Hello. My 15 year old cat Miss W. has always had some food issues. She wouldn't eat more than a teaspoon of canned food and any products with grains (especially corn products) creates itching and "dandruff." She has been obese (4 on a scale of 5) since she came to me and despite always being on vet recommended calorie levels and diet food, she has never lost weight. The vets won't believe me but I ALWAYS calculated the calories and weighed her kibble to the tenth of an ounce until now and now I am measuring calories of wet food by volume.
Over the couple of years she was becoming a "scarf & barf" cat when first fed, but didn't ever eat the entire amount of food at once. I want to be clear, she did not eat her whole meal at once and this wasn't just regurgitation as there were spasms from her abdomen up...but mostly the kibbles would be semi-whole and very identifiable. She only vomited if she ate too fast. If I took her bowl away, while she was eating to make her slow down, she sometimes didn't vomit. I thought she might be getting dehydrated, so I started grinding some of the kibble and making a flavored water that I gave her before her food. That helped for a long time--at least a year or two.
However in November began vomiting again and by early December she was vomiting up her kibble after every meal. After much experimentation and the help of the kind folks at Mud Bay, I found a canned food she would eat and added it to her diet and sloowwwwwwly changed over her dry food to a higher protein food with less food kibble swelling. The only canned food she likes and will eat is Lotus Just Juicy Venison stew. She won't eat pate of any kind. She licks up the gravy first but eats it all. I give her several smaller portions and not the meal at once. If there is anything left after a portion (usually up on the side of the bowl), I add a little warm water and she finishes it. At first she was at half a can twice a day, and she voluntarily reduced to about 1/3 cup of kibble a day. The vomiting stopped as soon as she started eating the canned food--basically the same meal. We had almost 3 months with no vomiting except once when we were out later than she wanted and she ate a maybe 1/6th cup of kibble without any canned first.
I thought we were done with the problem and despite the astronomical cost of the food, I was happy for such a thorough solution. Her skin was better, her fur was softer, no litter box changes, she was happy, I knew she was getting better hydration, and most of all No vomiting. She even lost a small amount of weight even though she was getting enough food. Life was good.
Last week she vomited a couple of times and a few more over the weekend...then yesterday it was three times. None today so far...
She has quit eating the kibble altogether but ate an entire can of Just Juicy for breakfast (over 2 hours). Her litter box seems normal. No foam or blood in the vomit. She seems fine immediately after vomiting--just like before.
We have no foods that she gets into, no plants she might be eating, and she's an indoor cat with access to a second floor deck but not to any other animals.
Any thoughts at all would be helpful.
Over the couple of years she was becoming a "scarf & barf" cat when first fed, but didn't ever eat the entire amount of food at once. I want to be clear, she did not eat her whole meal at once and this wasn't just regurgitation as there were spasms from her abdomen up...but mostly the kibbles would be semi-whole and very identifiable. She only vomited if she ate too fast. If I took her bowl away, while she was eating to make her slow down, she sometimes didn't vomit. I thought she might be getting dehydrated, so I started grinding some of the kibble and making a flavored water that I gave her before her food. That helped for a long time--at least a year or two.
However in November began vomiting again and by early December she was vomiting up her kibble after every meal. After much experimentation and the help of the kind folks at Mud Bay, I found a canned food she would eat and added it to her diet and sloowwwwwwly changed over her dry food to a higher protein food with less food kibble swelling. The only canned food she likes and will eat is Lotus Just Juicy Venison stew. She won't eat pate of any kind. She licks up the gravy first but eats it all. I give her several smaller portions and not the meal at once. If there is anything left after a portion (usually up on the side of the bowl), I add a little warm water and she finishes it. At first she was at half a can twice a day, and she voluntarily reduced to about 1/3 cup of kibble a day. The vomiting stopped as soon as she started eating the canned food--basically the same meal. We had almost 3 months with no vomiting except once when we were out later than she wanted and she ate a maybe 1/6th cup of kibble without any canned first.
I thought we were done with the problem and despite the astronomical cost of the food, I was happy for such a thorough solution. Her skin was better, her fur was softer, no litter box changes, she was happy, I knew she was getting better hydration, and most of all No vomiting. She even lost a small amount of weight even though she was getting enough food. Life was good.
Last week she vomited a couple of times and a few more over the weekend...then yesterday it was three times. None today so far...
She has quit eating the kibble altogether but ate an entire can of Just Juicy for breakfast (over 2 hours). Her litter box seems normal. No foam or blood in the vomit. She seems fine immediately after vomiting--just like before.
We have no foods that she gets into, no plants she might be eating, and she's an indoor cat with access to a second floor deck but not to any other animals.
Any thoughts at all would be helpful.