My cat barfs a lot, but no known cause? She is thin and petite because of her constant puking?

Question

My cat has seen at least 3 different vets because of her habit with barfing. She's a normal cat, no other problems, and no one has yet to find anything wrong. Her current vet said that her blood is the healthiest he's seen in a while. But she throws up about twice a week on average, sometimes more than that. She's up to date with shots, is an indoor cat, has had no "stressors" (in fact we took a stressor AWAY from her - another cat that fought with her a lot), she's the only pet in the house and she likes it that way. I just don't understand why she throws up so much? It's almost always just food, its NOT hair so please don't give me the hair ball speech. We've adjusted her food several times....you name it, we've done it. Is there anything else we HAVENT considered?

Answer 1

HI there...many possibilities can contribute to vomiting and since her blood work up produced no obvious flags I would also lean towards allergies or lack of tolerances to the diet .

Most commercial grade cat foods contain corn, corn meal which are fillers (carbohydrates) that bind the dry food together as a way of keeping foods lasting longer. Try finding cat food products which are devoid of these ingedients. The first ingredients should show chicken, chicken meal, etc. Most show the first ingredients as corn on the ingredient labels. IAMs, Science Diet, Purina, Whiskas, Friskies ...all have corn listed as the main ingredient. Cats who eat these tend to always feel hungry because the carbs don't metabolize fast enough and cats are obligate carnivores so they need a diet devoid of these types of carbs. Additionally, the corn and byproducts may be the cause of the food allergies. Products such as Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Prairie, Wellness, James Wellbeloved (for UK residents), are premium brands. Most cats who eat these find that they do not eat to eat as much because their appetite is better satiated.

The following website details out all the possibles causes for why cats consistently vomit: http://www.cat-world.com.au/VomitingInCats.htm

Answer 2

If the blood tests are normal then it almost always has to do with diet - either the type of food or the frequency of feeding.
You don't say what she is eating. I hope it's not dried kibble. If it's canned food, try a high quality food from the pet store. She may have allergies to grains or other additives in the supermarket foods.
It could also be stomach acid, especially if she seems to barf in the morning after not eating during the night. In that case, you can leave out some kibble for her to snak on during the night. Most cats do best when fed small meals throughout the day.

Answer 3

She is lacking meat protein.
Cats are strictly carnivorous. Grocery store-brand cat foods contain the minimum amount of meat proteins, and the rest is grain, which cats cannot digest well.
Many cats, like yours, require a higher content of protein. They do what is known as "scarf-n-barf." They eat and eat, then their stomachs don't recognize the grain proteins and rejects it to make room for the real foods. Your cat is eating and starving.
Pet stores sell food of higher quality and higher protein content. Yes, these cat foods cost more, but that's really the difference between fast food (which can, over time, weaken your cat's immune system and shorten its lifespan) and nutritious food.
I have two cats with delicate stomachs that cannot tolerate the grocery store-brand, fast-food types of cat foods very well. Since I am on a limited budget myself, I buy a bag of the grocery store kind and a bag of the pet store kind and mix equal amounts into the bowl.
Since I have been doing that, my delicate ones have gained some weight and only barf once in a great while, and that's usually only when they're upset. I have other cats who don't have the delicate problem, but after I changed the diet in the community food bowls, they too suddenly had glossy coats and more energy.

Answer 4

Sometimes there is no rational cause but in this case it could be several things adjustments in food or environment or even a allergy or even a small blockage in the lower intestine such as fur try hairball remedy first while keeping her diet constant what I like to do is leave out the dry food with clean water all the time and feed mackerel once daily in the evening while making sure they get plenty of exercise this will keep her healthy and happy .

Answer 5

Maybe the cat is eating too much too fast, then gets an upset stomach and throws up. Try feeding a little at a time. Or do what my vet suggested for my cat; hide tiny bowls of food around the house so the cat has to hunt for them. This will slow that cats eating down.

Answer 6

Have you tried kitty grass? My cat threw up randomly until I bought a packet of kitty grass seeds for her. It grows in the window and she nibbles on it all the time, and there's no more puking. The grass grows for about 2 months and then dies, and you have to get more, but it's only like $3 which is worth not cleaning up cat puke. You can get it at any pet supply store. I recommend starting it in the container, and then transplanting into a heavy pot before letting the cat at it, or it will just end up dead on the floor.

:D

Hope your kitty gets better!

Answer 7

I have heard of cats being allergic to their cat litter. Have you tried switching brands of cat litter? Could any one be feeding her human food? One other thought, a lot of the pet stores sell "cat grass" for cats. It is supposed to settle their stomach and they like it. One more thought. My cat will sometimes barf when she has a piece of grass stuck in her throat. Of coarse that wouldn't last a long time like in your cat but I wonder if she could have some little throat problem causing her to gag.

Answer 8

My cats sometimes fight over the dish. When they do the victor will always eat way too much way too fast. Then it will puke all the food right back up with very little liquid. My cats are free fed and are happy with it. I would suggest changing the amount/ pattern of feeding. aka: If your little one is free fed reduce the food, if not try free feeding dry food to reduce the rush eating becuase it will be taken away. Good luck!

Answer 9

Let me confirm things. have you tried Innova,EVO,Nature's Variety(do not confuse this with nature's recipe),Wellness,Felidae,or Chicken Soup cat foods? If you have only tried Purina,Science Diet,Friskies,9 lives,Fancy Feast, and all those other junky foods, I can understand why she's barfing.

My cat was eating purina,science diet,friskies,all those crappy foods. And she always had an upset stoamche. We started her on Nature's Variety Prairie Lamb meal and millet medely. Her vomiting stopped almost immediatly.

Answer 10

I dunno...my cats both puke a lot. Probably more than yours...perhaps I should be concerned too!

Maybe she eats too fast. I know one of my cats wolfs down food and then yacks. Pretty gross.