# Advice please, cat vomiting/regurgitating.



## Embo (24 February 2015)

Hi all, just after some advice before we pack her off to the vets! Sorry, this might be long so I can get all info down.

We have 2 cats, rescued them just over 2 years ago. Brother and sister, they are now 4 years old. They were given to us as indoor only as had never been outside in their lives.

Male cat, (short hair) 4kg, no problems with him whatsoever. 

Female cat (long hair) about 2.5kg (she is tiny) is sometimes sick after her meals. Has the odd hairball.

When we got them, they were on wet food, so we kept this up. Eventually moved them onto raw. All going very well. After a succession of holidays and family looking after them and complaining about raw diet (it's gross, apparently), we switched them back onto wet food for when we went away. We didn't get round to changing their diet back until recently.

Male cat will eat anything we put down. Female is a bit picky and won't eat certain flavours, but then would start to be sick after eating certain brands. It got to the point where we had tried all different brands, but she can only eat 2 or 3 types/flavours without being ill. So our girl has either developed allergies or has a sensitive stomach (or both).

We decided to switch back to raw as was the only time she was never ill. We did it SLOWLY over the course of a few weeks and now are on 100% raw again. Started off very well, apparently she very much missed having meaty bones. No sickness at all for several weeks.

The other evening (Thursday 19), OH & I were out so we asked MIL to come and feed the cats. Meal was prepared, already in bowls, in fridge. All she had to do was put it down.

We came home later to 2 piles of sick. It was the fish we had prepared, mixed with biscuits (we still have remnants of a box I've been meaning to throw away). We knew it was female as she had developed an intolerance to these biscuits! 3 in the morning, male cat wakes us up being sick. Part-digested fish.

OH phones his mum the next day to find out she had microwaved the fish (!?) to warm it and given them some biscuits she found in the cupboard as they still looked hungry (why people can't follow instructions and think they know better is beyond me!).

Next morning was fish again (their favourite meal by far, so we thought we'd give it again to make up for the night before). Boy cat ate every morsel and perfectly fine. Girl cat scoffed it (was likely starving) and sick again (regurgitated, as it wasn't long after and looked pretty much as it was in the bowl).

So evening comes and it's lamb heart for tea. To stop her bolting her food, I gave them very tiny portions over the space of an hour. This worked perfectly, both cats fine. Phew.

No sickness until the weekend, she regurgitated a few chunks of heart, but went back and ate the rest with no problems. Otherwise fine until this morning when fish was on the menu!

She was sick twice - once was regurgitated shortly after they ate. The next time was part digested about 30 mins after.

I plan on giving her some bland food tonight (some boiled chicken, probably) and tomorrow, try to ease her back into it slowly.

She is otherwise fine in herself. Using the toilet normally, no abnormal stools. Drinking water, running around and playful as always. Most of her sick has only ever been regurgitated, at most part-digested, even with the wet food.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. We will take her to the vet if bland food for a few days doesn't help.

Any ideas? Besides not giving fish again? We thought we'd got over this as genuinely thought it was the canned food


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## LittleBlackMule (24 February 2015)

Can you try leaving food down for them all the time? If she's able to trickle feed she won't be so inclined to rush it down.

One of mine occasionally goes through a phase of bringing food up, and I've discovered it's my cue to worm him..


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## Embo (24 February 2015)

LittleBlackMule said:



			Can you try leaving food down for them all the time? If she's able to trickle feed she won't be so inclined to rush it down.

One of mine occasionally goes through a phase of bringing food up, and I've discovered it's my cue to worm him..
		
Click to expand...

Thank you - I wish we could leave food down, but the male cat will eat everything as very greedy chap. I could try trickle feeding every mealtime, though.

Wormers are on my list! Thanks!


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## Shady (24 February 2015)

does sound as if she is just eating too fast, sometimes happens if another tries to muscle in on another cats food, they get stressed and start wolfing food too quickly, fur balls can cause it and constipation  but you would probably see other symptoms ,worm as LBM says just in case but it sounds as if she's hungry and eating too fast, keep us posted ? x


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## ILuvCowparsely (24 February 2015)

Embo said:



			Hi all, just after some advice before we pack her off to the vets! Sorry, this might be long so I can get all info down.

We have 2 cats, rescued them just over 2 years ago. Brother and sister, they are now 4 years old. They were given to us as indoor only as had never been outside in their lives.

Male cat, (short hair) 4kg, no problems with him whatsoever. 

Female cat (long hair) about 2.5kg (she is tiny) is sometimes sick after her meals. Has the odd hairball.

When we got them, they were on wet food, so we kept this up. Eventually moved them onto raw. All going very well. After a succession of holidays and family looking after them and complaining about raw diet (it's gross, apparently), we switched them back onto wet food for when we went away. We didn't get round to changing their diet back until recently.

Male cat will eat anything we put down. Female is a bit picky and won't eat certain flavours, but then would start to be sick after eating certain brands. It got to the point where we had tried all different brands, but she can only eat 2 or 3 types/flavours without being ill. So our girl has either developed allergies or has a sensitive stomach (or both).

We decided to switch back to raw as was the only time she was never ill. We did it SLOWLY over the course of a few weeks and now are on 100% raw again. Started off very well, apparently she very much missed having meaty bones. No sickness at all for several weeks.

The other evening (Thursday 19), OH & I were out so we asked MIL to come and feed the cats. Meal was prepared, already in bowls, in fridge. All she had to do was put it down.

We came home later to 2 piles of sick. It was the fish we had prepared, mixed with biscuits (we still have remnants of a box I've been meaning to throw away). We knew it was female as she had developed an intolerance to these biscuits! 3 in the morning, male cat wakes us up being sick. Part-digested fish.

OH phones his mum the next day to find out she had microwaved the fish (!?) to warm it and given them some biscuits she found in the cupboard as they still looked hungry (why people can't follow instructions and think they know better is beyond me!).

Next morning was fish again (their favourite meal by far, so we thought we'd give it again to make up for the night before). Boy cat ate every morsel and perfectly fine. Girl cat scoffed it (was likely starving) and sick again (regurgitated, as it wasn't long after and looked pretty much as it was in the bowl).

So evening comes and it's lamb heart for tea. To stop her bolting her food, I gave them very tiny portions over the space of an hour. This worked perfectly, both cats fine. Phew.

No sickness until the weekend, she regurgitated a few chunks of heart, but went back and ate the rest with no problems. Otherwise fine until this morning when fish was on the menu!

She was sick twice - once was regurgitated shortly after they ate. The next time was part digested about 30 mins after.

I plan on giving her some bland food tonight (some boiled chicken, probably) and tomorrow, try to ease her back into it slowly.

She is otherwise fine in herself. Using the toilet normally, no abnormal stools. Drinking water, running around and playful as always. Most of her sick has only ever been regurgitated, at most part-digested, even with the wet food.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. We will take her to the vet if bland food for a few days doesn't help.

Any ideas? Besides not giving fish again? We thought we'd got over this as genuinely thought it was the canned food 

Click to expand...

IME  There are many reasons cats are sick after or before eating

for example

they have tape worm
other foreign body caught in their throat or intestines or stomach.
Eating grass
rat bait etc

 You really need to go to the vet before messing with all feeds in case something is caught or within the cats' body.


 As they were rescued they could have foraged and eaten something just to get something within their stomachs.  


I would make the vet a priority

This is not normal and they can get dehydrated quickly and if not eating and getting fluids she could go down hill fast.


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## Embo (25 February 2015)

Shady said:



			does sound as if she is just eating too fast, sometimes happens if another tries to muscle in on another cats food, they get stressed and start wolfing food too quickly, fur balls can cause it and constipation  but you would probably see other symptoms ,worm as LBM says just in case but it sounds as if she's hungry and eating too fast, keep us posted ? x
		
Click to expand...

Yes, her brother does like to steal whatever he can from her bowl! Got some wormers, will do them at the weekend so can keep an eye on her - don't want to do it when I'm off to work.

No sickness since yesterday morning, thankfully.



HGA-12 said:



			IME  There are many reasons cats are sick after or before eating

for example

they have tape worm
other foreign body caught in their throat or intestines or stomach.
Eating grass
rat bait etc

 You really need to go to the vet before messing with all feeds in case something is caught or within the cats' body.

 As they were rescued they could have foraged and eaten something just to get something within their stomachs.  

I would make the vet a priority

This is not normal and they can get dehydrated quickly and if not eating and getting fluids she could go down hill fast.
		
Click to expand...

Thanks, we have had them 2.5 years, they were in the rescue for a few months before we took them home. They were given up by their old owner who couldn't look after them anymore, so pretty sure it's nothing they've foraged. We also live on the second floor, they are indoor only so know she's not eaten any poison - at least not in the last 2.5 years we've had them.

She's not dehydrated, she is still drinking and going to the toilet normally, not losing weight. Gums are pink. She is otherwise her normal self, not lethargic at all. Still playful and following us around, coming for cuddles. Not hiding away at all, not tender on her tummy at all (she was sleeping upside down next to OH last night & he said he was stroking her belly for quite a while!).

Of course, vets are the next step - am aware this isn't normal but she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms.


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## ILuvCowparsely (25 February 2015)

Embo said:



			Yes, her brother does like to steal whatever he can from her bowl! Got some wormers, will do them at the weekend so can keep an eye on her - don't want to do it when I'm off to work.

No sickness since yesterday morning, thankfully.



Thanks, we have had them 2.5 years, they were in the rescue for a few months before we took them home. They were given up by their old owner who couldn't look after them anymore, so pretty sure it's nothing they've foraged. We also live on the second floor, they are indoor only so know she's not eaten any poison - at least not in the last 2.5 years we've had them.

She's not dehydrated, she is still drinking and going to the toilet normally, not losing weight. Gums are pink. She is otherwise her normal self, not lethargic at all. Still playful and following us around, coming for cuddles. Not hiding away at all, not tender on her tummy at all (she was sleeping upside down next to OH last night & he said he was stroking her belly for quite a while!).

Of course, vets are the next step - am aware this isn't normal but she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms.
		
Click to expand...

Strange, I hope you get to the bottom of it.  Just for the sake of it she would not have gotten hold of any sewing things?? needles/pins/cotton?? only my girl did when young


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## Shady (25 February 2015)

hearing that they are indoor cats probably rules out worms , i really think she is just scoffing too fast, especially if it's something she really likes and doesn't want the other to get it, , iv'e had 3 like this and still have 1 oriental girl who does this, she doesn't like dried food so can't ' graze' so much during the day so gets hungrier and eats too fast when fed, if i am home more i give her an extra, small meal in the day and then she's fine, make sure they have access to grass too, i used to have pots of it when i had to keep mine in once .


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## joelb (25 February 2015)

Can often be an early sign of dental or gum problems, if the mouth is at all uncomfortable they don't chew properly. I would have her vet checked as precaution.


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## chestnut cob (26 February 2015)

Can you feed her separately to the male to stop him from stealing from her?  she might not bolt her food if she's fed in a different room as doesn't feel she has to. Might help a bit.


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## suestowford (26 February 2015)

I've had a cat like this. With her it was stress, so visitors staying, or changes to the furniture, or anything really that was different would set it off. It was simliar to IBS in that once a bout had started, even when the stress was gone it would take ages to calm down again.
When we had builders in it nearly killed her 
I was given steroid pills by the vet which helped to keep it under control. I too would advise a vet visit, as this could be caused by many many things and you may need to get some blood tests done, at least to rule out things like thyroid problems if nothing else.


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## Embo (27 February 2015)

Thank you everyone, some good advice given!

We've had no sickness at all since Tuesday morning, as per my OP. We decided to worm them on Wednesday night, which went well, despite the usual struggles! It didn't take long for us to be forgiven, thankfully!

We've been spreading their meals out over the course of 30 mins or so, so she can't scoff the lot, which certainly seems to be helping. 

Sadly, separating them for meals doesn't seem to work. I tried shutting her brother in the kitchen and left her in the dining room (where they usually eat) and she spend the whole time at the kitchen door trying to get in! The kitchen door is always shut, so not like it was because it was different. Although they aren't the best of friends (they don't snuggle together or groom each other at all) but she doesn't like to be separated from him. 

So I think we will keep up with the trickle feeding. I will book her in for a vet check anyway, but at least she seems to have settled in the meantime.

Thanks again for the advice. I will update once we take her to see the vet!


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