Cat drinking too much water...and vomiting

[RedMare01]

:sigh:

This is more exasperation than anything else. Does anybody else have a cat that does this?

My Siamese boy, Oliver, likes everything on a schedule. Which is fine most of the time. But sometimes it just gets ridiculous… I always feed them breakfast at 7am, just before I leave for work. Except on weekends or days I’m off (like most of this week), I do not always feel like getting up at 7am just to feed the cats. So it may be a bit later, like, <gasp>, 8:30am. :lol:

I guess he’s hungry at 7, but since there’s no food, he goes and drinks a ton of water. Then I give food, too much in belly, and…he throws up. Everything. All the food and water. I’m not talking about a little water; it looks like he drinks half the bowl. And I have a fountain that holds quite a bit of water.

So I’m stuck cleaning up for the third time this week. :rolleyes: :sigh:

This is not a new thing, BTW, just more noticeable since I’ve been off this week. He’s done this (mainly on weekends) off and on his entire life. He’s almost four.

Any suggestions (beyond never sleeping in again :lol:)?

[Chall]

I’d take him to the vet. Although it’s happened all the time, it doesn’t mean it is oaky. It could be an escalation of something , like diabetes.

I would put out a small amount of dry cat food to tide him over when you intend to sleep late.
But I’d still check out the vomiting at the vets.

[RedMare01]

I plan to ask the vet the next time I see her.

He’s only four and looks the picture of health. Not overweight at all and no other issues (except a fondness for shredding toilet paper).

They do get a small amount of food at about 10pm to tide them over for the night. So on a normal day they eat at 7am, 4:30pm, and 10pm.

I just think that if it were something physical, it would be showing up more often, and not just on odd, random days when his food is a bit late.

[Paddys_Mom]

Maybe a kibble dispensing toy?

[Horsegal984]

Automatic feeder. It may have less to do with the amount of water and more to do with him thinking he’s starving and gobbling his food

[Simkie]

Agree with the auto feeder.

Another thing to possibly consider is a proton pump inhibitor. If he’s regularly fed at a specific time, his stomach is primed for food then and will start producing acid. If he’s not fed, that acid can irritate the stomach. Drinking water may very well be in response to stomach pain caused by that rush of acid.

[oliverreed]

I don’t know if this is an option for you but I leave dry food down all the time. (I have 4 cats.)

[RedMare01]

An automatic feeder is a great idea. I looked into them in the past, but it seems like most don’t have great reviews? Anyone have a recommendation? Are there any that have multiple bowls and not just one (I have three cats total…).

The only other thing that gives me pause on an automatic feeder for his particular issue is that he’s the least food oriented out of all my cats. So I can see the other two being the ones waiting at the bowl for the food to come out, while he sits back and watches them eat. Although I don’t think they would eat everything either…he would probably get something, I’m just not sure how much. Hmm…

[RedMare01]

@oliverreed;6473622

I don’t know if this is an option for you but I leave dry food down all the time. (I have 4 cats.)

Probably not. I used to leave out dry when I just had Sadie and Oliver and they did fine (supplemented with wet). But Bodie (youngest of my three) is a food hog. He would eat anything left out and weigh 20 pounds if he had constant access to food.

[SuckerForHorses]

If diabetes is an issue, unlimited dry food is not the best option anyways.

My folks have a diabetic cat, and she gets NO dry food, and only gets Evo Canned Cat food. When she has snuck dry food out of hte bowl that we put down for the other cat, she’s gotten sick.

[SquishTheBunny]

I wouldnt use a proton pump inhibitor without consulting with your vet.

Is he vomiting, or regurgitating?
Any diarrhea?
Any increase in urination?
Does he overall drink more than your other cats?
If he is fed ontime, will he still drink excessive amounts?

[_Teddy]

Im thinking diabetes?

[RedMare01]

@SquishTheBunny;6474922

I wouldnt use a proton pump inhibitor without consulting with your vet.

Is he vomiting, or regurgitating?
Any diarrhea?
Any increase in urination?
Does he overall drink more than your other cats?
If he is fed ontime, will he still drink excessive amounts?

No worries, I was not even aware you could give cats a PPI. Will not be running out to get Nexium for the cat on my own.

I really do not think he is diabetic. He is four. Not overweight. No other symptoms. Eats a combo of high quality grain free food (Wellness wet, Earthborn dry).

This is Oli (on the right)
…and a side pic…(pay no attention to his brother, uh, sniffing his butt…) :lol:

Aren’t vomiting and regurgitating about the same thing? He vomits usually within 30 minutes of eating if he’s going to.

No diarrhea, urination, or other litter box problems.

I have a fountain that they all have access to, but I do not notice him drinking any more than the other two. Or excessively at all.

If he’s fed on time, he does not vomit. Nor drink bunches of water. He will go weeks without vomiting if he’s fed on schedule.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=RedMare01;6475117]

Aren’t vomiting and regurgitating about the same thing? He vomits usually within 30 minutes of eating if he’s going to.
…
If he’s fed on time, he does not vomit. Nor drink bunches of water. He will go weeks without vomiting if he’s fed on schedule.[/QUOTE]

No, it sounds like your cat is regurgitating. My dog will do this if he eats something other than dog food (like horse poop…:mad:) Then, a while later, he will throw it up. The following meal we must skip, otherwise, he will eat like normal, then within 2 hours he will throw it up. This would continue for EVERY meal, unless I skipped one to let his system settle down. Sometimes, depending on how much his system was upset, we’d have to visit the vet for some mentronidazol and probiotics.

He is on a digestive aid & probiotic because the vet thinks its a GI upset issue (horse poop causes irritation enough to cause vomit…then the system is upset with any other food intruduced without giving him time to settle his system; hence the skipping a meal). Since being on the digestive aid, the dog hasn’t had an issue. He’s eaten horse poop and puked it back up, but then was fine at his next meal…ate without any regurgitation at all.

I would talk to your vet. Its definitely not a normal thing.

[SuckerForHorses]

The feeding off schedule may be just enough to throw his system off.

[SquishTheBunny]

Vomiting and regurging are not the same thing.

Regurging is a process of the esophagus, meaning that the water/food is not currently getting processed in the stomach. There is often no “heaving” involved, just a “splat”.

Vomiting is an active process which happens in the stomach. There can be digested food, or undigested.

Knowing the differences will greatly help your vet determine what is going on, and determine a treatment course if needed. Sounds like he is otherwise normal if he is fed on time.

[enjoytheride]

I would either get up at 730 and feed them on the weekends or stop feeding them at 730 at all.

My cats did the same thing and now they get a meal when I come home from work and a meal when I go to bed. On the weekends I’ll usually give them an afternoon meal.

It works out much better then destructive vomiting cats who play “we’re starving to death so who can get the most claws in the human or make the most noise” when I was trying to sleep in.