Cat question

[veronica_rich]

(This is for the cat people, any vets, experts out there. If you can answer my questions, you may be helping others besides just me. At any rate, I'd like to know if anyone's having similar problems.)

I have a cat who's been throwing up every day for the past two weeks - he doesn't just throw up, he strings the food and hairball along half the length of the room (cleaning it up is a major pain, but I'm worried about him). It didn't occur to me until this morning that it could be a change in his food - I've fed him Purina One Advanced Nutrition Hairball Control for three years with no problems, and the latest bag or two I've purchased was different packaging. So, I called the company today and it turns out they did take the yogurt out of the formula, and I was told it shouldn't make a difference in how he processes the food. WELL, YEAH, OBVIOUSLY IT HAS.

Anyway, I need to try to find something else for him to eat. It's dry food; I may need to go to some wet food too (he's 11 years old). He doesn't seem in pain or dehydrated or otherwise unhealthy, but this can't be good for his trachea or stomach, can it? I tried to give him a little plain yogurt, but he didn't like it. Have you had this problem? Is there a food that would help? (My budget is limited, but within reason, I can try something new.)

Comments

[venusinchains.livejournal.com]

The person who told you that a change in formula won't affect the cat is an idiot. A pet food employee should (and probably does) know better.

A vet will tell you (I'm sure, as I was told) that any change in a cat's diet will make that cat vomit for a variable amount of time. As will an added stress. Or an illness.

I would guess that the combination of New Cat and New Food is doing a number on your baby. But, if it keeps up, look for professional help. (Well, more professional than me.) Excessive vomiting does lead to dehydration, which can lead to various organ failure (especially if it is an illness, as apposed to the other, more obvious choices).

When Dru began getting sick constantly, I was told to avoid the cat foods with lots of dye listed in the ingredients (that takes out almost everything affordable at your average grocery store - but not everything, check the listings on each). The vet and the pet stores will, of course, have a wider variety of specialty foods (low on allergens or sodium or recommended for older cats, etc.). But, every time you try a new cat food, you have to expect some of the vomiting afterward to be due to the change (and not necessarily the food itself). :/

I tried everything under the sun. The Science Diet and Prescription Diet stuff usually worked the best (when I could get them to eat it at all) - but it's the most expensive (one found only in the pet stores, the other, only at the vet). And those brands are all tailor made for specific problems. (One cat of mine needed the low sodium formula for her high blood pressure and the other needed the chock full o' nutrients formula for her general lack of digestive ability - I relied on the vet to give me those details. But having two cats with different problems kinda nullifies the buying of two specific foods, unless you have a way of keeping them from each others' bowls.)

Make sure he has lots of water available and hug him a lot? (And find him a low-dye-content wet food that you don't let him overeat.) And maybe after a few weeks he'll settle down some. (I'm afraid there's really no way past the stress of an unwelcome room-mate. He'll either get used to the new guy in his own time or he won't. With any luck, when it gets cold he'll come to appreciate another warm body.)