Should I feed my cat this food?

Question

My cat is a little on the chubby side. The vet gave us this diet food and when I started feeding it to him, he started vomiting. I took him off the food and he stopped vomiting, should I keep him off the food?

Answer 1

If it's Science Diet something it is inordinately expensive and not good food - diet or not.

You should go to www.thepetcenter.com and read their article on Feline Obesity and that will give you guidelines on how to feed a cat who needs to take off some pounds. Veterinarians receive NO training in small animal nutrition as part of their education though some veterinary school are making qualified nutritionist part of their teaching staff (UC Davis has one).

For some strange reason the "diet" foods made by the commercial manufacturers are increasing the carbohydrate in their foods instead of increasing the meat protein which is the cat's natural food. Many cats do not do well on ANY grain in their food causing constant hairballs and vomiting.

Your cat will lose weight on a high quality meat protein diet, preferably canned food. Natural Balance has a good line of food as does Wellness, Lick Your Chops, Blue, Avoderm, Innova Evo. The NB and Wellness lines come in small cans so you can try your cat on different "flavors" to find out what he may like. Canned food is also best for a male cat to prevent any potential urinary problems.

Go to www.littlebigcat.com and read Dr. Jean Hovfe's articles titled "Why Cats Need Canned Food", "Feline Obesity", "Selecting a Good Commercial Pet Food","Why Fish is Dangerous for Cats", etc.

Don't use the grocery store varieties as they all have by-product meat - that's Whiskas, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Science Diet etc.

Answer 2

I'd try mixing some of the diet food with his regular food and if still vomits then I'd stop it but if he tolerates it then I'd keep on mixing the tqo foods together and gradually decrease the regular food until he is eating the diet food.If at any time he starts to vomit then cut back to the previous amt that he tolerated and keep feeding him that. Sometimes too we tend to keep the cats bowl full-chk to see how much a cat his age should eat then give him only that amt and no more. Also we tend to give our pets table food -do not for that adds a lot of the weight and will eventually give the cat human health problems like cholesterol and so forth. There are healthy for the cat treats but should be given in moderation.

Answer 3

I had the exact same problem with my chubby cat. I took him off the diet food and put him back on regular food, but feed him less. I think some of the diet foods may have too much fiber that upsets their stomach. My vet was fine with this approach.

You can also work on getting your cat more exercise, which will help. Get him some toys and make time to play with him each day.

Mine is still sorta chubby but we are still working on it. I adopted him from the humane society and he was already plus sized. At least he's not gaining anymore. My vet says its best for their health if they lose slowly anyway.

Answer 4

I second everything Seattle said. And please note that she is the leader in best answers for this category.

Many vets know very little about cat nutrition. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true.

I have a little fatty myself. My vet (soon to be former) sold me an overpriced bag of crap and told me to feed her 1/3 cup per day. Can you believe that? That's like 4 pieces of kibble! Well, she hated the stuff so I just tried some other food, and I did try cutting her back, but it was hell for both of us.

After hanging out here, I got educated and then switched her to canned food and I'm pretty sure she's dropped a few pounds. She still has a ways to go, so I'm now investigating switching her to raw. I'm gonna get that girl slim and trim if it's the last thing I ever do!

Answer 5

Sometimes completely changing a cat or dogs food right away can cause that effect. maybe try to mix the food with it's other 1/4 to 3/4 of original food, than 1/2 to 1/2 and so forth. This will give the cat a chance to get used to the food without upsetting the cats stomach.

Answer 6

First off, a fat cat is not a good thing, any more than a fat person is a good thing .... from a health point of view. Most of my cats have lived for nearly twenty years and none of them were fat. Feel the ribs, not see them.

However, if your cat is getting "sick" on the food CHECK BACK WITH YOUR VET. Or .... is the cat throwing up because it eats the food too fast? That happens in many cases.

Perhaps the vet will check for some sort of food allergy. It happens.

Kev

Answer 7

No. If it makes him sick, no. Now, if he is a little heavy, then you may want to think about another diet food. I use an indoor weight maitenance food for my 2 large (well, fat) cats. They were close to 20 pounds each and now have trimmed down a bit. The doctor should be able to recommend something else if you are worried about his recommendation, but he could not predict if the cat is allergic to something in the one you got. Not to be gross, but is the food he throws up chewed all the way? How long after he eats? Do you have other cats?

You may want to get something from Petco that deals with diet or weight maitenance. If it is an indoor cat, the indoor formulas should help. Of course, it all depends on how fat he is...

Good luck.

Answer 8

It certainly sounds like your cat can not tollerate that food. I have a fat cat who is on the least amount of food the vet recommended and she still isn't losing any weight. There are several different kinds of cat food that is lower in calories without using the vet recommended brand. Also, indoor cat foods are lower in calories as well. You may want to try different brands to see what your cat can eat. In the mean time get a pet toy and play with him to give him some exercise. Being overweight is very hard on cats since their bones aren't strong enough to deal with the extra weight and it caused them to have painful joints as they age.

Answer 9

hi there go to this site

Cat Vomiting Article From AllergicPet.com
Cat Vomiting - Causes and Treatments. Vomiting describes the expulsion of food from the stomach. ... A diet based on boiled chicken or sometimes fish with ...www.allergicpet.com/articles/cat_vomiting.html - 21k - Cached - More from this site

Answer 10

Call your vet! Tell him what's happening. What's so hard about figuring this out? He'll probably recommend another food for the cat. In the meantime, do NOT make your cat vomit, but don't give him much food, either. He might explode, and you don't want that.