our cats puke too much

hi again. we have 2 ten year old cats, that seem to be in good health. trouble is, they puke on the carpets nearly every day.

my wife keeps their food bowl full every day. we use science diet for our cats. I think we just overfeed them, cause once they puke they go back to their food bowl. my wife thinks it cause they eat too fast. i should mention one cat is over 20lbs. and the other over 10lbs. my wife also gives them other treats, the ones from the store, and also tuna from the can every day. as i read this post as i am typing, it sounds like we are somehow abusing our cats, but we love them so.

am i right? what might we do to change their behaviour if needed.

anther question please. as the cost of going to vet, can be very costly, what do think of pet health insurance?

thanks in advance, snuffs

 

Try changing their food, gradually; mix their present food 50-50 for a couple weeks or so then 100% of the new food after that. I had that problem with a cat a number of years ago and changing the brand of food fixed the problem; took a long time because I went thru 3 or 4 brands before I found one that was right.

BTW, my wife and I show and breed dogs (Cavaliers, but we also have a cat) and Science Diet is not thought of very well among the dog breeders we know. I feed my cat Purina One.

I assume the cats appear healthy, but I would suggest you have them checked by a vet. Also, please don't take offense, but I really think you are feeding them too much. Try to limit the treats and tuna to maybe once a week.

We have looked into pet insurance a couple times and, in my opinion, it's not worth the money. Lots of money, deductibles, and things not covered.

Hope this helps.

Bruce

 

I mentioned your problem to my wife last nite and she reminded me that a lot of puking is one of the symptoms of diabetes; that and drinking a lot of water, thus peeing a lot. Not likely that both cats would have diabetes, but you never know.

She also said to get them off the Science Diet and the tuna.

Bruce

 

thanks bruce, i wouldn't of thought of diabetes. our cats share the same litter box, so there is always alot of pee etc. we clean the littter box 2 times a day, and never really think about how much output one or the other is making, except when one them is sick. hobbs a 11 year old tabby had cancer of the saliva glands, and went thru an operation to remove the lump, had radiation aand chemo nearly 4 years ago. he was 20 + lbs. and after the treament he was down to 10lbs. now he's back to 13lbs. aprrox. and the vets say that is too much. hats off to university hospital, for his treament and cure. the radiation did'nt seem to bother his appetite one bit, but the chemo did big time.
we have changed the food to proplan, but my sister in-law says that is also bad for them.
we still feed them the tuna now and then, but they are so conditioned to their former diet, and will actually awaken us to try to get more. I ignore them and don't play their games, but sometines give in just to get some sleep. any suggestions on how to weed them off their former diet, and keep us sane tru the process?
thanks again, snuffs

 

Boy, hobbs has really been thru it. My hat is off to you for curing the problem rather than having him put down.

It's going to be just plain tough to ween them off the old food. Just mix the old and new 50-50 for a couple weeks. Chances are, they may not want much to do with their foor and may not even eat for a couple days, but hang in there, they will eat eventually rather than starve.

Don't give in to feeding them the tuna or treats during the transition. If you give them a lot of treats, they won't ever want to eat their regular food and will not get the nutrition they need. You may try hand feeding their food, too. We've had to do that with one of our girls every time she is pregnant.

Good luck with your "project"

Bruce

 

Stop the tuna and snacks. I once mistakenly bought tuna in oil I gave it to mine, they made the LOUDEST purring sound while eating it but then upchucked.

 

My sons cat was overweight, neuter clinic advised cutting back on his food. Son called to say he had been feeding cat less now the cat hadn't eaten in a day & a half - me (stupidly comparing them to my boxers eating habits) said don't worry when he's hungry he'll eat

WRONG!! the cat (by end of second day) was in bad shape, rushed him to vet & spent hundreds trying (succesfully) to save him.

Cats that go without food for a relatively short period of time can go into kidney failure, it always worth a call to the vet before changing type/amount you feed your cat.

 

wow, what a sad story. we did contact our vet, and his response was that cats are low maintence pets. That they will eat when they are hungry, drink when they are thirsty, and do their stuff, if they have a clean litter box.
well when hobbs was going tru his cancer treament, we noticed that he was not drinking water, and that he was dehydrated. we had to give him iv's every day, for nearly a month. another calll to the vet, and he reitered what he said before. sur enough we saw him drink some water, and he's going strong to this day. thanks for the feedback, snuffs

 

Our cat, a Korat, also 'pukes' often. At least we think so..and have tried every cat food on the market, as well as the 'special' kind from the vet. We kept thinking it was a condition...a small throut..etc etc..
The bottom line (that we have determined...and have been told..) is that she (anyway) as in many other cats, often 'barf' because they eat too fast.
She is a small cat and gets a small portion of wet food, 2x a day, so what we do, is divide her portion into smaller portions so she has to at least pause, before moving on to the next little portion..
Wierd...but seems to help.
Oh... these felines....

 

yes i think that's one of the problems with one are cats. he eats fast, and soon pukes afterwood. then he is back to his food bowl eating again.
I am quite concerned about the larger cat, he's over 20lb.'s and i am afraid he may be injuring himself when he jumps, so much weight pounding on his joints. him (snuffles) is over 10years old, it is extremely hard to condition to a more healthy life.
yes i'm quite sure eating too fastly can cause this pukeing problem.
thanks for your reply. snuffs

 

I know its really hard to 'control' a cat..and his/her movements...especially the jumping bit. Cats...are Cats.
What we've done for our LHMdachs, is made 2 foam steps, covered in a sheet (colored to blend in with the room - Dont Ask....-its the Mrs. doing...) so they can 'walk' up onto the sofa (also covered in the same colored sheet...for our daily use..) to avoid them jumping up (which isnt too bad)..but especially the jumping down...(thats worse).. So now they just step up...and then snuggle into their corner on the couch. No up + down stairs anymore.. we carry them up/down... LHMdachs or any dach for that matter, as with some other breeds, are really succeptable to back problems....long body, short legs.
A cat...is another story.....

 

thanks jatco. have you seen those cat climbing things? the ones with the carpeting inside and out, and round holes and places to sit as they climb. they are very expensive, (100+ dolors) . they dont look that hard to build. do you of any plans and materials so i can build one myself? maybe this reply should be in the wood working section

 

Yes, snuffs, Ive seen them...and they are a bit pricey imo... $150.+ (cad$) range.
I had made a basic scratch post for our 'Sunday', out of a piece of tree log I found laying around. It was about 18" long, mounted it to a piece of scrap 5/8" plywood, 2' sq...wrapped the top 2/3 of the log with some rope lying around the house and carpet on the bottom 1/3, then wrapped the base with some of the same left over carpet from our last install. The thing lasted for years...and still would have if it wasnt for the Mrs.. who wanted to get rid of it so she could buy one of those that you mentioned...but maybe a little smaller. Have not gotten a replacement yet!!!
We also have one of those round 'houses'..carpeted inside and out, for upstairs....tho she seldom stays inside it, she does use it to 'exercise' her nails...etc..You know what I mean.
I wouldnt think those are too difficult to build.. so long has you have enough 'scrap' and material lying around. If you had to buy the materials, it might not be worth all the work involved. At the moment...that is not on my 'priority' list.....and not on the Mrs "Honey-Do" list... If you get what I mean....(If I even mention the idea that I could probably build one...she'd add to her list of things for me to do......lol (kinda).
Then the BIG question is.....
Will your cat take to it......OR not...???
...add a little cat-nip to her 'new' perch.....and then she/he will....Most likely....

 

Thanks jatco, i have most of the materials, now need to plan.
thanks, snuffs

 

...Maybe you could use one (or 2) of those plastic pails from grape wine juice..or from HD paint pails....something like that...for the kitty's 'house'
That wrap that inside and out with carpeting...

 

How soon can diabetes set in with kittens? I have a brother/sister pair, and the brother will randomly puke on our carpet, bed, chairs, etc. When he pukes, I can see full pieces of the hard food that they eat. He seems to drink a normal amount of water, but it's really hard to monitor things when I have two cats.

 

I really can not speak about the 'diabetes' scenario... Im not a vet...by no means. But why do you think diabetes is an issue?
Just wondering!!!
As I/we only have 1 cat (2 dogs and 1 love bird), I/we are no means a Cat expert. but from what you discribed... it may only be an issue of who (or which) cat is 'ill' or just having a reaction to the food you're providing.
We've had to try numerous brands of food to see which brand suits our 'Sunday' (cat)... and its not so much a medical condition..but rather eating habits. IE...eating too fast...
My only response to you would be to seek out the opinion of a reliable 'feline' Vet in your area. Tho sometimes they, the Vets. are often religated to 'Trial and Error'..when it comes to feeding felines.
I wish I could offer more positive comments, but this is the best I can come up with....based on 1st hand knowledge of a 1st time cat owner...
Good luck with the kitties... Im sure a good Vet could assit more.

 

The reason I brought up diabetes was because earlier in the thread someone had mentioned diabetes being linked with kittens puking. I think it might be something to do with Shinobi eating too fast, because I can see the food.

 

I suppose diabete could be related to a kittens puking, but to be sure, the vet would have to take a blood sample for testing.
Try to make small little servings from the 1 serving you give your kitten..like I mentioned earlier...this way she will have to pause to fine the next little helping....vs eating the whole 1 serving at 1 time... Might help a bit!

 

I think this will help. Cats and kittens get their stomach upset really easy and our vet told us "Onlky give as much food as the cat will eat if it is in the bowl longer it makes their stomach upset. Our cat of 7 years old was doing the same thing and once we did as we were told by the Vet it helped. you could always give them more but don't fill the bowl up the food can spoil and she (Our cat only eatrs dry food)

Here is another important thing. Our kitty's little lip was swollen and we had no idea why. Guess what? She was allegeric to plastic bowls so now she eats out of a stainless bowl..

Dixiemartin

 

Im no vet..but it certainly sounds like you feed them way too much...and especially leaving their bowls full of food all day. I dont think that is good for any domestic animal/pet...just m.o.
After our cat eats her 'wet' food, we remove that bowl..and leave the other bowl with her small(ish) portion of dry crunchie food.. which she nibbles at during the day.
I'd cut down on the food...imo

 

I have a diabetic cat. I found it out when she was about 8 and she's now 11. The doctor said she'd last a year but it's been well over three and she's doing amazingly well. At the time I thought she had a bladder infection as she was peeing everywhere. Controlling her diet by not leaving food available all the time (she'll eat anything that's out!) and giving her insulin twice daily has it all under control. She'd gulp her food down, get her shot,and then barf it all back up, sending me into a panic because if she didn't balance the insulin with food she'd go into a diabetic shock - it happened several times and I learned how to deal with it rather than spend $450+ at the emergency clinic. Anyhow, she's now on Purina DM which is available at the vet's office only by prescription. It's more pricy than the Friskies the other cat eats but she's no longer throwing up and hasn't had any problems in well over a year. It was a lot of trial and error to finally get her stable.

Reading this whole thread I'd say cut the treats, and cut out the tuna. Cats are cats, not people, and should not be eating people food, no matter how much they like it. My cat Pumpkin will still eat anything given the chance - OK, so she gets an occasional bite of pizza or the milk from my cereal bowl (she likes Cap'n Crunch as much as I do! ), but 99% of her diet is strictly what she *should* have. I've become an expert at getting puke out of the carpet but don't have to do it much at all lately!

 

Just another idea before you go to the vet, which I think at this age you probably should to rule out disease that you can treat early before they get real sick. Get tiny bowls, like sushi bowls(or small plates with small amount of food) and put 8-10 all over the house with food. Think of the cat as they eat in the wild-they will not eat 9 mice at a time but one, then go back several hours later for another. Cats, because their stomach is different than most animals cant digest a lot of food at one time so they purge. This may also help them want to move more and get some weight off if they have to travel to get their food. Cats in the wild dont vomit so its abnormal when our house cats do, we just have to figure out why. Hope this helps.

 

Hi-
Ah, don't you love the joy of finding a pile of kitty barf with your bare feet when you have to make a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Many pet food companies now make 'anti-hairball' formulations. You might try one of those. It worked for us!

It does sound like your cats are eating too much. We had one cat that we free-fed accidentally. She learned to open the kitchen cupboard, drag out her box of dry food, stick her paw into the opening and fish out a crunchie. Obviously, this method of feeding ensures that a cat can't eat too fast! You might be interested in finding a way to make your cats work for their food and design a dry food feeding system where they can only fish out one bit of kibble at a time. If eating too fast is the problem, it will certainly slow them down (plus, its fun to watch!)

 

my dog is a diabetic and she has had it for three years and the vet acted like she would not make it very long and she is doing great. two shots a day and we make sure it is done everyday at the sametime. love and care is what it takes.

 

Mt cat did they same thing with Science Diet (I can't recall which formula, but it was very orangish brown looking and stained terribly). Try different S/D formulas or switch to a different brand (premium brand, of course). (Is the puke solid, unchewed pieces of food?) It could also be due to constipation or some a other malady (hairballs, pancreatitis). Have you asked your vet? My cat is now 18+ yrs. old, has health problems, and is on special food, but during my research, I found canned food is better for them. Now he only pukes when he is constipated. There are several inexpensive remedies if it is just constipation. If they are eating too much or too fast try limiting the amount of food they eat each time. And good luck getting those stains out -I never found anything worked.

 

The cat may just have hairballs in it's stomach. Every time my one cat pukes it has a hairball in the puke.
When a cat cleans itself which it does often (the bristles on it's tongue pointing toward the back of it's throat) the cat can swallow a lot of hair.
Why not try some of that hairball goop they have in those tubes. I get mine at the grocery store. If they don't eat it willingly, then just smear it on their face and they will have no choice but to lick it off.

Hope this helps

Jim

 

We have two big (length) black longhair cats. - 15#(8 years old) and 17#(6 years old). - Very long hair!

We had the problem with both 5 years ago. We then went to very small feedings (less than 1 tsp.) of canned food twice a day for psychological reasons. - Good dry hairball food and plenty of water are always available.

We always add a little oil to the wet food.

We still had a minor problem with the bigger cat that was a slow eater. We had to make sure the other cat did not steal the wet food.

Now, we went with Iams sensitive stomach (pink label) as a dry food and it apparently has really minimzed the problem. It is amazing how much better the teeth are.

It helped us after a lot of trials -not all cats are the same.