Please advise of a resolution to my senior cat's throwing up problem.?

Question

My 12 year old cat as of late throws up her (Science for +8 year old) dry food. She started throwing up the last couple of weeks. Only change is that I have placed her in other room by herself since she meows too loud in the morning waking my household up. She's been a perfect cat for almost all her life. I love her dearly but I am concerned.

Her brother pasted away some 2 years ago of kidney failure at the age of 10 years. He too was bigger than life.

Answer 1

Hi Pete...because there are so many variants involved as to why a cat would be throwing up it will be difficult to give you an appropriate answer. Vomiting is a symptom of many disorders...hairballs, kidney failure, hypothyroidism, diabetes, etc. It could be as simple as the diet that her body can no longer tolerate or if her food was suddenly switched this would cause any cat at any age to vomit as well.

Please consider taking your kitty to the vet as I would suspect that she may be beginning to show signs of kidney failure since her late brother did as well. Symptoms with kidney failure in cats vary so one cat may exhibit entirely differently than another even if blood related.

Two weeks is a long time to let vomiting go on as she is becoming quite dehydrated and may likely need to receive subcutaneous or intravenous fluids (SubQ or IV) to rehydrate her.

Answer 2

Old age is not a disease. You really need to take your cat to the vet. It could save you money and heartache down the line and your cat a lot of suffering.

The first thing you need to do is make an appointment with your vet. If you can't afford your regular vet there are programs in every community that will help. Just do the research and find one. Would you vomit for 2 weeks without going to the Dr.? Would you let your child?

The second thing you need to do is withhold the regular food. Feed only plain rice and boiled chicken, maybe some lowfat cottage cheese. No skin, no bones, no spices. Feed small amounts about 4-5 times a day so your cat doesn't gorge itself. Also try to serve the food warmed up a little, this will increase the smell of the food and make it more appetizing. Most cat food is just too rich to feed them when they are having stomach issues. This won't resolve the prblem, but it will possibly help your cat maintain some nutrients and keep more food down. I know that the instinct is to feed them when they're throwing up, but think about every time you've been ill, did you want to eat a big, rich, fatty meal?

Please take your cat to the vet. And if you are not willing or able to provide the proper care, you should consider turning your cat over to the humane society in your area.

Answer 3

Cats who eat a diet of only one food all their lives can develop allergies after a number of years.

Science Diet is a terrible food and you should try for something better for her. The corn might be doing it. I guess the protein source is chicken, that could be it too.

Natural Balance is making a dry food from venison and pea. That would eliminate two possible allergens for her. I would try that with her and see if the vomiting stops. Please click on my name at the icon for a "recipe" for introducing a new dry food. It is important that you do it gradually so there is no tummy upset or diarrhea.

If the venison and pea seems to help, then try NB's chicken and brown rice. If that goes OK then you probably can conclude that the corn was upsetting her stomach. Find at least another quality food for her and rotate the bags around so that she is not eating the same food all the time.

Answer 4

There could be many reasons she is vomiting.

The "easiest" reason is hairballs, especially if she is long-haired. The answer is Petomalt or Laxatone. Hopefully she will like the taste--some cats do, some cats don't.

One of the more obnoxious reasons cats will throw up is because they don't like something about their food, but eat it because they are hungry. Check the sell-by date on your bag, buy a small bag of another kind of cat food you know she likes, and see if the change in food stops the vomiting. One of my cats vomits, then foams at the mouth if he doesn't like the way his food tastes. We had a race to the veterinarian with that one. By the time we got there, badcat had recovered and was looking at me like; "What???? What????"

Another one of my kitties vomits because he doesn't stop to think that snarfing dry food first and chugging water second is unwise. So we make sure to give him water and plenty of it well before we fill the food dish.

If your cat is "just" constipated, adequate water everywhere she goes/hangs out plus a light sprinkling of unflavored metamucil on her food will usually do the trick. If she's decided she doesn't like drinking water, make a very weak gravy from either good quality canned cat food or baby (stage 2) turkey or lamb, heavy on the warm water. I have yet to meet a cat who won't lap up "kitty gravy". But make sure she's constipated before you try the metamucil--the gravy is okay any time.

And, above all, consult a veterinarian. It could be anything from something tame like the things I mentioned to something serious but treatable to something serious but manageable.

Answer 5

First take her to the doctor she could have swallowed string and it may be causing her to vomit. If it is fine thread they may not see it on the x ray. so be shur they check under her tongue if it looped around. If the problem is not string it could be other things health realated like diabetes or she may have developed a food allergy. My vet told me to not feed dry kibble to my cats since it causes allot of heath problems that can be avoided. I have my cats on a high quality cat food (Wellness). They haven't developed any more problems since being on strictly wet food diet and the hairball issue is not an issue anymore.

Answer 6

I like Seattle's answer. I would have the cat evaluated by a vet though.

Answer 7

Petromalt & Laxastat helps them pass hairballs. You can get it at any pet store. If that doesn't work you should see the vet.

Answer 8

My sister had the same problem, she gave him a little kaopectate, about a teaspoon. If that don't work I would suggest taking him to the vet because it may be a bigger problem behind the vommiting.

Answer 9

The solution you are looking for is called a "veterinarian". You see, animals need doctors too, and refusing to take a vomiting cat to the vet for a "couple of weeks" is borderline abuse.

Answer 10

Take her to the vet immediately , in the meantime get some petromalt.