Cat Puking... How to increase feedings?

[Hannah531]

CURRENT feeding times: 7:30a, 12p, and 7p

PROPOSED feeding times: 7:30a, 11:30a, 3:30p, 7p

Additionally, he eats rehydrated freeze dried raw and while I'd love to get him a puzzle bowl to slow his eating down I'm not sure that's 'food safe' so any tips on that are welcome!!!

Background info:
Koda has been puking after eating for the last 4 meals. I have some ideas on how to help based on the other factors (Listed below) and I just wanted some input as the vet wasn't helpful in a practical way.

• He's been on the same food for 2.5 weeks now (VE Freeze Dried Duck, rehydrated and I add a bit more than necessary to increase hydration)
• His urine pH spiked last week for a couple days but is back to normal
• Poop is normal
• He's been grooming more than normal but vet, friend who is a vet, and various cat owners have assured me that this is probably seasonal as the weather is changing
• Vet on Tuesday did a urinalysis and exam and didn't see anything 'wrong' (of course this was after only 2 vomiting episodes and I'm just overly cautious and it may have been too soon to tell.)
• He currently eats 3x a day, 7:30a, 12p, and 7p

The vet recommended adding feeding times but didn't offer any additional tips. Being that the food that he's on needs to be rehydrated and isn't good left out for more than 2 hr (from what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong!)

 

[Jcatbird]

When you say puking, is it in volume? Lots of liquid or could it be from the extra grooming? First I would suggest brushing or combing out the shedding fur to help. Small meals given often may also help rather than larger meals. This is a new diet? Then maybe the new diet in something kitty is having trouble adjusting to. There is also a possibility that there is some allergic reaction to the new food if the fur is thinning and kitty seems itchy I would wonder about that. I am sorry that I don’t know much about rehydrates food but I don’t leave any wet food out for very long due to spoilage.
If he eats fast, that can lead to puking. You mentioned a puzzle ball. If you don’t know if rehydrates food is safe that way, I would suggest putting only small amounts of food down at a time. Let him eat what is down and then add a bit more until he has slowly finished his meal. That might solve the whole issue. If he needs more food to hydrate then puking it up defeats that whole hydration thing. Slow and steady may be the answer and might be what the vet was trying to get at? I have a good gobbler too. He doesn’t do it at every meal but when he dies, I can expect it to come back up. He mostly does it when he is agitated by something. Shedding and ingesting extra fur would be something my cat would find agitating too. I try to keep up with brushing but sometimes he sheds more and I end up with a hairball. I hope kitty doesn’t puke anymore and this was just getting rid of extra fur.

 

[Hannah531]

When you say puking, is it in volume? Lots of liquid or could it be from the extra grooming? First I would suggest brushing or combing out the shedding fur to help. Small meals given often may also help rather than larger meals. This is a new diet? Then maybe the new diet in something kitty is having trouble adjusting to. There is also a possibility that there is some allergic reaction to the new food if the fur is thinning and kitty seems itchy I would wonder about that. I am sorry that I don’t know much about rehydrates food but I don’t leave any wet food out for very long due to spoilage.
If he eats fast, that can lead to puking. You mentioned a puzzle ball. If you don’t know if rehydrates food is safe that way, I would suggest putting only small amounts of food down at a time. Let him eat what is down and then add a bit more until he has slowly finished his meal. That might solve the whole issue. If he needs more food to hydrate then puking it up defeats that whole hydration thing. Slow and steady may be the answer and might be what the vet was trying to get at? I have a good gobbler too. He doesn’t do it at every meal but when he dies, I can expect it to come back up. He mostly does it when he is agitated by something. Shedding and ingesting extra fur would be something my cat would find agitating too. I try to keep up with brushing but sometimes he sheds more and I end up with a hairball. I hope kitty doesn’t puke anymore and this was just getting rid of extra fur.

It's mostly food. I actually scooped some up and took it with me on Tuesday. There's some hair but not enough for me to think it's from excessive grooming.
The food itself is new, but not the protein - he's been on duck for almost 6 months now so the vet didn't think it was an allergy (it's raw so it's just duck parts and vitamins/minerals nothing else that I'd think would cause an allergic reaction)

He eats his food within 30 minutes, which I didn't think was too fast but the vet suggested that the amount was too much for one feeding - hence breaking it up. I just feel like 3 to 4 isn't a big enough change to make a difference?

 

[Jcatbird]

If he is wolfing down his food then breaking the portions down to smaller amounts really can help but it may mean he needs feeding an extra feeding time. It’s certainly worth trying if he continues to throw up. It kind of sounds like he thinks the food is yummy! Thus, he gobbles it up? Try brushing him too though. That also might help.

 

[BlackCatOp]

How soon after eating is Koda vomiting? Also does he seem to do the horka, horka, horka, action and then vomit or does the food just seem to come back up without any effort?

One of mine will “scarf and barf” which really is regurgitation of her food. Elevating her bowl and feeding smaller portions helps but she will still occasionally regulate.

 

[pearl99]

I use a "lickie mat" that helps one of mine eat slower. Don't have to leave it out any longer than recommended- it just helps her eat more slowly since she gets a smaller amount of food with eat bite and has to put a little more effort in, so eats more slowly. Then I wash it after each meal.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089DN3H47/?tag=thecatsite

Could it be food related? I tried some food awhile back with a much higher meat protein content that two of them couldn't tolerate no matter how slowly I introduced it, it was really good food (Dr. Elsey's) for the obligate carnivore that cats are but it was too "rich." So went back to other food.
Two of mine also get hairballs even in winter so I give a little vegetable/safflower oil in the wet food weekly, my vet said they can be sitting in their stomach even if they don't barf it up. Or there's the store-bought hairball ointment.

This is just what I've run into with mine, if it's any help.

 

[Hannah531]

It definitely appears to be a scarf n barf situation. He just really loooooves the food which is great because he went through a stint of time where I could barely get him to eat because he didn’t like anything.
I currently brush him about once a week but I’ve been trying to up that to 2-3x. Even if the vomit doesn’t have hair could the vomit still be from grooming? Maybe like how you’re not supposed to excercise after eating? Lol

 

[pearl99]

I currently brush him about once a week but I’ve been trying to up that to 2-3x. Even if the vomit doesn’t have hair could the vomit still be from grooming? Maybe like how you’re not supposed to excercise after eating? Lol

On a recent visit to my vet with a barfy cat she said hairballs can sit in their stomach without bringing it up or passing it, so I think so.

 

[Hannah531]

On a recent visit to my vet with a barfy cat she said hairballs can sit in their stomach without bringing it up or passing it, so I think so.

I’ve been reading about it all day and it kind of seems like because there’s a hair ball in there (possibly) hes trying to yak it up but the food entered more recently so that’s what comes up first.

any tips on getting a hair ball out?

 

[pearl99]

I’ve been reading about it all day and it kind of seems like because there’s a hair ball in there (possibly) hes trying to yak it up but the food entered more recently so that’s what comes up first.

any tips on getting a hair ball out?

I'd check with the vet about what to do- I've used the hairball remedies on the market and they've worked, the flavored ointments etc.
Some info also:
What to Do About Hairballs in Cats

 

[Hannah531]

UPDATE: Last time he puked was lunch on Friday. I'm thinking now it may have been stress, (hindsight is 2020 right lol) I had a panic attack Thursday morning and the whole house was kind of on edge. T_T

 

[pearl99]

UPDATE: Last time he puked was lunch on Friday. I'm thinking now it may have been stress, (hindsight is 2020 right lol) I had a panic attack Thursday morning and the whole house was kind of on edge. T_T

Yay! I have a stress barfer also.