I have 3 cats, but only one of them has problems with frequently throwing up. (The other two throw up the occassional hairball or two, but nothing to be concerned about.) My 3rd cat, Skye, is a bit thinner than the other two and seems like she has trouble keeping any cat food down at least 1 day out of every week. I've taken her to the vet twice, who checked for worms and other problems before pronouncing her perfectly fine. I've tried 4 different kinds of dry cat food and 3 different kinds of canned cat food. I've tried hairball treats (though she is a short hair cat), and they have no effect. (She throws up food, not hair.) Sometimes the only thing she can keep down is a bit of milk. The vet suggested meat flavor baby food for the days when she can't keep the cat food down, but I was wondering if baby food has the right nutrients for a cat. Is there anything I can do to help her keep the cat food down and prevent her throwing up? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?
2007-07-01 01:06:49 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
My cat is 17, and he had the same problem a few years ago. What I did was to keep switching his food until we found one that he didn't throw up. For us, it was Purina One Senior. For most of his life, he had eaten MeowMix. Then he started to get thin and throw up a lot. We tried a few different kinds of food, and none helped until we finally tried the Purina One kind.
Anyway, if you're vet advises meat flavored baby food, I'd follow his instrutions. It won't hurt your kitty if the vet says it's safe. And in the meantime, I would continue trying different cat foods until you find one that your kitty can tolerate well.
2007-07-01 01:19:51 · answer #1 · answered by glitterkittyy 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
As another has suggested I would probably seek out the opinion of another vet. Your cat is not absorbing nutrients and is in danger of becoming dehydrated if she is vomiting that much.
Baby food is ok as a suppliment only. You need to check the ingredients to make sure there is no onion powder though. It is put in some baby food for taste, but onions can cause anemia in cats. Most comercial cat foods also contain taurine. Your cat needs this for eye health. If your cat is only getting baby food, you will need to research extra vitamin suppliments as well.
I have a cat that has issues with diarreah at times so I keep Eukanuba Low Residue on hand. Its a perscription cat food made especially for cats with sensitive digestive systems. Has your vet recommended anything like that?
2007-07-01 02:11:09 · answer #2 · answered by galapagos6 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can try stage 2 baby foods, go for the meat/veggie/rice, meat/rice, or meat/veggie combos. Try only giving her one spoonful at a time throughout the day.
Coal, our 'puker' eats too fast, even though he doesnt eat much, then has problems, so we take the food away and give him 1tbs every hour.
And for the one that said no to baby food because of onion powder, they are right, it is toxic. BUT most stage 2 and all stage 1 baby foods dont have it because babies cant handle spices. Just check the labels and you will be fine.
Good luck!
2007-07-02 12:18:12 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
meat baby food w/o onions or just meat like chicken or steak or something are perfectly fine to give to a cat as a meal once in a while. The reason they can't be fed all the time is because they lack a few things cats need like taurine so to feed human food all the time it would have to be specially prepared
2007-07-01 02:46:42 · answer #4 · answered by Ken 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My advice is to go to another vet, because the advice this one has given you is rubbish. Clearly there is something wrong with your cat, and while it might be more tricky to diagnose than worms, it needs to be discovered.
Baby food will not do for a cat, they need proper cat food or they just end up badly malnourished. What different kinds have you tried? Did the vet provide you with any? They make special prescription diets for cats that can't keep food down, but it's just useless trying to find a food she can keep down if you don't know what's causing her to vomit in the first place.
Get a second opinion from a vet who's actually willing to pursue this case to a diagnosis.
Chalice
2007-07-01 01:20:58 · answer #5 · answered by Chalice 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No, Baby foods are not good for cats to eat because some of them contain onion powder and that is toxic to cats. Peteducation.com has an article about it. I hope this will help.
2007-07-01 02:53:25 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Baby food in the meat flavored types are good...made by beechnut and gerber, the gerber ones have beef, chicken, turkey, veal and ham and the beechnut has chicken w/broth and turkey w/broth these are perfectly fine ...I had a 20+ yr old cat that couldnt eat anything but these foods...dont get any with the vegetables or rice in them...also another alternative that you can try for dry food is purina one for sensitive systems also purina one makes a natural blends with chicken and oatmeal I have found these both helped my cat that had the same problem as you
2007-07-01 01:57:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋