Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi all, so one of my cats (boy) is meowing every morning (as mentioned in a different thread), the other one (girl) has a bit of a puking habit (the boy has never puked). About once a week it happens that she would throw up all the food she has just eaten...and I wonder why. Is it too much food? She is always asking for food though, and I give them both the same amount... The boy always leaves a bit on his plate and the girl cleans it up thoroughly, but it's really very little (and sometimes I give her a bit less, because of that). Really wonder what makes her throw it up...Wouldn't think it's hair, as she is not really shedding more than him.. Oh, and it often happens in the morning!

If you could give us more idea about the cats age, long / short hair, eating habits and what and how often you feed them it might help us pin down a cause. However some suggestions are:

Although she may seem to be shedding the same as the lad does, if she is grooming herself well she could be ingesting more hair. Have you seen any sign of hair in what she brings up?

You say she always seems hungry and cleans her plate, does she seem to eat very quickly and is is dried or wet food. if a cat bolts it's food, particularly dried food which swells once eaten, then the stomach can just reject it all. If she is sick very soon after eating and it looks like it hasn't been digested then this might be the cause. Depending what her life was like before you got her it could be just her nature or a learned response, many strays don't know where the next meal is coming from and so learn to eat everything in front of them as quickly as possible to make sure they get as much as possible. Either way, little and often can often help solve the problem. Give them the same amount of food but split it over more meals. Something like a food ball might help, these are plastic balls with small holes that you can put dried food in, the cat then knocks it about until one of the food particles fall out. They are great for helping entertain a bored cat and for regulating food intake.

It could be the food is too rich for her and she can tolerate it for so long then her body rejects it.

Finally it could be she is just one of those cats that throws up every so often. We used to have a Ragdoll who threw up once or twice a week regularly, even though we did groom him daily. We did ask the vet about it and he said it is just something some cats do and a cat throwing up isn't something to be as concerned about as a human throwing up regularly, if they are throwing up daily or several times in one day then it might be worth a trip to the vets, and thinking of vets, I have assumed that they are both up to date with worming and flea treatments otherwise it is worth getting something from your vets, the treatments they can prescribe are far better than anything bought over the counter.

Hopefully this will have given you some ideas to look into.

If it’s just first thing on a morning it could be that she’s rushing her food or acid in her stomach ifs he’s hungry. I find it can help a lot to feed little and often. I always have some food out for my cats so that they don’t feel when they eat it’s their last meal lol and they can snack anytime of day and not eating loads in one sitting. If there’s always some food down and she’s otherwise healthy it could be a food she’s reacting to.

Hiya, My remaining big grey cat Gandhi has Megacolon but usually thrives on a variety of fish/meat Felix with Purina dry on the side. I am not suggesting for a moment that one brand of cat food is better than another, but I have noticed if we give him a 'treat' of another type of food such as Whiskas, Sheba, posh end cat grub or anything with veg in it, while he thoroughly enjoys it and gobbles it down, next morning, he violently 'moon walk' vomits followed, a couple of hours later with a side order of clear stomach foam. This has also happened when his bowels have 'backed up' slightly. Could your wee girl be slightly constipated? Have you tried a dry food with rice rather then wheat in it? The rice swells up like a soft gel and gently moves things along. Just a thought.

Issi

Willow is a bit of an up-chucker, always has been. She just turned 14 and has had health checks before where the vet found no physical reason for it. We always feed her small meals, often in another place to the other cats. Of all the cats, she self-medicates on grass, but so does Gracie (in her case she only eats my ornamental grass and is never sick! )

It might be, as Ruth says, that she is just one of those cats.

Thanks for the advice.
She is almost 5, got her recently from a place that got her from a pet shop where she was used for breeding and "retired". She does have a habit of chewing on plastic bags and throwing up (from before I got her), but I put away all plastic she might be interested in, and there was no plastic in her puke either.
She is a short hair and I don't think she grooms too much or anything like that.
I mainly feed them wet food (I usually mix two different brands, maybe I should just give her one...), sometimes dry. I have an automatic feeder for dry food, programmed for 4am and noon (when we're at work). I set it to spit out about 20 to 30g, but especially the other cat (boy) is a bit of an addict for it, so I'm not sure if she gets to eat. I also don't think she's constipated, eliminates daily.
I have used the food ball before, but only the boy plays (and eats) with it.
She did actually have worms before I got her, but the place treated her and it was fine (3 consecutive tests).
Yeah, maybe she is one of "those" cats...I'll keep observing her and try various things, maybe take her to the vet (planned anyway).

bobbys girl wrote:Willow is a bit of an up-chucker, always has been. She just turned 14 and has had health checks before where the vet found no physical reason for it. We always feed her small meals, often in another place to the other cats. Of all the cats, she self-medicates on grass, but so does Gracie (in her case she only eats my ornamental grass and is never sick! )

It might be, as Ruth says, that she is just one of those cats.

Dear Gandhi upchucked all over the house last night. Had me flummoxed.. until I noticed he had 'recycled' a large piece of bubble wrap . We are moving house and while wrapping crockery, the wee devil enjoyed loudly 'popping' the stuff. I took it off him straight away but... Don't know if I mentioned he chewed off and swallowed a length of the fancy plastic coated ribbon used to wrap a gift of wine? He soon recycled that too..weird cat.

Issi
xx

I would suggest going onto just one type of wet food for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. I would also suggest seeing your own vet and just getting things double checked.

If she was used as a kitten factory it could be that she is used to only just having enough food to get by and is used to being constantly hungry which means she bolts it when it is given to her. If your lad is more interested in dried food could you leave it available for him constantly and use the automatic feeder for extra wet meals. Some cats will manage with this arrangement and not eat too much others will just clear the plate and end up rather rotund, you can only try it and see.

What is is about cats and plastic? My grumpy granny, Tiggy, has always had a thing for chewing
and licking plastic. We actually have found it is best to leave something like a good quality plastic carrier around for her to have rather than try and hide or bin everything. She will happily lick and chew it, but it doesn't tear as easily as thin plastic so she doesn't ingest it. If we don't leave her a bag available she will hunt down something else and no matter how careful we are to bin things she will find something from somewhere.

The feeder is only for dry food. Also I wouldn't do free dry feeding, don't wanna risk them getting fat or/and sick...

This cat never gets full...it's unbelievable, 30 min after I feed her she starts asking for seconds again, every time... and if I feed her more from the start, she throws it up..
Went to the vet btw, everything seems fine with her..

LeChat wrote:This cat never gets full...it's unbelievable, 30 min after I feed her she starts asking for seconds again, every time... and if I feed her more from the start, she throws it up..
Went to the vet btw, everything seems fine with her..

I’ve always left food out for ours and never had a problem, but may just be lucky. I wouldn’t keep giving more food if she keeps asking and you think she would overeat, but possibly little and often may help? I think the reason they don’t seem to over eat when there’s food always there is they eventually get bored, and realise they don’t have to wait to be fed. How often do you feed her? As said though, she may just be a sicky cat, I have had cats who have been sick more than others.

This cat never gets full...it's unbelievable, 30 min after I feed her she starts asking for seconds again, every time...

Next door's Tay is like that!

Good to know, Alan. She's not the only one then ^^'

Janey wrote:

LeChat wrote:This cat never gets full...it's unbelievable, 30 min after I feed her she starts asking for seconds again, every time... and if I feed her more from the start, she throws it up..
Went to the vet btw, everything seems fine with her..

I’ve always left food out for ours and never had a problem, but may just be lucky. I wouldn’t keep giving more food if she keeps asking and you think she would overeat, but possibly little and often may help? I think the reason they don’t seem to over eat when there’s food always there is they eventually get bored, and realise they don’t have to wait to be fed. How often do you feed her? As said though, she may just be a sicky cat, I have had cats who have been sick more than others.

I feed them (a bit more) once in the morning upon waking up, they get some dry stuff from the feeder around noon, then wet again 3 times in the evening (last one when we go to bed, again a bit more).
I'm not so worried about the puking anymore, just don't get it why she seems to be always hungry (always asking for food when we get close to the kitchen space). I feed her the same amount as the boy (who is even a little bigger), but he is always satisfied with the amount he gets, or even leaves a bit on the plate.