Ate Raw Too Fast + Threw Up

[Fozzlebozzle]

Hi All,

I’ve been browsing these forums for a while and they’ve been tremendously helpful as I figure out a proper diet for my cat. I’m now hoping to get some advice, or mostly reassurance, on an issue that’s arisen.

Some background: My cat Moscato (or Moskitty as I call her) is a 4.5 year old DSH who is completely incontinent due to some previous spinal trauma. She’s had issues with constipation and had an inflamed liver along with stomach liquid a few months ago, now fully healed. She was taking Pepcid for a few weeks, but I’ve stopped as I read over 2 weeks of use is harmful. Because of this I’ve wanted to try out a raw diet.

Since last Wednesday I had her eating ground bone-in rabbit, and it was going really well. She’s allergic to chicken, avoidant of Turkey, sensitive to beef, probably allergic to fish. Her protein selection is very small, which is why the rabbit was such a great solution. She was running to the bowl and gobbling it up. One morning I didn’t feed her early enough and she ended up eating too fast and throwing it up. But after giving her tummy a rest she was back to normal, and continue to eat it up for the next few days.

However….now I’m kicking myself because this was entirely my fault…I failed to feed her early enough yesterday, and she proceeded to eat too fast and threw up as a result. This time around she refused the meat for the rest of the day.

This morning I gave her a tiny amount of meat, and she began to eat which made me really excited. But she then threw it up a few minutes later

I plan to keep her off of the meat for the time being, but I’m really hoping she can be on the raw rabbit moving forward as it’s been great for her poops and overall appetite.

Would giving her stomach a rest from the rabbit meat help “reset” her and allow her to digest it if I tried again in a couple weeks? I’m so worried her stomach won’t handle the meat anymore, but it’s one of few proteins she can handle. I also want to try slippery tree bark, as I’ve read on the benefits. I wanted to hear from other parents to see if anybody has had this issue before I asked her vet for help.

 

[daftcat75]

I would pick up some rabbit freeze-dried meat treats (or Stella and Chewy's freeze dried rabbit morsels) and feed her just one or two nuggets as a primer portion. You can give her that right when you wake up. That should help prime her stomach for the food that's coming once you've prepared and served her breakfast. You could also split her breakfast into a couple of breakfasts spaced an hour or two apart. The meat itself, depending on the cut, may be too rich to feed on its own. I used to serve "rabbit sashimi" to my Krista which was just a tiny, tiny piece of meat sliced very finely since she was mostly or completely toothless by this time. The total portion was the size of a nickel. Even still, if that sashimi portion came from any cut other than the leg meat, she was likely giving it back. Instead of using the meat to bridge her back to eating, I would use the freeze dried (S&C or treats) instead.

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

Thanks for the tip! I’ve looked into other types of raw rabbit meal, she doesn’t seem to understand freeze-dried which is unfortunately what most come in. I’ve ordered an 80/10/10 rabbit grind from Raw Fed Miami, and plan to supplement with boneless rabbit to provide some more meat and balance out the bone. The current meat she was eating was from Bison Raw, and was 45% meat 45% Carcass 10% organs according to their website. I should probably be more patient with the freeze dried, but I will definitely see if giving little pieces of those help.

 

[LTS3]

Are you rehydrating the freeze dried raw first? That might be more appealing than dry.

 

[furmonster mom]

This sometimes happens with us when our timing goes off course. It usually takes us about 24 hrs to get back to full appetite.
My vet has given us Cerenia for occasional upset stomach. I’ve also heard of folks using slippery elm as a natural alternative.
I add psyllium husk to our mix to keep things moving along intestinally.
Do you have lamb available? It’s rich, but a decent alternative for variety. I make a lamb and pork brain blend as part of our rotation.

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

I’ve tried this with the Stella and Chewy. She ate some at first, but then turned her nose up I’d also tried Vital Essentials freeze-dried nibs, which she refused. It’s been a fun several months experimenting haha

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

This sometimes happens with us when our timing goes off course. It usually takes us about 24 hrs to get back to full appetite.
My vet has given us Cerenia for occasional upset stomach. I’ve also heard of folks using slippery elm as a natural alternative.
I add psyllium husk to our mix to keep things moving along intestinally.
Do you have lamb available? It’s rich, but a decent alternative for variety. I make a lamb and pork brain blend as part of our rotation.

I do have lamb, but she hasn’t shown much interest yet. I do hope giving her a break helps her stomach rest. Ugh I feel so horrible putting her through this, it was her favorite meal.

 

[daftcat75]

Have you tried Rawz rabbit canned food? I definitely recommend keeping one canned food in her diet just to weather out episodes like this (or supply issues.)

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

Have you tried Rawz rabbit canned food? I definitely recommend keeping one canned food in her diet just to weather out episodes like this (or supply issues.)

Well she was eating this for several weeks, then stopped after throwing up a hairball. She tends to associate food with throw up, which ends up with her rejecting whatever she’s eaten before. I’d been adding a bit of rabbit meat the last several days she was eating the canned, which perked her interest. She eventually just decided she just wanted the meat alone!

 

[lisahe]

One of our cats, Edwina, has a similar problem with acid production. daftcat75 's suggestion of "priming" Moskitty's stomach with a small snack is a good idea. We do this for Edwina. She eats lots of small meals. And she has a history of barfing, from stomach acid as well as from various food ingredients that don't agree with her. She's also a rescue cat who's very insecure/nervous about her food even though she's been with us for more than eight years now. She's a bit challenging to feed!

As far as remedies, Edwina gets a few doses of slippery elm bark a day, which she loves: I put some freeze-dried treats on it so it's one of her pre-meal snacks. Here's a good page about SEB. The great thing about SEB is that it's soothing.

Constipation adds another twist to Moskitty's case, of course. Our other cat, Ireland, gets mild constipation so I limit the cats' raw foods that contain bone since bone can contribute to constipation. (Stella & Chewy's has historically been rather high in bone and I've heard similar things about Vital Essentials so it might be worth contacting the companies for current numbers.) Some raw foods, however, contain psyillium husk or pumpkin, both of which can help. But here's something interesting! Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets (which, ha, contain slippery elm and marshmallow so I'd choose either the SEB syrup or a product like this so as not to overdo things) have done wonders for Ireland's constipation. She's very regular now and is a far more eager eater -- she used to get mild but noticeable nausea from constipation. I give her 1.5 tablets Vet's Best a day; the dose on the jar is 2 but 1.5 is working beautifully so there's no way I'm changing the dose!

I hope you're able to figure things out for Moskitty, acid barfs and constipation can both be very stubborn problems.

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

One of our cats, Edwina, has a similar problem with acid production. daftcat75 's suggestion of "priming" Moskitty's stomach with a small snack is a good idea. We do this for Edwina. She eats lots of small meals. And she has a history of barfing, from stomach acid as well as from various food ingredients that don't agree with her. She's also a rescue cat who's very insecure/nervous about her food even though she's been with us for more than eight years now. She's a bit challenging to feed!

As far as remedies, Edwina gets a few doses of slippery elm bark a day, which she loves: I put some freeze-dried treats on it so it's one of her pre-meal snacks. Here's a good page about SEB. The great thing about SEB is that it's soothing.

Constipation adds another twist to Moskitty's case, of course. Our other cat, Ireland, gets mild constipation so I limit the cats' raw foods that contain bone since bone can contribute to constipation. (Stella & Chewy's has historically been rather high in bone and I've heard similar things about Vital Essentials so it might be worth contacting the companies for current numbers.) Some raw foods, however, contain psyillium husk or pumpkin, both of which can help. But here's something interesting! Vet's Best anti-hairball tablets (which, ha, contain slippery elm and marshmallow so I'd choose either the SEB syrup or a product like this so as not to overdo things) have done wonders for Ireland's constipation. She's very regular now and is a far more eager eater -- she used to get mild but noticeable nausea from constipation. I give her 1.5 tablets Vet's Best a day; the dose on the jar is 2 but 1.5 is working beautifully so there's no way I'm changing the dose!

I hope you're able to figure things out for Moskitty, acid barfs and constipation can both be very stubborn problems.

Thank you for all this insight! It makes me feel so much better knowing there are other cat parents out there with similar situations. She was “prescribed” Miralax, which she thankfully eats with food. When she ate the raw meat her poops were small enough that she didn’t need assistance. A hairball is a very rare occurrence for her, but her stomach is definitely sensitive. I’ll definitely try out a small snack and hopefully find a combination that’s she’s interested in. She’s never been food motivated, and makes me work for it

I’ve learned my lesson, no more sleeping in for me!

 

[lisahe]

Thank you for all this insight! It makes me feel so much better knowing there are other cat parents out there with similar situations. She was “prescribed” Miralax, which she thankfully eats with food. When she ate the raw meat her poops were small enough that she didn’t need assistance. A hairball is a very rare occurrence for her, but her stomach is definitely sensitive. I’ll definitely try out a small snack and hopefully find a combination that’s she’s interested in. She’s never been food motivated, and makes me work for it

I’ve learned my lesson, no more sleeping in for me!

There are lots of us! And no more weekend sleep-ins for us either. Just ask if you have other questions. This is always a work in progress since so many things can change so quickly.

 

[Astragal14]

Hi All,

I’ve been browsing these forums for a while and they’ve been tremendously helpful as I figure out a proper diet for my cat. I’m now hoping to get some advice, or mostly reassurance, on an issue that’s arisen.

Some background: My cat Moscato (or Moskitty as I call her) is a 4.5 year old DSH who is completely incontinent due to some previous spinal trauma. She’s had issues with constipation and had an inflamed liver along with stomach liquid a few months ago, now fully healed. She was taking Pepcid for a few weeks, but I’ve stopped as I read over 2 weeks of use is harmful. Because of this I’ve wanted to try out a raw diet.

Since last Wednesday I had her eating ground bone-in rabbit, and it was going really well. She’s allergic to chicken, avoidant of Turkey, sensitive to beef, probably allergic to fish. Her protein selection is very small, which is why the rabbit was such a great solution. She was running to the bowl and gobbling it up. One morning I didn’t feed her early enough and she ended up eating too fast and throwing it up. But after giving her tummy a rest she was back to normal, and continue to eat it up for the next few days.

However….now I’m kicking myself because this was entirely my fault…I failed to feed her early enough yesterday, and she proceeded to eat too fast and threw up as a result. This time around she refused the meat for the rest of the day.

This morning I gave her a tiny amount of meat, and she began to eat which made me really excited. But she then threw it up a few minutes later

I plan to keep her off of the meat for the time being, but I’m really hoping she can be on the raw rabbit moving forward as it’s been great for her poops and overall appetite.

Would giving her stomach a rest from the rabbit meat help “reset” her and allow her to digest it if I tried again in a couple weeks? I’m so worried her stomach won’t handle the meat anymore, but it’s one of few proteins she can handle. I also want to try slippery tree bark, as I’ve read on the benefits. I wanted to hear from other parents to see if anybody has had this issue before I asked her vet for help.

One of my cats has a lot in common with Moskitty! My boy has stomach acid issues (he has bileous vomiting syndrome), he's prone to eating too fast (scarf 'n' barf), and he has food aversion after getting sick. He doesn't have constipation issues, but he does have IBD. Here are a few ways we manage each issue.

For stomach acid, we give a slippery elm supplement and chicken hearts daily. The slippery elm helps control the amount of stomach acid, we use Animal Essentials Slippery Elm, and the tablet lisahe mentioned, Vet's Best Hairball Relief, is a fantastic product! I wish my boy would take that but he doesn't like how much liquid you have to add to it due to the psyllium. So instead I give him several different supplements that make up all the ingredients of that one tablet

The chicken hearts (or any organ meat) are a great snack because their size encourages chewing, chewing produces a lot of saliva, and saliva helps manage stomach acid too! Sometimes a few chicken hearts are all he needs when I can tell he's feeling just a little icky.

For scarf 'n' barf, I raised his food bowls, and also serve his meals 1/4 at a time. We don't wait long between servings, a few minutes, but it keeps him from inhaling a large amount all at once. We tried food puzzles and they only frustrated him.

And food aversion - UGH! He won't eat the same food if it made him vomit or regurgitate that day. He'll eat that same food the next day if it's a food already in his regular rotation. But new foods? We have to wait weeks before reintroducing it. I second daftcat75 's recommendation of Rawz. My boy loves Rawz!

We've also been experimenting with a lot of freeze dried foods, and I'm finding my different cats like different foods prepared different ways. One cat likes Vital Essentials nibs straight from the bag, one likes the nibs sprinkled with water (but just a little!). They both like Rawbble so saturated with water that it looks like canned food. And some brands are disliked no matter what

There are many raw and freeze dried options with novel proteins, too (please note I have no idea about the bone content of any of these):

Northwest Naturals has duck and rabbit raw and freeze dried (I think all their proteins also include psyllium)
Lotus has raw lamb, pork and venison (my cats did not like the pork but a store owner told me it was their most popular raw food)
Small Batch Pets has raw pork, rabbit, lamb and duck (SB also makes fantastic treats)
Primal Pet Foods has raw and freeze dried pork, rabbit, venison, duck and quail

I hope you're able to find options that Moskitty really likes!

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

One of my cats has a lot in common with Moskitty! My boy has stomach acid issues (he has bileous vomiting syndrome), he's prone to eating too fast (scarf 'n' barf), and he has food aversion after getting sick. He doesn't have constipation issues, but he does have IBD. Here are a few ways we manage each issue.

For stomach acid, we give a slippery elm supplement and chicken hearts daily. The slippery elm helps control the amount of stomach acid, we use Animal Essentials Slippery Elm, and the tablet lisahe mentioned, Vet's Best Hairball Relief, is a fantastic product! I wish my boy would take that but he doesn't like how much liquid you have to add to it due to the psyllium. So instead I give him several different supplements that make up all the ingredients of that one tablet

The chicken hearts (or any organ meat) are a great snack because their size encourages chewing, chewing produces a lot of saliva, and saliva helps manage stomach acid too! Sometimes a few chicken hearts are all he needs when I can tell he's feeling just a little icky.

For scarf 'n' barf, I raised his food bowls, and also serve his meals 1/4 at a time. We don't wait long between servings, a few minutes, but it keeps him from inhaling a large amount all at once. We tried food puzzles and they only frustrated him.

And food aversion - UGH! He won't eat the same food if it made him vomit or regurgitate that day. He'll eat that same food the next day if it's a food already in his regular rotation. But new foods? We have to wait weeks before reintroducing it. I second daftcat75 's recommendation of Rawz. My boy loves Rawz!

We've also been experimenting with a lot of freeze dried foods, and I'm finding my different cats like different foods prepared different ways. One cat likes Vital Essentials nibs straight from the bag, one likes the nibs sprinkled with water (but just a little!). They both like Rawbble so saturated with water that it looks like canned food. And some brands are disliked no matter what

There are many raw and freeze dried options with novel proteins, too (please note I have no idea about the bone content of any of these):

Northwest Naturals has duck and rabbit raw and freeze dried (I think all their proteins also include psyllium)
Lotus has raw lamb, pork and venison (my cats did not like the pork but a store owner told me it was their most popular raw food)
Small Batch Pets has raw pork, rabbit, lamb and duck (SB also makes fantastic treats)
Primal Pet Foods has raw and freeze dried pork, rabbit, venison, duck and quail

I hope you're able to find options that Moskitty really likes!

Thank you, all great info! Yes she is definitely a very picky and selective cat (aren’t they all). I ended up deciding to schedule a biopsy for her, to determine if her myriad of stomach issues are from IBD or some other cause. I’ll have to consider chicken livers as a treat, as I’ve read they seem to be ok for cats with chicken allergies due to them containing no chicken protein. I was so happy with the Rawz because they have great ingredients, but she ended up getting bored/disinterested. Then again it could just be other stomach issues. I’ll try the Vital Essentials again, and I plan to get some of their frozen rabbit patties to see if she likes those in the meanwhile. Fun stuff!

 

[Astragal14]

Thank you, all great info! Yes she is definitely a very picky and selective cat (aren’t they all). I ended up deciding to schedule a biopsy for her, to determine if her myriad of stomach issues are from IBD or some other cause. I’ll have to consider chicken livers as a treat, as I’ve read they seem to be ok for cats with chicken allergies due to them containing no chicken protein. I was so happy with the Rawz because they have great ingredients, but she ended up getting bored/disinterested. Then again it could just be other stomach issues. I’ll try the Vital Essentials again, and I plan to get some of their frozen rabbit patties to see if she likes those in the meanwhile. Fun stuff!

Good luck to Moskitty during her biopsy and recovery! I hope you're able to find some answers and information that will be helpful to you both. Please come back with an update to let us know how she's doing!

 

[Box of Rain]

Thanks for the tip! I’ve looked into other types of raw rabbit meal, she doesn’t seem to understand freeze-dried which is unfortunately what most come in. I’ve ordered an 80/10/10 rabbit grind from Raw Fed Miami, and plan to supplement with boneless rabbit to provide some more meat and balance out the bone. The current meat she was eating was from Bison Raw, and was 45% meat 45% Carcass 10% organs according to their website. I should probably be more patient with the freeze dried, but I will definitely see if giving little pieces of those help.

Are you saying the current food (the one that's causing her such trouble) is 45% carcass, or am I misreading that?

Bill

 

[Fozzlebozzle]

Are you saying the current food (the one that's causing her such trouble) is 45% carcass, or am I misreading that?

Bill

The description on the website reads as 45% carcass. I didn’t think to ask exactly what that meant, as other reviews stated their cats were eating it (and loving it). Most ground rabbit for cats is essentially the whole carcass minus the head and neck, so I guess it makes sense? At the moment I’ve decided to take a hold on raw. After giving her a teaspoon of Vital Essentials raw frozen rabbit she threw it up about 30 minutes later. It seems her gut is just thrown out of whack at the moment