Cat regurgitating after switching

[jrward2]

Hello all, I wish this wasn't my first post here, but I don't know who to turn to and need some help.

I've been feeding my cat, Nilla, Nature's Variety chicken medallions for about 10ish months now.  Its been going great and I've thought about making my own raw food, but I just don't have the time for that now and the medallions are really easy.   

Anyway, the other day I was picking her up some more food and they were out of the chicken medallions so I got some patties which are 8oz instead of 1oz.  Along with this I thought that maybe she'd like to try a different flavor, so I got a trial pack of the beef medallions.  The next day, I gave her a beef medallion and she regurgitated it immediately.  I threw out all the beef and then put some chicken in the refridgerator to thaw.  However,  every time I give her the chicken now, she's been regurgitating that as well.   

I called Nature's Variety hoping to get some answers, but they couldn't have been any more unhelpful (it was like telling a wall my problems).  And now I'm thinking about taking her to the vet, but every vet around here is a typical "old-school" vet that still pushes Hill's science diet.  They are good for big problems, but when it comes to nutrition, they are oblivious.    

Has anybody experienced anything like this?  Other than not being able to keep her food down, she's acting pretty normal.

Thanks!

 

[mschauer]

Exactly how long has this been going on?

Is she able to keep any food down?

The sudden introduction of a new protein source may have upset her system. Have you tried giving her very small portions of chicken spaced out in time?

 

[vball91]

Raw beef has been known to cause this reaction in some cats, especially when introduced quickly like you did. Some cats do seem to do fine with it later when introduced slowly. One cat can only tolerate red meat as 50% of his meal. Also, some cats go through this brief system upset in the transition to raw. They seem to regurgitate all raw for a little while. What the owners did was take a brief break from raw and then transitioned back to raw with no further issues.

It sounds like the beef upset her system. You can try canned or a bland cooked chicken diet for a few days to let her system calm down. Then introduce raw again. You might also want to add probiotics (a good human grade one, not pet probiotics) to help with her gut flora.

 

[jclark]

Hello all, I wish this wasn't my first post here, but I don't know who to turn to and need some help.

I've been feeding my cat, Nilla, Nature's Variety chicken medallions for about 10ish months now.  Its been going great and I've thought about making my own raw food, but I just don't have the time for that now and the medallions are really easy.   

Anyway, the other day I was picking her up some more food and they were out of the chicken medallions so I got some patties which are 8oz instead of 1oz.  Along with this I thought that maybe she'd like to try a different flavor, so I got a trial pack of the beef medallions.  The next day, I gave her a beef medallion and she regurgitated it immediately.  I threw out all the beef and then put some chicken in the refridgerator to thaw.  However,  every time I give her the chicken now, she's been regurgitating that as well.   

I called Nature's Variety hoping to get some answers, but they couldn't have been any more unhelpful (it was like telling a wall my problems).  And now I'm thinking about taking her to the vet, but every vet around here is a typical "old-school" vet that still pushes Hill's science diet.  They are good for big problems, but when it comes to nutrition, they are oblivious.    

Has anybody experienced anything like this?  Other than not being able to keep her food down, she's acting pretty normal.

Thanks!

I had same experience with raw beef (It wasn't NV, but very rare seared bottom round run through a food processor). NV is big on rotation so perhaps try the duck or rabbit trial sizes? If the vomiting persists she may have picked up a bug and of course it's time for the vet.Worse case scenerio is that you have enough beef for cheesburgers with the neighbor...hehe. *joking*

 

[jrward2]

I gave here the beef yesterday and ever since she threw up, I have only fed her the chicken.  I just tried to feed her a very very small amount of raw about thirty minutes ago and she has held it down.  However, about 15 minutes after eating it she tried to throw up again, but I think I scared her into not throwing up because I was screaming for her to not do it on the sofa.

How long can she go without holding anything down before I need to take other actions?  For cooked chicken is there any particular kind or way I should do it? 

 

[vball91]

I would go no longer than 48 hours of little to no food before syringe feeding or going to the vet. Fatty liver disease is always a concern when a cat is not eating or keeping food down. Dehydration also becomes a concern from the vomiting.

You can cook the chicken however you wish. Boiling it with a little water is good. Make sure to serve the resulting broth with the chicken as some nutrients will leach into the water. Baked chicken is good too and smells more appetizing to most cats. Again, serve the drippings as well.

 

[mschauer]

One thing, DO NOT cook the Nature's Variety food. They contain bone and cooked bone becomes hard and is potentially dangerous for her to ingest.

Just go to the grocery store and get a small package of chicken. You can given use the precooked chicken a lot of stores have. Get the minimally spiced kind and don't give her the skin (because of the spices).

 

[jrward2]

Great, I'm going to go to the grocery store right now.  I hate seeing her like this.  Every time I go the the refrigerator, she rubs up on my legs hoping to get fed, yet I know she will just be miserable in a little while.  

She still hasn't thrown up the amount I gave her earlier though, which gives me hope.  Although, it wasn't but about a dime to nickle size of food. 

As far as feeding the cooked chicken, should I just start out with a really small amount and see how it goes?

 

[ldg]

I don't know that you need to cook the chicken.

Whenever we have a cat with an upset stomach, we fast for roughly 24 hours. Just let their system reset. For rescue kitties, we go the boiled chicken (bland diet) route; for our own kitties that have been eating raw, we just feed smaller, more frequent meals.

But if you have NV chicken there, she may be fine now if you feed a smaller amount more frequently, as she kept down the "dime to nickel" sized amount earlier.

When Ming Loy had pancreatitis and couldn't keep food down, we fed her 0.25 ounces every 2 hours, and just gradually increased the amount and reduced the frequency. It was a PIA, but it worked. :dk:

 

[jrward2]

Boiled up some chicken and put a small amount in her bowl.  She sniffed it out and then didn't touch it.  I mixed in a small amount of raw with it to entice her to eat it.  She ate all the raw and boiled pieces attached to raw, but when all the raw was gone, she was done too leaving pieces of the boiled chicken in there.  About 5 minutes later she was throwing up again.  She threw up twice.  The first was all the food and the second time was a mixture of food and a yellow liquid, I guess bile?   Now she's playing with a pen on the floor and is acting normal.   

Should I just stop feeding her for a little while to let her recover?

 

[ldg]

Do you have any freeze dried meat treats there? Does she like them?

Because the acid can build up from not eating when they're hungry, and that can make them throw up. As she is playing, asking for food (not nauseous, etc.) it seems pretty clear she just needs help settling her tummy; it doesn't seem at all like she's sick.

I personally would fast her until tomorrow morning.

BUT... I'd probably give her 5mg or 10mg of a pepcid a/c (famotidine is the generic; the "original" dose is 10mg; half a table is 5mg) depending on how much she weighs (5mg if she's less than 10 pounds, 10mg if she's more than 10 pounds). And then tomorrow morning, I'd give her a bite or two of a small freeze dried meat treat to soak up any stomach bile - give it a few minutes. If she keeps that down, I'd feed a small portion of raw.

The other option is to feed her a small portion in the morning. If she throws it up, but wants more food, assume she got up the bile, and try again. Flowerbelle sometimes throws up when I'm late with breakfast and forgot to feed the freeze dried raw first - but she immediately wants food again - and keeps it down because the bile that was causing the upset tummy is up and out.

There's clearly a bit more than that going on with your girl, which is why I'd try fasting her until tomorrow morning, and I'd try the famotidine now, if you have some there, or this evening or tonight - whenever you would be able to get it. Any pharmacy carries it.

ETA: Sorry, but yes! I'd stop feeding her for now, and let things settle down.

 

[ldg]

...and if she can't keep food down tomorrow, then you need to decide how to proceed, since she apparently doesn't like cooked chicken. You can either feed her canned, and if that works, re-introduce raw after a few days to a week. Or you can go for a vet visit, make sure she's fine, and ask about an anti-nausea medication (Cerenia - works GREAT). Doesn't seem like you'd need an appetite stimulant, as she WANTS to eat.

OH! Something else you can try - maybe tomorrow morning - chicken babyfood. If you can find Beechnut, it's better than Gerber's, as Gerber now has corn starch in it. This is often appealing to cats who don't like the boiled chicken.

 

[jrward2]

Thanks for all of the help!

I'm going to pick up some fomotidine tonight.  In the morning I will try to feed her again and see what happens maybe with the baby food.  If she can't keep that down either then i'm going to go to the vet to see what they say.   I hope that it won't come to that though.   

 

[ldg]

As vball91 pointed out, this really isn't all that uncommon. NO CLUE why it happens, but a number of cats here have gone through this. :dk: They're not sick - just something happens, and their body doesn't want to keep down raw for a little while. Puzzling. But others just went back to feeding canned or babyfood or just the freeze dried chicken breast rehydrated for a little while (some up to two weeks, though I think they balanced the baby food or FD chicken breast with eggshell powder when feeding for more than a few days), and then slowly reintroduced raw, and things were fine again.

Yeah - I know. Strange. :dk:

FYI, I'm the one with the one cat that can only eat red meat as 50% of a meal. His red meat "intolerance" never led to his body throwing up all raw food, fortunately. But I had to re-introduce red meats REALLY slowly. And we're 1.5 years into raw feeding, and that's the best his body can do - still! And if I feed him a piece of freeze dried beef liver accidentally (all the cats love it), he immediately throws it up. :dk:

 

[jrward2]

Just a quick update:

The medicine seemed to work great.  Although it was a bit of a pain to give to her.  I eventually crushed it and sprinkled it over a small amount of the baby food that you recommended, which she loved.  Anyway, I've been feeding her the baby food today and I started mixing it in with the raw food.  She hasn't thrown up at all today and it seems like everything is back to normal now.  I surely won't make that beef mistake again.   

One thing I did notice though, that baby food made her poop smell horrible.  It smelled like it did when I used to feed her dry kibble.  Ever since I switched to raw, her poop quit smelling.  How easy it is to forget that horrible smell. 

Thanks again for all your help. 

 

[ldg]

Of course, just fasting her overnight might have done it. But what a relief!

 

[vball91]

So glad to hear she's doing better.