All the Reasons for a cat to throw up his entire meal..

[emipou]

I’m trying to troubleshoot a bit here, and I’m in this weird middle spot right now where I’m still mad at the old vet office for flaking on me numerous times, and haven’t quite found The Vet to replace them…

My young guy Duke had a urinary blockage when he was about 1 year old. He’s 2 now and has been eating Purina’s RX canned food for Urinary health.
He’s begun throwing up his entire breakfast. It’s been going on for over a month now. At first I thought it was related to one of the flavors specifically. Chewy gave me a refund and I wound up tossing the last couple cans. We switched to the other flavor and he’s starting to act funny about this food too.

Some days I cannot get him to eat it and I get the impression he is tired of the flavor. Other days, he eats it all up, but will throw it up. It isn’t one of the other, but the throwing up is enough of a think to concern me.

I’m thinking he might be eating too fast some days which causes him to throw up. And maybe he’s not throwing up as often because I moved him to the flavor he isn’t a big fan of.
Are there specific health concerns I should be worried about? He never throws up his kibble (evenings), only his canned. It’s never bile, always his entire eaten meal. Sometimes I add noises to the kitchen to sort of slow his eating. I think that helps. Do they make slow feeders for cats?

[Simkie]

When I have a cat that starts puking with any regularity, I put them on famotidine am/pm. 2.5 mg per dose, regular strength generic pepcid, quartered. Name brand pepcid is a funny shape and hard to quarter.

Give it a couple weeks, then go to once a day for a week or so, then off. See what you have.

This has fixed enough mystery puking that I’m convinced kitties get ulcers or just acidy bellies not infrequently.

Puking can also be an indication of some big, scary problems, like chronic renal disease, so a vet visit might be worthwhile.

[rubygirl1968]

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/vomiting

For my frequent vomiting cat, he wound up with IBD when he was older. I often wonder if I have insisted on more tests when he was younger if the outcome would have been different. Probably not, but hindsight is always 20/20.

[CanadianTrotter]

Several of the cats I’ve had in my lifetime would always throw up canned food.

[dressagetraks]

Mine aren’t on canned, but Pilgrim will throw up his breakfast on occasion. I’ve realized that this is almost always when the bowl was empty when I got up, so I think he eats too much at once under the mistaken belief that he was starving. I try to make it a point to top off the bowl before I go to bed so it won’t get depleted by morning. Seems to work.

[furlong47]

Can you try doling it out over a period of time in smaller amounts? If you aren’t home to do that and he’s the only cat, maybe divide it up among those boxes that open on a timer so he gets the whole can in 3-5 small, slightly spread out feedings instead of all at once?

[Angela_Freda]

@furlong47

Can you try doling it out over a period of time in smaller amounts? If you aren’t home to do that and he’s the only cat, maybe divide it up among those boxes that open on a timer so he gets the whole can in 3-5 small, slightly spread out feedings instead of all at once?

A timed feeder can definitely help with that, and they’re cheap.

I like canned food in part because I’ve personally experienced the peaks and troughs associated with carbs, and how unwell it can make one feel.
If he’s had dry food all day, he may be experiencing a trough that has him “starving”, btdt, and thus eating too fast on an empty stomach… and cue puke.

[4horses]

I had one cat that would throw up frequently. She had a foreign body in her stomach, but it was breast cancer that took her in the end. IBD can turn into lymphoma. I would probably try a hydrolyzed diet for a month in case this is IBD. Also, i would rule out FIV and FELV as those diseases increase the likelihood of early onset cancer.

Hairballs can cause vomiting, so can eating too much too quickly. Asthma can cause vomiting as well. Lots of possibilities… You could switch brands of urinary food, in case it is the brand he isn’t tolerating. Blue buffalo has some new veterinary diets, you could try them if you want something more limited ingredient.

[pony4me]

One of our cats was at the vet a few weeks ago with the same complaint. The vet couldn’t pinpoint any specific causes, so she threw out some suggestions. Remove houseplants, especially poinsettias just in case she’s nibbling. Add hairball remedy to her food. Check to see if anything could be stressing her. She’s not vomiting anymore, so one of those may have worked.

[OzarksRider]

Has your cat been wormed recently? Sometimes worms can make them vomit. (I’m assuming your cat goes outdoors.)

Like others have said, hairballs can make cats vomit. So can hyperthyroidism, but your cat is young for that.

[hoopoe]

foreign body, including a trichobezoar; hairball too large to pass. Soft tissue pathology. Contrast radiology may be needed.

Food bolting and gulping air while eating might be solved by simply serving more frequent smaller portions over an hour. You might also mix in warm water and seeing if a softer consistency might 1) slow him down 2) be more easily tolerated.

[emipou]

Yeah, I think he’s just gorging. When we first brought him home, he was so tiny and would eat like nobody’s business. I couldn’t seem to feed him enough. He’s over 2yo now and has slowed down a little but I think it’s that same mentality for him.
I’ve been giving smaller portions between the two cats in the morning and haven’t seen any more puke. fingers crossed, just didn’t want to be missing some huge medical red flags. It’s always his entire meal 10 minutes after eating when he pukes.

[emipou]

@hoopoe

foreign body, including a trichobezoar; hairball too large to pass. Soft tissue pathology. Contrast radiology may be needed.

Food bolting and gulping air while eating might be solved by simply serving more frequent smaller portions over an hour. You might also mix in warm water and seeing if a softer consistency might 1) slow him down 2) be more easily tolerated.

Slowing him down is what I’m trying to do and that seems to help. It’s difficult to slow his rations down too much some mornings since I tend to always be running late, and have to stand guard so the dog doesn’t eat their food.

[emipou]

@OzarksRider

Has your cat been wormed recently? Sometimes worms can make them vomit. (I’m assuming your cat goes outdoors.)

Like others have said, hairballs can make cats vomit. So can hyperthyroidism, but your cat is young for that.

Yeah, absolutely no outdoor access for our kitties.

[emipou]

@furlong47

Can you try doling it out over a period of time in smaller amounts? If you aren’t home to do that and he’s the only cat, maybe divide it up among those boxes that open on a timer so he gets the whole can in 3-5 small, slightly spread out feedings instead of all at once?

we do have a timed feeder for when we go out of town. I’m not sure if the other cat woulod just gobble everything up for him, but it’s worth looking into. thanks for the tip!

[CanteringCarrot]

I have two cats, one more piggy than the other, but I have two automatic feeders. They both go off at the same times (5:30am. 11:00am, 4:00pm) and they each go to their own feeder. I’ve had no fights, and they both are in good weight. At 8:00pm they both get wet food. I think this schedule works well for them and no one stuffs their face too much.

My one cat does have a special feeder for his wet food because sometimes he eats the portion all at once, sometimes he comes back for the rest - I think he prefers some meats more than others. His feeder can only be opened with his chip (inplanted microchip). Therefore when he eats slow, backs off, or comes and goes, no one else can get to his food. I can also place it higher up somewhere, but the dog doesn’t bother it.

So I may be catering to my cats a bit too much :lol: but it has been like this for years and they both do really well. Also nice not to have cats all over me for food first thing in the morning. :winkgrin:

So you may have to get a bit creative.

[emipou]

@CanteringCarrot

I have two cats, one more piggy than the other, but I have two automatic feeders. They both go off at the same times (5:30am. 11:00am, 4:00pm) and they each go to their own feeder. I’ve had no fights, and they both are in good weight. At 8:00pm they both get wet food. I think this schedule works well for them and no one stuffs their face too much.

My one cat does have a special feeder for his wet food because sometimes he eats the portion all at once, sometimes he comes back for the rest - I think he prefers some meats more than others. His feeder can only be opened with his chip (inplanted microchip). Therefore when he eats slow, backs off, or comes and goes, no one else can get to his food. I can also place it higher up somewhere, but the dog doesn’t bother it.

So I may be catering to my cats a bit too much :lol: but it has been like this for years and they both do really well. Also nice not to have cats all over me for food first thing in the morning. :winkgrin:

So you may have to get a bit creative.

It’s true. My cats do try to kill me twice a day until I feed them - and they DO NOT honor the time change :lol:

[redtbred]

Have you tried elevating his bowl? Great suggestions here already regarding potential medical concerns, however, I have a cat that used to regurgitate his wet food (or dry) several times a week, and like you mine are fed 2/3 times daily. And like you I became quite worried! There was nothing abnormal medically after numerous vet visits/diagnostics, so as an experiment, I put his bowl on a “pedestal”, he’s a bit of a bigger boned fellow, and I was copying what we had done to accommodate our larger dogs over the years. After doing so, he might regurgitate -maybe-once a month and this is usually my fault because I haven’t hovered to ensure that he doesn’t steal from the others ground level bowls I’m a successful study size of one but I figured I’d share

[Simkie]

Regarding the famotidine, I forgot to mention above that it seems to be flavorless. I grind the 1/4 pill and add to wet food, and not a one has complained. It’s incredibly cheap and easy, and it really has stopped all mystery puking in every cat I’ve tried it on.
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[emipou]

Quick update on the kitty. Since starting this thread, I’ve managed to avoid him puking any more. My latest trick has been mixing the two cats’ food into each dish, and giving them smaller portions. No puking. This morning though, I tried something new and did half early, let them finish, then called them back in a short bit later to finish the remaining half. I’m not sure how well that will work long term with the dog. She doesn’t wait for them to finish, just steps in.

If the puking returns, I’m going to try @Simkie’s suggestion with the antacids.