She adopted me, full grown cat weighed 3lbs and looked like a skeleton. She seems to stuff herself (we give her free choice 2 food) like it'll be her last meal (it's been a whole year since we found her) every time...then she barfs it up about 30 mins later. We've tried soft food, real meat, dry cat food, doesnt matter what it is, she still barfs. We've cut down how much she gets (little portions) but she'll still barf. She doesnt do this every time she eats but does throw up about once a day. I'm not sure if it's a hair ball or not but she hasnt made any hacking noises for one recently. Any suggestions, especially froma vet or vet tech on what to do? P.S. She had a canine tooth just recently pulled that was loose and the barfing had stopped for a week but its back again...not as bad as it was but still....
My cat keeps throwing up... I dont know why and cant seem to stop her?
Sorry to hear....
I think you got a cat with repetitus barfitus, also known as the perpetually upset tummy.
I'm guessing you've had a vet check her out? Excessive vomiting can be signs of a lot of things... and nothing. So I wouldn't worry too much right now, but would suggest you get someone to do a thorough exam... they need to be able to giver her a thorough going over.
I would definitely control the quantity of food. Some cats just don't self regulate well. This could aggravate a sensitive digestive tract or, at minimum, lead to one helluva fat kitty.
You didn't say whether long hair or short. Either way, you'd know a hairball when u see it. And once a day is a little much for that.
You say she looked like a skeleton when you found her. Does she still? If she's consistently underweight you need to get her to a vet. There's something going on... If she's put on weight and is healthy and happy then it's less of an issue.
Good luck and hope the fuzzball's okay....
Reply:Have you tried hair ball medicine? What does the vet say?
Reply:she probably has an infection and needs her shots. My cat had the same symptoms and died cause it was too late for the vacinnation shots. I would suggets for a vet to examine her.
Reply:hair balls,,, sounds like but if you are still worried after trying that or worm medicine ,i would call a vet,,, good luck hun ... hope she is better soon
Reply:Stick to one food. Give her a small bowlful about 3 times a day. Also, give her furball control treats.
Reply:that's not a good sign. get her to the vet immediately. she can dehydrate from excessive vomiting. maybe she has an obstruction.
Reply:A kitten I had did the same thing...esp with treats, it was like little kitty bulimia but she would really just puke if she ate too much too fast. I talked to my vet and adjusted her diet, now she is fine for the most part as long as she gets her 'indoor' formula food (which has fewer calories and "anti-hairball" ingredients) and access to cat grass (you can find this in almost any pet section).
Reply:make sure you bring her to a vet right away! she may have ate a plastic bag or dental floss that is caught in her intestines. it can strangle her. or him. other ailments can cause that too. make her comfortable and take her now!
Reply:This definately sounds like hairballs. You don't need to spend a whole lot of money to help your cat. Just go to the pet section in Wal Mart. There is a medicine in a tube for hair balls. Costs $3 and change.
Reply:Since she was a stray, it is possible that she ingested something that could be causeing an obstruction. However, I had a cat who did the exact same thing. Not every meal, usually just breakfast. Eventually I discovered she had kidney problems and though she did live to be 18 and a half, that is what eventually killed her. Does your cat drink a lot of water but urinate infrinquently? Or does she seem to have any trouble urinating? That is a sign of kidney trouble (among other things). The way I fed my cat is this: A mixture of 1/3 can Fancy Feast (a little expensive, but well worth it) to about a 1/2 cup of dry (usually cat chow) for breakfast, and a handful of dry in the evening. I also ended up having to put her on bottled water because the tap in my city is very hard, lots of mineral deposits which increase the problem.
Good luck, your best bet is to take her for a check up, mostly to make sure there isn't an obstruction of any kind.
Reply:Well, I'm not a vet, but I am an owner of a cat who used to barf after almost every meal. with him I think it was that he ate too quickly, and we got to the point where we just put out less than a teaspoon at times and kept feeding him that way. It was a pain, but the food tended to stay down. If it is hairballs you would be able to tell you would see the fur in the barf (what an awful word). Hate to say it, but take a look and see if it's just food or food and fur. You can try something called Petromalt to help the digestion, or you can try what is known as Kitty Grass, which is basically grass that you grow in a tub in the window and the cat eats. Grass is a good diarretic for a cat, and will get it all to come up and settle his stomach.
But mostly I would say it is time to visit a vet and let a pro take a look at the cat.
Reply:give her lots of water and see if she can keep it down.
Reply:Try feeding her a pasty canned food liberaly mixed with water - small portions only per feed. Elevate her bowl a couple of inches from the floor so that her mouth and throat are almost vertical. Supposedly this prevents back flow of digestive acids from the stomack from getting to the cats esophagus. You may have to feed her several times a day - smal portions only. When she has gone several weeks without regurgitating, see if she will keep down more food per feeding. I hope this is a case of "idiopathic regurgitation" and not a case of esophaegal obstruction or dilation. Some issues with the esophagus are congenital and couses food regurgitation.
Reply:She is blessed to have found a human that really cares about her. She does need a vet check up because life in the wild can be very hard on a klitty and she sounds like she had it especially hard to be so terrribly thin. Has she gained at all? This could be a symptom of something serious (I can think of a couple of things it could be but in fairness to you and to her it would be wrong to say she could have fe-luk or kidney disease or malabsorption or whatever when it could be as simple as desperate eating that makes her bolt down more than her tummy can hold. My guess is that this little one needs some kitty vitamins that can be put on her paw for her to lick off or a vitamin fortified hairball med to get vitamins into her and prevent hair from taking up any room in her tiny stomach and intestines, small feedings several times a day and probably kitten food vs grown up cat food. I had a cat who found us while she was very thin and weak. She too had keeping food down because she gobbled it sdesperately almost not stopping for breath. Someone suggested literally spoon feeding her. It took a lot of time but it worked and she learned to eat at a pace her system could deal with. It also seemed to make her bond to us more and feel more secure. I know the natural reaction is to give her as much as she wants because she was so deprived but for a while yet she may need you to slow her down so she can keep and use the food she does have. I felt so mean giving her only little bits at a time and making her go slowly but she got stronger and finally got where she could eat freely and do fine. One thing my husband did (he is the major cat spoiler) was to feed her any time she came and told him she wanted food (going from him to her dish to the cupboard) but slowly and only a bit at a time. So she came to know she would always have food and not be deprived. That seemed to help stop the desperate bolting down her food too. I drew the line at getting up and feeding her once I was in bed but he did it occassionally especially at first. And for amonths kept an envelop of tender vittles in his night stand for when she wanted a late night snack. That is probably why she was usually found sitting behind his head on the recliner declaring to all that he was her property. He needed her too because he was recovering from major back problems and feeling very down and useless till she needed him so much :)
One thing I learned from our experiences with this cat who we named CC and from Strawberry ShortCat who was also a cat who came in from the cold hard world is not to give up when someone says this could be or is a serious problem. CC needed special nutritional supplements and even the vet said she would never be OK but she was. Strawberry was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia but we didn't want her put to sleep so the vet put her on 2 courses or Interferon and she became a very happy healthy cat and a wonderful joy. She was as much my baby as CC was my husband's. Over the years almost very cat we have had has been a cat that came to us after a hard time of being abandoned or not having people of its own. There are always challenges but they seem to have a special appreciation for their people once they have people of their own. I am so glad this little one has you.
Reply:This happened with my big boy and he ended up having a bowel obstruction. Luckily it was in his colon and they were able to avoid surgery by giving him a kitty enema. If she's not pooping much, I'd be concerned about a bowel obstruction but if all that's normal, she may just have a hairball problem (try a malt hairball remedy). She may also have a more serious tummy problem that only the vet can diagnose and treat so if the hairball remedy doesn't work, take her in.
Reply:Why have you not taken her to the vet for this problem if it has been going on this long?? Get her to the vet!!
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