Cat Just Started Throwing Up Randomly

[deidrahall]

I have a male kitty roughly around 10-12 years old but still not sure, guessing because he was a stray we took in 9 years ago. Just recently (about a 2 weeks ago) he started throwing up. It's not bile but food he's throwing up. It's usually liquid the color of his food and only one time was it the undigested dry food before I switched it out. He'll go maybe 1 to 1 1/2 days without throwing up sometimes. I did have him on Purina Kit and Kaboodle but switched his dry food to Purina One for sensitive stomachs about 1/2 cup at night and give him about half a can of wet daily of friskies pate, not the seafood blends.

He's drinking water just fine and playing like normal. I was giving him a petroleum free hairball paste just in case it was a hairball. But haven't seen one come up as of yet.

I haven't taken him to the vet as of yet. Just keeping track of the food etc and times of throw up and behavior. I do realize due to his age it might be the start of a kidney issue.

Does anyone know anything about digestive enzimes or a kidney support supplement?

 

[deidrahall]

Okay so I've been looking up enzymes, noticed I spelled it incorrectly on first post, ugh sorry. Dr. Goodpet has high reviews and looks like a good supplement. Some have even said it's helped with the throwing up. That being said I still know that this could be a problem caused by something completely different then digestion I'm just going by my cats age and maybe he's developed a problem with proteins, ugh, who knows. Just trying to research on as much as I can and hear what others have to way

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Can you tell us a little more about the timing of the vomiting? If you're feeding mostly wet food now, how long after he eats does this happen, can you tell? Or does this happen mainly in the early morning?

I've had three kidney cats, and with them, it's usually a clear froth, which is NOT what's happening with your guy. Plus there are usually other signs, like weight loss and excessive drinking, although when those things happens, they've already lost a LOT of kidney function. But typically vomiting up food is not a sign of kidney disorder. It's more of a digestive or allergic issue. Is he having regular bowel movements. That can also cause vomiting, particularly if he's straining in the litter box.

 

[deidrahall]

Can you tell us a little more about the timing of the vomiting? If you're feeding mostly wet food now, how long after he eats does this happen, can you tell? Or does this happen mainly in the early morning?

I've had three kidney cats, and with them, it's usually a clear froth, which is NOT what's happening with your guy. Plus there are usually other signs, like weight loss and excessive drinking, although when those things happens, they've already lost a LOT of kidney function. But typically vomiting up food is not a sign of kidney disorder. It's more of a digestive or allergic issue. Is he having regular bowel movements. That can also cause vomiting, particularly if he's straining in the litter box.

First , thank you very much Mrsgreenjeens for your input That means a lot to me, trying to figure what's going on with one of my four legged critters

Well I feed him a little can food in the morning and a little can food mid-day. Then at night give him a little bit of the dry.

His throwing up happens sometimes during the middle of the day and sometimes in the middle of the night.

His poops seem to be good and he goes daily. He still runs around the house and is active for an older cat. He's the orange cat in my posting picture. His name is Noney. Zelly is the calico one licking him

I only just changed his dry food after all this started to see if it would help. It's only been two days so far on this new dry food. But I haven't changed his can food as of yet. But like I said before, sometimes he'll go a couple days without any throw up. So just trying to figure out the cause by process of elimination.

I'm sorry to hear you've have three kidney cats We love them so much that it's hard when they develop these problems and such. You don't ever want them to suffer or be in pain.

Hopefully soon I will find out the cause and rectify the situation. It stresses me out not knowing the cause. Thank you again so much for your support .

 

[stephanietx]

Food intolerance. I would go back to what you were feeding him before and see if it stops.

 

[stephanietx]

Also, changing dry food abruptly can cause digestive upset as well as diarrhea.

 

[deidrahall]

Food intolerance. I would go back to what you were feeding him before and see if it stops.

Thank you Stephanie The problem is..... the food he was eating when he started throwing up I had been giving him for years. So I have switched the dry just not the can as of yet. I'm writing down daily his meals, brand, flavor and if he throws up or not. Keeping track of his BM's and activities.

 

[foxxycat]

see if the food you feed has corn. I tend to not like grocery store foods for this reason.

Tractor supply sells a dry food called 4Health that is corn and wheat free and it's $8 a 5lb bag so not too expensive. also when switching new foods=best to make the transition over a week. start with 1/4 new to 3/4 old food and every day slowly make the change until you are at 3/4 new food 1/4 old food.

I had a very hard time finding dry food without corn.

I had to buy food at a local store called Pet Life.
you will have to read the labels and look for "corn meal" or "corn". my girls don't seem to tolerate digesting corn-vomiting and dandruff type signs.

you can try raising the dish higher and put a golf ball in the bowl if they eat too fast.

 

[deidrahall]

see if the food you feed has corn. I tend to not like grocery store foods for this reason.

Tractor supply sells a dry food called 4Health that is corn and wheat free and it's $8 a 5lb bag so not too expensive. also when switching new foods=best to make the transition over a week. start with 1/4 new to 3/4 old food and every day slowly make the change until you are at 3/4 new food 1/4 old food.

I had a very hard time finding dry food without corn.

I had to buy food at a local store called Pet Life.
you will have to read the labels and look for "corn meal" or "corn". my girls don't seem to tolerate digesting corn-vomiting and dandruff type signs.

you can try raising the dish higher and put a golf ball in the bowl if they eat too fast.

Thank you Foxxycat! I will look into this food.

Well he just puked again. Same time as yesterday. I'm now going to just give him the dry food for now. And also look into the 4Health brand. Also after this week look into taking a trip to the vet.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Keeping the food log is the perfect thing to do at this point, I feel. Then you might be able to narrow it down to a specific ingredient. It might even be something as unexpected as the main ingredient...something like chicken or turkey. It happens Even when they've been eating it for years.

 

[deidrahall]

Keeping the food log is the perfect thing to do at this point, I feel. Then you might be able to narrow it down to a specific ingredient. It might even be something as unexpected as the main ingredient...something like chicken or turkey. It happens Even when they've been eating it for years.

So it seems since I stopped with the wet food, no throw up as of yet. It's going on 2 nights one day. He's only having for now the Purina One Sensitive Stomach dry food. I know it's not the absolute best but it's all I can do for now on my budget. I'm looking into a grain and corn free brand. I'm wondering what ingredient in the can could have been bothering him, if in case that was the problem. I don't feel like we're out of the woods yet. When a week to two goes by with no tummy issues I will feel more at ease.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It could be anything, really. Corn, wheat, soy, even guar gum or carrageenan. OR chicken, fish, etc.

 

[deidrahall]

It could be anything, really. Corn, wheat, soy, even guar gum or carrageenan. OR chicken, fish, etc.

Right after I read your comments , Noney had some light vomiting, it was just foamy and only once that day which was Thursday. Then yesterday, Friday, he had some light fluid , very little come back up. Today I am going to try a wheat, corn and soy free food. His drinking of water is still normal, bm normal and his physical activity is still normal.

 

[deidrahall]

Just a short update. On Sat I changed Noneys food to Beyond (free of soy, corn and wheat). He hasn't thrown up since Sat afternoon. So that's 3 nights and 2 days, I'm keeping the faith

Thank you again to all that have commented and supported I will let you all know of Noneys progress.

P.S. Does anyone here know of any oils or other nutrients to add to the food source for cats?

 

[maggiedemi]

Was it the Kit & Kaboodle dry food that made your cat throw up? My cats didn't do well on that either. They didn't throw up, but their urine stunk, it was unbearable!

 

[Antonio65]

What kind of supplements would you like to mix with the food and why do you think Noney would need it?

 

[deidrahall]

Was it the Kit & Kaboodle dry food that made your cat throw up? My cats didn't do well on that either. They didn't throw up, but their urine stunk, it was unbearable!

It was! They've been eating that for about a few years now. And I was also feeding them Friskies can pate. So, I switched to Purina One for sensitive stomach and still he would throw up. Now have him on the Purina Beyond (free of corn, wheat and soy) and he's going on 2 days and 3 nights with no problems. Maybe it was the corn ? GMO corn that is ? Now I can only wait and see.

 

[deidrahall]

What kind of supplements would you like to mix with the food and why do you think Noney would need it?

Well I eventually want to learn how to feed him maybe cooked meat. Make it myself. And was wondering if you needed to add other nutrients that they wouldn't get in the meat alone.

 

[pushylady]

Well I eventually want to learn how to feed him maybe cooked meat. Make it myself. And was wondering if you needed to add other nutrients that they wouldn't get in the meat alone.

You definitely do need to add supplements to cooked meat. We have a whole sub-forum here dedicated to raw & home made diets, and you'll find a lot of resources there if you're interested in going that route:
Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

 

[deidrahall]

You definitely do need to add supplements to cooked meat. We have a whole sub-forum here dedicated to raw & home made diets, and you'll find a lot of resources there if you're interested in going that route:
Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

That's great! Thank you! Going to search right now I probably should have known that already, dah. hehe. Just consumed I guess, much on the mind