Vomiting Raw Food - Oh Dear!

[burm guy]

Hi, I am transitioning my cats to raw (or at least attempting to). I'm following Dr Becker's recipes, using chicken meat from local, responsible free-range farmers. My girl is a fussy madam, so I'll be asking some questions on my transitioning methods in another post, but really, I need some advice on my little boy, who seems to vomit up his breakfast when consuming his raw meat + wet food breakfast. Anything more than 50 percent raw on his plate and there is a chance that he'll vomit up his breakfast.

I've been attempting to transition for a month now using the same batch of chicken that I prepared. He was doing very well, almost 90% raw (no vomiting), but then he had an episode when I tried to introduce free-range beef into his diet. Ate a few bites of breakfast - and then immediately projective vomited. Oh dear. Now refuses beef entirely.

He is a cat who would vomit his kibble up - not with frequency, but I would find a little surprise on the floor once or twice a week. The vet says this is a Burmese thing and I've read about it too.

For the past few days, he's been having problems with his 50% raw, 50% wet breakfast - vomiting it up shortly after eating it (say maybe 5 minutes after).

Now, I've read a few posts in the forum that suggest adding a pet digestive enzyme to the meal, or giving the cat a few treats before the meal to curb the acid in the stomach.

I went and bought some dried liver treats, and some digestive enzymes to see if it could help the situation. Unfortunately in South Africa, we cannot get the range of pet products that America and Europe possess - so I can't use the brands that everyone suggests in the raw forum. We ended up getting human grade supplements - I am using Solgar Digestive Enzymes (1/4 tablet per meal). I have run this by my holistic vet as well.

Solgar Digestive Enzymes.jpg

• burm guy
• Dec 13, 2013

Over the course of a few days, I have tried the liver treats first. Then, I tried using the digestive enzymes without the liver treats. We're feeding about 50% raw, 50% wet mixed in his bowl and he is a very fast eater.

1) Liver treats (given about 30 mins before his breakfast)

• Day 1 - no vomiting breakfast
• Day 2 - vomited his breakfast
• Day 3 - gave him only wet food (no raw) - no vomiting

2) Digestive Enzymes added to his meat. (No treats given)

• Day 4 - added enzymes, no liver treat before breakfast given - no vomiting 
• Day 4 - lunch (no enzymes added, no treat before) - vomited
• Day 4 - dinner (added digestive enzymes, no treat before) - vomited

When he does vomit, I will give him a meal of wet food an hour later to ensure that he is getting his calorie requirements.

So I'm a little frazzled right now. I don't want him to get a food aversion with this vomiting and I'm just looking for help / tips on things that have worked for you guys. I want his breakfast to be something that he looks forward to, not something that unnerves him because he doesn't know why his body is rebelling so.

My holistic vet knows that the little boy is having trouble with the breakfast and when I saw him (the vet) on Day 3, we were going to try the digestive enzymes - which then didn't seem to work that well. The little cat is full of energy, well-hydrated, so nothing else appears to be amiss (and he had his annual inspection with the holistic vet last week and everything was looking great health-wise).

Any tips up any sleeves? Any lessons from your own raw feeding experiences? Me and my little boy could really use the help!

Thanks, and please let me know if you need any more info.

 

[peaches08]

I wonder if backing the raw to only 1/4 of the meal would help. Maybe the transition is going too quickly for him.

Also, what about hairballs? Is there any hair in the vomit?

Hopefully others can chime in about the enzymes ; I've never used them.

 

[carolina]

For what is worth, I have 4 cats on raw, only one can deal with beef without throwing up projectile..... So I just don't feed it.
One of mine can't eat any red meat by itself - she loves pork, so I feed 50% pork, 50% chicken or Turkey.
She also has an issue with turkey hearts...... Essentially, some things are just too rich for her..... So I feed her what she can eat, and what she can't, I just don't push it - why bother?

Beef...... I pass - it has always been a mess in here.
If you go around this forum, I am sure you will find this is not so uncommon..... :nod:

So.... if you are still feeding beef, my first suggestion would be to remove it and go back to chicken. Try chicken, turkey, rabbit, pork.... But I would go back to chicken first, then start introducing other white meats - transition SLOWLY - the same way you transition kibbles - mixing a bit of the new food into the old every day until all you are feeding is the new food.

Enzymes are great, probiotics too.....
Stomach acid is an issue, especially in the beginning.
How many times are you feeding?
Try to space out your meals so you don't have a long time in between the last meal at night and the first meal in the morning.
In my house I feed Breakfast around 8:45am, dinner around 6pm and late dinner around midnight - I can go even later, as I sleep late
Do it according to your schedule, but space out your meals.....
The problem with breakfast is that it is often the longest they go in between meal. A cat on raw usually produces more acid to digest the meat, and a cat who is starting on raw has its system on overdrive, getting used to that process.

 

[burm guy]

Hi Guys,

Peaches08 - yes there was a hairball in his vomit - Day 4, lunch time. That was actually the first time that I've come across a hairball with this guy.

In terms of transition speed - I think I've been transitioning over a period of a month / month an a half. I've read that some people can get the transition done in a week, others months. How was your own experience?

My little boy was doing wonderfully at one point - around 80% to 90% raw (and no vomits). But then he backtracks. He sees his sister who is getting Iams wet food (and a microscopic amount of raw) and then he wants what she is having. So he backtracks and won't accept raw until there is a generous dose of Iams in the mix. I can't get a better quality wet cat food in South Africa, and the Iams is so damn expensive for the quality you are getting. To feed them exclusively on Iams wet, I would be paying around 180 - 200 USD a month - three times as expensive as the raw meals that I made.

Carolina - I'm feeding a chicken mix for the little guy. I only tried the beef once, and that was when I was treated to machine-gun projectile vomit. I went back to feeding chicken immediately, and it's been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. He'll get to a point where he is eating 50-90% raw (and eating it with gusto), and then suddenly he'll want his sister's food (he is actually quite an insecure little boy - gets jealous very easily, especially if his sister is getting something he is not). I've tried feeding his sister in a different room, but that Iams stinks so much, you can smell it a block away.

Until recently, he's started vomiting his morning meal. Previously, he's eaten 90% raw for breakfast and there was no problem. Now, we're back at 50% and I've been mopping up the vomit for the past four days. Same batch of chicken, so I'm not concerned about meat quality.

I am feeding 3 times a day - once at 8:00, then at 2:00, then at 20:00. I might attempt your means of feeding them - a very late meal at night. The vet actually suggested only doing two meals a day, so also something for me to think about? (he seemed confident in the digestive enzymes - so maybe I also need to think about giving them more opportunity to work). He also suggested I play a bit with dosage. I'm giving a quarter of a human dose tablet.

Just feeling very frustrated at the moment. I know this is the right move for them - I know that feeding a wet, natural diet is going to add years to their life and preserve their delicate kidneys. It's just been a difficult transition - so much so that my partner in crime is just looking at me as if I'm pursuing a fad, rather than a life-style change for the cats.

 

[peaches08]

Adding 2-3 egg yolks per week might help with the hairball issues.

My transition wasn't exactly something I'd advise, but considering what was going on it was for the best. All three cats had raging diarrhea while on canned, bad enough that I considered feeding dry kibble to stop it. I decided to try giving them a few pieces of raw chicken and they loved it. I ordered a grinder (backordered initially), supplements, and premixes and never fed canned again. But I fought hairballs and vomiting. Even with the egg yolks I have to give hairball treats sometimes. It's an issue that I just haven't completely resolved. But the egg yolks decreased it a lot.

 

[carolina]

I am feeding 3 times a day - once at 8:00, then at 2:00, then at 20:00.

I think this really might be the issue.....
You have 6 hours in between Breakfast and lunch, then another 6 until dinner. In between dinner and breakfast you have 12 hours! It is just way too long..... They are producing all that acid and no food is coming....
Try to space it out more evenly - I think you will be surprised on how much it will help :nod: