female cat health

[jay9813]

Hello,

I have just joined and am looking for some advice about my cat. She is female, spayed, 9-10 years old and has always been an indoor cat. She mostly eats dry food, with wet food as a treat once or twice a week. I try to buy good quality food, aimed at indoor or senior cats. She's always been a bit of a puker, I think because she's indoors and she over-grooms. She had cystitis a couple of years ago which she got over easily after an injection at the vet and some medicine at home. We were alerted to that illness as she kept sitting in the litter tray for long periods of time, without actually doing anything.

My concern is that sometimes she will get in the litter tray, and then get out without doing anything. She's not lingering like she did when she was ill before. And she is still peeing and pooping, eating, drinking (although she never drinks as much as I think she should... she likes to lick water off her paws... cute, but not practical), playing, cuddling, purring... nothing else has changed. So I'm not particularly worried, but it just seems a bit odd.

Any advice on what to look out for, dietry change suggestions, or puke-preventing tactics would be appreciated

I do have another cat - a male, neutered, 11-12 years old. He's also a bit of a puker, but no other issues, other than slightly overweight. He will occasionally chase my girl, but they mostly ignore each other, maybe a bit of mutual grooming now and again.

Thank you!

[Ruth B]

Welcome to the forum.

A couple of things come to mind straight off reading through your post. Some cats do throw up more than others naturally so it is a matter of working out if it is harmful and and indication of something wrong or just normal for that cat.

What was glaringly obvious to me, and I'm surprised your vet didn't discuss it with you, could you give her wet food more often instead of mainly dry, at least one meal of it every day rather than as a treat. Wet food contains a lot of water in it so it doesn't matter if the cat doesn't appear to drink much, if you really need to increase the amount of water they in take, such as during bouts of Cystitis you can add it to wet food and most cats will still eat it.

Over grooming can be an indication of boredom, it's far more common in indoor only cats than in indoor / outdoor cats as most of the time they have little to do except eat, sleep and groom. I assume you do what you can to play with them while you are in, even at their ages most cat enjoy a bit of play. You might also want to look at the various food dispensers that mean a cat has to work a bit to get their food, they vary from balls you will with dry food so the food comes out of holes as they knock it about, to bowls with nobly bits on them to slow down the eating to quite extravagant puzzles that the cat has to push pieces of food around before they can eat them. It isn't mean to a cat to make it work for it's food, in the wild a cat would spend a long time hunting and wouldn't always be successful, so knocking a ball about to get pieces of dried food out is actually quite simple and rewarding in comparison and gives them something to do. It also means they get some light exercise, something a lot of indoor or mature cats lack.

If they have a tendency to bolt their food and then throw up these feeding devices can also help as they make them eat slower. Alternatively, you mention she over grooms, is there evidence of fur in what she throws up, if there is you might want to consider changing onto a hairball control food.

The only other thing that comes to mind is, you haven't changed litter types recently making her unsure as to whether she wants to go or not?

As always if you notice anything that does concern you with her behaviour a trip to the vets is always the best course.

[jay9813]

Hi Ruth and thanks for the welcome

Your response was really helpful. I have thought of giving them more wet food for that reason - they used to have it daily, but my boy was getting fatter. They're both very good with dry food and only eat when they're hungry, rather than when it's there. They get a bit more obsessive over wet food. I'm going to try giving them wet at least two/three times a week and see how they go from there.

Myself and my partner both work from home, so we're almost always with them. I try to exercise them when I exercise and that works well (jogging whilst holding a cat teaser - a great tip for anyone trying to improve their own exercise routine as well as their cats!). They both play with their toys a fair bit too. The girl is the kind of cat who starts grooming/scratching something and then just gets stuck in that mode for a while... I think a lot of cats do it. But yes, I will try to encourage more play and will also look into those special bowls. I did get them a treat dispenser once, where they have to roll it about to get the treats... but they just looked at me like I was an idiot. The sick is nearly always full of hair, or undigested food, so it's definitely hairballs and fast eating that causes it I think. I'll look into hairball control food, but I think senior/indoor food is maybe more important. I'm not sure and don't like to change the variety too often.

There's been no change in the litter or tray. I think sometimes my boy is nearby and she gets nervous. He can get a bit randy if she pees on her leg or something a little, even though they're both "done". We've definitely seen her use the tray properly today though.

Thanks again for the advice - much appreciated!