Finicky Eaters With Sensitive Stomachs Or Something Worse?

freddie.and.ramona

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
30
Purraise
11
Hey guys!

I've posted on here before about my two kitties and all has been going well- they are almost a year old! They are sibling Devon Rexes, a boy and a girl named Freddie and Ramona.

Some background: They've been fed primarily wet food their whole lives. Brands of choice are Weruva, Fromm, and Tiki Cat. They occasionally get Orijen dry food as a treat.

About two months ago, I noticed Ramona started getting very picky about what she wanted to eat and when (she's a cat after all, no surprises there). She would occasionally throw up shortly after eating which we assumed was because she would eat too fast. We would give her a few minutes and feed her again, which she would keep down. We feed them in separate rooms now and try to stagger out their portions so they don't gobble it.

Since then, they have both gradually started to refuse certain foods and will sometimes skip meals altogether. We have resorted to occasionally bribing them to eat by using Fancy Feast gravy on top of their food or opening a bunch of different cans to see if they will eat one flavor over the other (which leads to waste more often than not, but oh well). They do typically still eat one full meal per day and do not appear to be losing weight, so I have not rushed them to the vet over it yet. Two weeks ago, Freddie started to throw up small amounts of foamy vomit about every other day for 5-6 days, but nothing that seemed overly concerning. He became very reluctant to eat so we took him to the vet, where they checked him and concluded that he was likely becoming finicky like his sister. They administered fluids to help with dehydration and sent us home with some 'smelly' food which seemed to work. Since then, he has had some loose stools off and on but overall is eating much better and has a completely normal amount of energy (ie a lot!).

Now, on the other hand (I swear they trade off on this), Ramona has been vomiting intermittently (sometimes once a day, sometimes once every 2 days etc). and refusing meals, but otherwise acting normal. She tends to skip breakfast and then eat a normal/large amount of food at night.

What I am wondering is, does it sound like they could perhaps have something more serious like a food allergy, IBS/IBD, gastrointestinal illness? I assume because they are so young, it's unlikely that kidney/liver issues are causing this (also the fact that it is happening in both of them, not just one). I thought maybe they had a bacteria/virus but that also seems unlikely because of the come-and-go pattern spanning several months instead of an acute onset. I know a lot of cats are finicky with food but the vomiting has got me more concerned. Another thing to note is that we first noticed this behavior when it started to get much hotter out (July/August in NYC) and the apartment is consistently 80 degrees or above, because our tiny A/C can't keep up with it. Not sure if the heat has this effect on any other felines out there or not??

Any/all advice or experience in this area would be greatly appreciated! I'm at a loss of what to do and getting them to eat has been frustrating and worrisome to say the least. Thanks!!
 

Kieka

Snowshoe Servant
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
11,394
Purraise
19,968
Location
Southern California
That does sound quite frustrating. A couple of ideas, since the vet didn't find anything immediately wrong health wise (which is a good thing).

1) Try eliminating a major protein from their diet and see if it makes a difference. I did this with chicken and it cut back vomiting by a significant amount. Leading us to believe my Mom's cat has a sensitivity to chicken. When my cat started having problems with the new food, turkey based, we switched to non-poultry and now everybody is keeping their meals down. I started with chicken because it is the most common protein but if you notice it primarily after certain meals eliminate that.

2) Start keeping a calendar of what specifically is fed and when problems occur. That could help narrow it to a specific factor. I did that after cutting poultry because we still had problems every few weeks. I noticed that shrimp caused problems within 24 hours of eating, cut out shrimp and no more problems (well too fast eating or overeating but not ingredient related).

3) Add a teaspoon (up to a tablespoon) of pumpkin in with food once a day. This can help with minor digestive issues by adding fiber. I will usually add in a little pumpkin when someone is having one off problems for a week that isn't bad enough for a vet but I'd like to help them some.

None of this will really help identify the problem. But even if it is undiagnosed IBS or allergies they could help reduce them. I say my Mom's cat is allergic to chicken and shrimp, while my cat is allergic to turkey. But reality is I don't know 100%, I just know they do better without those items in their diet. That is good enough for me at this point.
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
It's so frustrating when this happens. When my male cat was about 8 months old, he started throwing up and having soft poops. Turns out, he cannot tolerate an all grain-free diet. Something to think about.
 

Daisy6

A cat's best friend
Super Cat
Joined
Jun 2, 2018
Messages
1,549
Purraise
839
Location
Floriida
Are both kittens eating the same food on the days they vomit and don't vomit? Write down the last food that was eaten before a cat threw up.
 

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
When you took them to the vet, did they do any bloodwork? We found out Trin had issues when he had really bad diarrhea after trying to work in wet food into his diet (all chicken flavors since he really liked that). We took him to the vet and blood work told us he had elevated liver enzymes and low B-12 which is why we are fairly certain he has IBD. The chicken probably caused a flare-up.

If you are concerned about an underlying condition, blood work typically isn't too expensive, and it can let you rest easy. The B-12 levels had to be a different test, but you can maybe start off with a standard one to see.

I also agree with Kieka Kieka to try an elimination diet and see if something is upsetting them.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

freddie.and.ramona

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
30
Purraise
11
When you took them to the vet, did they do any bloodwork? We found out Trin had issues when he had really bad diarrhea after trying to work in wet food into his diet (all chicken flavors since he really liked that). We took him to the vet and blood work told us he had elevated liver enzymes and low B-12 which is why we are fairly certain he has IBD. The chicken probably caused a flare-up.

If you are concerned about an underlying condition, blood work typically isn't too expensive, and it can let you rest easy. The B-12 levels had to be a different test, but you can maybe start off with a standard one to see.

I also agree with Kieka Kieka to try an elimination diet and see if something is upsetting them.
Thanks for the insight! They did not do any blood work when we went to the vet, just a general check up to feel his stomach, check his weight and hydration level, look inside his mouth etc and didn't find him to be sickly. I thought it was a bit odd that they didn't want to do blood work but seeing as he is so young, I figured maybe they deemed it unnecessary. I was able to get ahold of the woman I got them from and she said that one of the kittens from my cats' litter currently has IBS and is on special food for it so now I'm strongly considering that as a possibility. I will try the elimination diet and see if they improve. It's hard because the girl is SO finicky and refuses to eat unless it's exactly what she is craving in the moment (read: princess) so it might be a challenge to do this but I'm going to try. Any usual culprits to watch out for?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

freddie.and.ramona

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
30
Purraise
11
Are both kittens eating the same food on the days they vomit and don't vomit? Write down the last food that was eaten before a cat threw up.
I have not kept a written diary thus far but it seems to be fairly random. I try to give them different flavors every day (also because they get bored easily and seem to only be enticed by new flavors at each meal) and the symptoms seem to remain fairly consistent despite this.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

freddie.and.ramona

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
30
Purraise
11
It's so frustrating when this happens. When my male cat was about 8 months old, he started throwing up and having soft poops. Turns out, he cannot tolerate an all grain-free diet. Something to think about.
Interesting!! Did you find this out by keeping a food diary/elimination?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

freddie.and.ramona

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
30
Purraise
11
That does sound quite frustrating. A couple of ideas, since the vet didn't find anything immediately wrong health wise (which is a good thing).

1) Try eliminating a major protein from their diet and see if it makes a difference. I did this with chicken and it cut back vomiting by a significant amount. Leading us to believe my Mom's cat has a sensitivity to chicken. When my cat started having problems with the new food, turkey based, we switched to non-poultry and now everybody is keeping their meals down. I started with chicken because it is the most common protein but if you notice it primarily after certain meals eliminate that.

2) Start keeping a calendar of what specifically is fed and when problems occur. That could help narrow it to a specific factor. I did that after cutting poultry because we still had problems every few weeks. I noticed that shrimp caused problems within 24 hours of eating, cut out shrimp and no more problems (well too fast eating or overeating but not ingredient related).

3) Add a teaspoon (up to a tablespoon) of pumpkin in with food once a day. This can help with minor digestive issues by adding fiber. I will usually add in a little pumpkin when someone is having one off problems for a week that isn't bad enough for a vet but I'd like to help them some.

None of this will really help identify the problem. But even if it is undiagnosed IBS or allergies they could help reduce them. I say my Mom's cat is allergic to chicken and shrimp, while my cat is allergic to turkey. But reality is I don't know 100%, I just know they do better without those items in their diet. That is good enough for me at this point.
Thanks! I will try this. They do eat chicken a LOT because they love it so maybe I will try to eliminate that and see what happens. They won't be happy about it but maybe it'll help !
 

Daisy6

A cat's best friend
Super Cat
Joined
Jun 2, 2018
Messages
1,549
Purraise
839
Location
Floriida
Kittens eat af lot because htey need to. They usually gain one pound each month. Then there is their high activity level, which is more calories out. Needless to say, they need more calories in.
 
Top