Throw Up Immediately After Eating And Not Enough Intake

[hiroober]

My cat has been vomiting approx. once a week in recent one month, before she vomits as well, but doesn't seem to be that often, but I can't say that for too sure, because only from a month ago I've started to track her health data, like daily weight, poop/vomit or not. I've been reading articles online but still can't quite figure out if it is regurgitation or vomit. I'll try to describe it clearly, and hopefully someone may give me some advice. Basically, if she throws up, it is always right after she eats her wet food, never happens after a while. Sometimes even before she finishes her food, she pukes out all the stuff. I see abdominal contraction in the vomit, so I assume it is most likely vomit, as from what I read, regurgitation seems to be less effort to let the food out of her mouth. am I right?

Also she doesn't eat enough food. She's 7-8 years old, has switched from dry to wet since this June. Tried to feed her raw for a short period of time, but she was unwilling to take much, which led to weight loss, so I then decided to feed her home cooked various meat plus commercial cans. Her intake is roughly between 100-160g daily, which drives me crazy. I know it's not enough, but she simply doesn't want to eat more than that. She takes at most 45g at each meal. If it is something she doesn't like that much, she may just have 10-20g. She usually has 3-4 meals a day. I desperately want to get her to eat more!! Apparently, she prefers commercial cans like Fancy Feast stuff to my home cooked and shredded various meat, but I dare not to only feed her on cans in concern of additives and nutrition wise not as good enough. I tried to blend home cooked meat with cans, but she won't take as much as cans only.

Sorry about the above essay, but taken the vomit into consideration, is this a sign of IBD or other bowel disease? I've read the article about the chronic vomiting cat from here, and am terrified so much. I know it can be diagnosed by performing a surgical biopsy, but that is such an invasive thing to do for a senior cat, I'd like to avoid it if possible.

I'd really appreciate any advice/suggestion. Thanks heaps in advance!

 

[abyeb]

I think that what you're describing is vomit, because of the effort on her part. Two possibilities come to mind, although you should definitely discuss with your vet, and surely there could be other causes too. Does she eat very fast? This causes excess air to be swallowed, which then leads to vomiting. Food allergies and intolerances in cats can also cause vomiting immediately after eating. Have you tried any novel proteins?

 

[hiroober]

I think that what you're describing is vomit, because of the effort on her part. Two possibilities come to mind, although you should definitely discuss with your vet, and surely there could be other causes too. Does she eat very fast? This causes excess air to be swallowed, which then leads to vomiting. Food allergies and intolerances in cats can also cause vomiting immediately after eating. Have you tried any novel proteins?

I appreciate the reply. I don't think she eats fast, she's been average/slow eater. Since she vomits on different meat/can, I tend to think it's not a specific allergy or intolerance. I may need to start to track down what the meat is included to pinpoint if it is the situation. Would you mind to tell me a bit more on novel proteins? I'm unfamiliar with it.

 

[LTS3]

Have you taken your cat to the vet to determine why she is vomiting? If not, that is the first step in helping your cat feel better.

Novel proteins are proteins that are not common in a diet. For cats, novel proteins would be rabbit, vension, kangaroo, lamb, etc. Basically anything not chicken or beef. There are commerical cat foods, mainly canned, that have novel proteins. You can read this thread for suggestions: Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

Cats can have intolerances to other ingredients in commercial food besides protein. Egg, grains, gums, and starches are pretty common. You can try a limited ingredient diet for at least a couple weeks, a few months is better, to see if that helps. Here are some commerical limited ingredient food brands:

Blue Buffalo Basics
Merrick Limited Ingredients
Koha Limited Ingredient
Nature's Variety Instinct
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient

 

[hiroober]

Have you taken your cat to the vet to determine why she is vomiting? If not, that is the first step in helping your cat feel better.

Novel proteins are proteins that are not common in a diet. For cats, novel proteins would be rabbit, vension, kangaroo, lamb, etc. Basically anything not chicken or beef. There are commerical cat foods, mainly canned, that have novel proteins. You can read this thread for suggestions: Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

Cats can have intolerances to other ingredients in commercial food besides protein. Egg, grains, gums, and starches are pretty common. You can try a limited ingredient diet for at least a couple weeks, a few months is better, to see if that helps. Here are some commerical limited ingredient food brands:

Blue Buffalo Basics
Merrick Limited Ingredients
Koha Limited Ingredient
Nature's Variety Instinct
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient

Unfortunately none of these is available in New Zealand market. But thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
I wonder if it is intolerance, how soon it will have impact on cats' digestive system to make them throw up? When the vomit happens, it takes less than 5 mins from her starting to eat.

 

[babiesmom5]

What you are describing with your cat is regurgitation. Regurgitation is when a cat vomits almost IMMEDIATELY after eating, within a few minutes, or even toward the end of eating.

Vomiting is when a cat eats, walks away, then after a period of time, vomits. It is usually NOT right after eating or within a few minutes.

I have one cat who regurgitated frequently. By this I mean, she would eat her wet food, take two steps, then vomit. Sometimes, she would vomit right in the bowl, or just outside of it. This happened on a regular basis no matter what food I fed her.

I took her to the vet. The vet would always ask "Is it regurgitation or vomit" There is clearly a difference...and a different approach. In my case it was always regurgitation.

The cat was put on Reglan, a medication which relaxes the esophageal tube and theoretically reduces the urge to regurgitate. It helped only marginally.

What provided the most effective solution to the problem was a raised bowl. A cat's stomach is about chest high. The most comfortable position for a cat's eating surface is med to lower chest high. Cats need to eat from a level that is ABOVE the stomach level. Vomit is often caused by a reflex muscle in the throat that reacts when a cat lifts their head after eating from a level below their stomach.

I bought this cat a raised bowl from www.classycatdishes.com. She not only loves it, but NO MORE REGURGITATION!

I bought a raised bowl for each of my cats, and also a raised water bowl. A side benefit of a raised bowl is that the cats stay at their bowls eating longer. They also drink more water.

I would also advise taking your cat to your vet to rule out any physiological problems that may be a contributing factor. In any event, an elevated bowl is good for any cat.

 

[hiroober]

What you are describing with your cat is regurgitation. Regurgitation is when a cat vomits almost IMMEDIATELY after eating, within a few minutes, or even toward the end of eating.

Vomiting is when a cat eats, walks away, then after a period of time, vomits. It is usually NOT right after eating or within a few minutes.

I have one cat who regurgitated frequently. By this I mean, she would eat her wet food, take two steps, then vomit. Sometimes, she would vomit right in the bowl, or just outside of it. This happened on a regular basis no matter what food I fed her.

I took her to the vet. The vet would always ask "Is it regurgitation or vomit" There is clearly a difference...and a different approach. In my case it was always regurgitation.

The cat was put on Reglan, a medication which relaxes the esophageal tube and theoretically reduces the urge to regurgitate. It helped only marginally.

What provided the most effective solution to the problem was a raised bowl. A cat's stomach is about chest high. The most comfortable position for a cat's eating surface is med to lower chest high. Cats need to eat from a level that is ABOVE the stomach level. Vomit is often caused by a reflex muscle in the throat that reacts when a cat lifts their head after eating from a level below their stomach.

I bought this cat a raised bowl from www.classycatdishes.com. She not only loves it, but NO MORE REGURGITATION!

I bought a raised bowl for each of my cats, and also a raised water bowl. A side benefit of a raised bowl is that the cats stay at their bowls eating longer. They also drink more water.

I would also advise taking your cat to your vet to rule out any physiological problems that may be a contributing factor. In any event, an elevated bowl is good for any cat.

I sincerely appreciate your reply! It does sound exactly like what my cat did, but she doesn't do it that often. In the recent one month, I caught her did this for 3 times. I'm actually aware of the height of the bowl issue from some other articles I read online, and I did try it by putting a box underneath her bowl, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it that much. Sometimes she takes the food out of the raised bowl and drops on the floor to eat, which confuses me on whether she prefers to have food bowl raised or not. But by seeing the picture of the product, I realise my box may not be at the best height, I'll check on it. Again, thanks for the reply. It's great to find someone who has the same problem has got it sorted out!

 

[Antonio65]

What babiesmom5 said is correct.

My cat was prone to vomit AND regurgitation. It means that sometimes she would throw up right in the bowl when she still eating or very few seconds after finished, or she would also throw up some minutes (5-15) after her meal. Wet or dry food made no difference.
At first the vet told me that my cat was eating too fast. True. She had been a feral cat from her birth to her 8-9 months, she wasn't used to have food ready at all times, she couldn't believe her eyes, and gobbled down everything she saw. Until, a few years later, she realized that she wouldn't have starved anymore.
But she was still vomiting/regurgitating every now and then.
I also raised her bowl, tried different heights, to no avail. Given that the vomiting wasn't everyday, it was hard to understand what was causing it and what was helping her.
Then I started to keep track of what she was eating before the episodes, and found out that chicken was most likely to make her throw up.
And in the last couple of years the episode were more and more frequent.

Eventually we found out she had an intolerance to some food that took her to have a slight-medium IBD and we tried different ingredients. What solved the problem was a canned food with one protein only.
It's been 5 months now since her last regurgitation/vomit episode, exactly since we totally changed her diet.

My cat was also hyperthyroid. It's very likely that this condition worsened what was already going on.
She was treated in August, in the last 3 months she's been another cat, much more interested in food and life.

Has your cat been checked for any possible condition?

 

[hiroober]

What babiesmom5 said is correct.

My cat was prone to vomit AND regurgitation. It means that sometimes she would throw up right in the bowl when she still eating or very few seconds after finished, or she would also throw up some minutes (5-15) after her meal. Wet or dry food made no difference.
At first the vet told me that my cat was eating too fast. True. She had been a feral cat from her birth to her 8-9 months, she wasn't used to have food ready at all times, she couldn't believe her eyes, and gobbled down everything she saw. Until, a few years later, she realized that she wouldn't have starved anymore.
But she was still vomiting/regurgitating every now and then.
I also raised her bowl, tried different heights, to no avail. Given that the vomiting wasn't everyday, it was hard to understand what was causing it and what was helping her.
Then I started to keep track of what she was eating before the episodes, and found out that chicken was most likely to make her throw up.
And in the last couple of years the episode were more and more frequent.

Eventually we found out she had an intolerance to some food that took her to have a slight-medium IBD and we tried different ingredients. What solved the problem was a canned food with one protein only.
It's been 5 months now since her last regurgitation/vomit episode, exactly since we totally changed her diet.

My cat was also hyperthyroid. It's very likely that this condition worsened what was already going on.
She was treated in August, in the last 3 months she's been another cat, much more interested in food and life.

Has your cat been checked for any possible condition?

So true, it's so hard to know what upsets her digestive system. I'm prone to believe she has some kind of IBD, I'll take her to the vet for sure. But if you mind can I ask how she was diagnosed IBD? Did you end up doing a biopsy?

 

[Antonio65]

So true, it's so hard to know what upsets her digestive system. I'm prone to believe she has some kind of IBD, I'll take her to the vet for sure. But if you mind can I ask how she was diagnosed IBD? Did you end up doing a biopsy?

Of course you can ask
No biopsy was done, we did at least two, maybe three, ultrasound scans of her abdomen in about 6 months, to see if the situation was evolving. The cat was also diagnosed with a cholangiohepatitis and later with a pancreatitis (this one was diagnosed through a specific test done at the Texas A&M University), treated with antibiotics.
The liver is currently under treatment with simple supplements (not medicines, just herbs extracts) and so far the results are encouraging.
It seems that following the I-131 treatment for her thyroid, things are going better overall, including the stomach department.
Tomorrow we'll have a check-up visit with an ultrasound scan and blood works including thyroid levels.

 

[hiroober]

Of course you can ask
No biopsy was done, we did at least two, maybe three, ultrasound scans of her abdomen in about 6 months, to see if the situation was evolving. The cat was also diagnosed with a cholangiohepatitis and later with a pancreatitis (this one was diagnosed through a specific test done at the Texas A&M University), treated with antibiotics.
The liver is currently under treatment with simple supplements (not medicines, just herbs extracts) and so far the results are encouraging.
It seems that following the I-131 treatment for her thyroid, things are going better overall, including the stomach department.
Tomorrow we'll have a check-up visit with an ultrasound scan and blood works including thyroid levels.

Thank you so much for the information. I'm so happy to know she gets better! I'm taking mine to the vet soon and very likely to be referred to a specialist to do the ultrasound. Hope that could pinpoint her problem.

 

[Antonio65]

Thank you so much for the information. I'm so happy to know she gets better! I'm taking mine to the vet soon and very likely to be referred to a specialist to do the ultrasound. Hope that could pinpoint her problem.

Hopefully she'll be fine and the ultrasound will tell you everything.