...and then throw up immediately afterwards?
Okay, okay, so it isn't always, but it happens a lot, like once every two days of so. She is about 10-12 years old (she was a rescue cat, so hard to be sure) and I feed her Iams complete dry food. If I feed her "wet" cat food it tends to give her diarrhoea so I avoid it. She definitely doesn't have fur balls or anything as the vet has checked her out for that. Any ideas?
2007-05-19 22:22:45 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
She does always have plenty of water, of course.
2007-05-19 22:29:22 · update #1
I should have mentioned that alhough she was a rescue cat, I have had her for nine years! She has more or less always done this, and I'm sure she doesn't have worms. She doesn't woof down ALL the food in the dish, she just eats until she vomits and then wanders off for a few hours (leaving a nice surprise for me on the carpet) then she eats the rest, usually more sensibly, later.
2007-05-20 23:25:09 · update #2
We used to have an Abyssinian cat... from a top breeder, reared in the land of plenty... did the same thing. No your cat isn't a poor traumatized refugee from the land of starvation, she's just greedy.
Our cat's problem was worse on Iams, and improved a lot when we switched to an all-natural diet. Iams contains a lot of beet pulp... not exactly natural for a cat to eat.
Another thing you can try is to put some clean, smooth gravel in the dish & mix the food in there. Make sure the stones are too big for the cat to swallow. It will slow her down quite a bit to have to work around them to catch all the food.
2007-05-19 22:51:21 · answer #1 · answered by twosweethounds 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it has always happened, then I would suspect that at some point she had been starved. We once took in a skinny little cat that had obviously not eaten for a while. He ended up constantly eating as he wasn't used to regular meals, so would eat as much as possible as fast as possible just in case he might not get to eat again. He ended up as wide as he was long, but at least he was happy! She should settle down after a few months of regular feeing - if this is new behaviour then it may be better to take her back to the vets and see if they can suggest a different diet and check her out for worms etc.
2007-05-20 11:21:01 · answer #2 · answered by Jen_Greebo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well seeing my cat is eating right next to me and quite fast they are cats, they like to eat.. so when food comes out they eat is quickly.. if you keep the food out all the time it is less likely they feel rushed unless other cats are waiting or you are watching them. Otherwise if you take the food away she will feel like she has to eat as much as she can before you take it away from her. Also some cat illnesses can cause this so ya, but you said she was rescued.. maybe she was starved before she was rescued so she feels like she needs to eat all her food before it disappears, you never know the old owner could have stood watched and when the cat was still eating took the bowl away to be mean and cruel.. you just never know.
2007-05-19 23:44:48 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
OK, animals that have dealt with limited food situations frequently act this way. They gobble down the food - using their tummy as a storage sack - then run off to a 'safe' area where they puke the gobbled food back up. They then properly chew and process the food "safe" from other animals stealing it.
It is not pretty, but it is what they had to do to live....
2007-05-19 22:30:24 · answer #4 · answered by Alicia M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to be careful with Iams as it's pretty rich,try her on something different and for a senior cat. Perfect fit is pretty good. My cats don't like Iams.
2007-05-19 22:26:46 · answer #5 · answered by Lor24 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could well be psychological, she may have been starved in the past and learned to grab everything that's going in case there wasn't any more.
She's no youngster now, so try one of the "senior" foods and try it a little at a time.
2007-05-20 00:51:05 · answer #6 · answered by champer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How often do you feed her? She might be so hungry that she gobbles it down, and it irritates her stomach so she throws it back up. Try feeding her 4 or 5 times a day, smaller portions.
2007-05-19 22:26:20 · answer #7 · answered by T.M.Y. 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your cat is probably just hungry. In cat's old age, they tend to become less playful, fatter, and lazy. Dont worry, its normal for an older cat to eat quickly.
2007-05-20 01:11:36 · answer #8 · answered by Victimofgoodcharlotte 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cats don't eat fast like dogs do, they eat in moderation. perhaps it's worms. take her to the vet and have blood work done.
2007-05-19 22:37:55 · answer #9 · answered by ♥Charmed One♥ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe before she was rescued someone used to take her food away before she'd finished, or other cats would eat it so her eating that fast is a habit.
2007-05-19 23:48:45 · answer #10 · answered by gem w 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋