he pukes. I have noticed that he would literally inhale his food in the morning. This past week, I tried to increase his portions at night, so perhaps that’s why he hasn’t puked? I don’t know.



I didn’t realize that Science Diet was not a good brand.. the vet highly recommended it, so I figured it was great. I’ll look into something,