"Morning stomach" kitty barfs

[JB]

Are you hungry yet?

We have a kitty who, for a very long time, has had what I call a “sensitive morning stomach”, meaning if I feed her too soon in the morning, she regurgitates right after eating. No biggie, I had another many years ago who did the same thing. The fix is to just feed later.

She’s 19 now, and in the last few weeks has randomly regurg’d breakfast AND dinner. I’ve even tried a half serving of breakfast and still on a random occasion it comes back up. If I wait a bit longer, and feed her again, it’s all good.

I’ve never had a 19yo kitty! She was just in for rabies vac (the yearly, unadjuvanted type, has gotten that her whole life) a few weeks ago, had old kitty blood work done, especially to check thyroid just to make sure a problem wasn’t brewing, she’s the picture of health despite having lost many teeth, just having fangs and upper molars left. That’s fine, she eats wet food, but does explain why she recently started avoiding crunchy bedtime treats

For those with “morning stomach” kitties, did you find this became a bigger issue in old age? I WILL be talking to my vet (who’s also a friend) if this really keeps up, but I haven’t found a lot out there on this subject

My last “morning stomach” kitty left the workd at 16 due to cancer, and hers never got worse, but this one didn’t either until now, at 19 (well, May 1 will be 19)

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

I’ve found cats who do that get overly hungry. Especially as they get older, going longer than 8 hours between meals can trigger a cycle of hungry, barf, starving an hour later, barf the next meal.

Can you feed smaller portions 3-4 times a day? I have frozen wet food before to set out right before I go to bed so the kitty can eat at 3:00 AM.

[Simkie]

I 100% believe the gastric issues we consider par for the course in horses exist in our small animals with far more frequency than is recognized.

Pepcid is available, cheap, and very often effective for this sort of thing. 2.5 mg once or twice a day for your “normal” sized cat. Since this is a long standing issue in an elderly cat, I’d start with twice.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

@Simkie

I 100% believe the gastric issues we consider par for the course in horses exist in our small animals with far more frequency than is recognized.

I agree with that but think medicating works best with smaller, more frequent meals in older cats.

[Kyrabee]

Is she fed off the floor? If yes, maybe raising her dish to like chest height. I feed my girl putting her plate on a little ceramic pedestal. Getting gravity to assist with getting the food down.
Maybe her gastric motility is slowing down in her old age. I would agree that maybe smaller meals more frequently.

Susan

[JB]

@CrazyGuineaPigLady

I’ve found cats who do that get overly hungry. Especially as they get older, going longer than 8 hours between meals can trigger a cycle of hungry, barf, starving an hour later, barf the next meal.

Can you feed smaller portions 3-4 times a day? I have frozen wet food before to set out right before I go to bed so the kitty can eat at 3:00 AM.

We have 5 cats, so feeding 1 without a potential stampede can be…interesting LOL That also means we can’t leave any food out (have a dog also). She IS hungry in the morning, and last week I tried giving her a very small serving first thing, and she regurg’d that right away. Last night I did feed her extra right before bed (which stayed down), and still this morning she just tossed breakfast right back out

@Simkie

Pepcid is available, cheap, and very often effective for this sort of thing. 2.5 mg once or twice a day for your “normal” sized cat. Since this is a long standing issue in an elderly cat, I’d start with twice.

that’s an interesting experiment I can try. Getting it into her will be tricky but I’ll see what I can rig up

@Kyrabee

Is she fed off the floor? If yes, maybe raising her dish to like chest height. I feed my girl putting her plate on a little ceramic pedestal. Getting gravity to assist with getting the food down.
Maybe her gastric motility is slowing down in her old age. I would agree that maybe smaller meals more frequently.

Yes, and that’s a really interesting idea! I’ll see if I can rig something to raise her bowl and not have it slide off the backside LOL

[Simkie]

@JB

We have 5 cats, so feeding 1 without a potential stampede can be…interesting

Feeding in a crate makes this a lot easier. Little wire crates are great for this purpose. Cats who need fed more often than the rest learn pretty quickly to ask to be let in when they’re hungry.

[B_and_B]

Another on the smaller, more frequent meal plan here! We only have the one cat, but she has no ‘off’ switch on food (when we first got her, my previous cats had been on free choice dry food…and then I realized I was going through 10 pounds!! of dry kibble every week!!) and high levels of anxiety. Anxiety is the real key for her, if her people aren’t where they ought to be, I can guarantee that there will be a cat throwing up.
The schedule has settled down to: 6 am ‘half of breakfast plus treats’; 6:20 am the other half and a lap; 11 'lunch; 2:30: ‘tea’; 4: treats on the way to feed the horses; 5: dinner plus treats; 8: evening meal. The treats are almost always either lysine or hairball preventive treats. Can you tell I work mostly from home and my elderly dad has a schedule as well. Lol! For about two years, her schedule was flipped am/pm…getting up at 2 am and 4 am got real old real fast.

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

@JB

We have 5 cats, so feeding 1 without a potential stampede can be…interesting LOL That also means we can’t leave any food out (have a dog also). She IS hungry in the morning, and last week I tried giving her a very small serving first thing, and she regurg’d that right away. Last night I did feed her extra right before bed (which stayed down), and still this morning she just tossed breakfast right back out

Can you separate her at night? Maybe with another cat friend who won’t eat all the after midnight food.

You need to get ahead of the hunger for this to work, meaning that her meals for at least 48 hours are less than 8 hours apart. Even a tablespoon of food while you’re sleeping will help settle her stomach.

[JB]

@CrazyGuineaPigLady

Can you separate her at night? Maybe with another cat friend who won’t eat all the after midnight food

She’d have to be locked in a bedroom or bathroom, and would be very unhappy about that, not something I’m willing to do with a sr kitty. And I guarantee anyone else would eat all her food LOL

I CAN give her a little bit of food last thing at night, and first thing in the morning, which really isn’t much more than 8 hours.

[Kyrabee]

@JB

Yes, and that’s a really interesting idea! I’ll see if I can rig something to raise her bowl and not have it slide off the backside LOL

I found a little ceramic pedestal at PetSmart that was on clearance. I use a little bit of two sided electrical tape in 3 little spots to hold onto the plate.

I initially used Scotch tape but the electrical tape works better. I haven’t had to replace the tape for several weeks now.
She seems east much more readily with the plate vs a bowl. One of those that doesn’t like her whiskers smooshed.

Susan

[JB]

that’s perfect! I have to use bowls or they all push food off the edges, they’re lickers not biters LOL

I had some whisker-friendly bowls for a long while, a little raised, oblong and shallow, but food was constantly going over backside

[Simkie]

When I’m worried about whisker aversion, I pull out our people bowls, these fiesta ones:

Wayfair.com - Online Home Store for Furniture, Decor, Outdoors & More |...

They’re wide enough that cats can get their whole face in there without whiskers touching, but have the hard edge, so food stays in the bowl. Maybe you have something similar in your cupboard?

[BrownDerby]

I use individual serving sized au gratin dishes for my whisker-averse crew. They work great. I pick them up at thrift stores and yard sales.

[Kyrabee]

Yes…I have hit up the thrift stores for Corelle plates. Stinking things at like $7 apiece new!

Susan

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

My favorite cat plates are from Crate and Barrel. The came in a set of 12 for something like $2 each but that was at least 15 years ago. Similar to this but more flat. I love them because you can spread out the food for piggy eaters plus they don’t take up much room in the dishwasher or stored.

Foraineam Set of 8 Pieces 8 Inch Rectangular Porcelain Platters Dessert,...

My next choice is mini pie dishes from Anchor Hocking that were always on clearance or BOGO at the grocery store.

[Simkie]

@BrownDerby

I use individual serving sized au gratin dishes for my whisker-averse crew.

That’s clever!!

[JB]

We don’t have anything like the Fiesta bowls or the platters, but they give me some ideas to look for at thrift stores, thanks!