(no subject)

[bluesilverkdg]

The other day, General threw up in their food bowl. I wasn't sure whether to praise him for being efficient and helping me with cleanup, or fuss at him, because I had to dump the entire thing out. He used to upchuck his dinner all the time, but thankfully that has been cut down considerably. I've been feeding them Iams Digestive Health cat food for a while, and it's seemingly helped a good bit. Still, I'd kinda prefer it if maybe he threw up his food, oh...never? The girls don't. Well, hardly ever. I don't even remember the last time one of them yorked up their dinner. But General gobbles his food as if every meal is his last on this earth. I don't know why he feels the need to do this. I keep food out for them in two different bowls at all times. So it's not like he has one feeding time, and has to hoarde his food to keep the girls from getting it all. It's there constantly. They can nibble and snack whenever they want. But apparently he is just a piggy and can't seem to get this through his head. You know how men are.

I've taken him to the vet and they can't find any medical reason why he throws up so much. And I've gotta say, the frequency HAS decreased from almost every day to maybe once a week or so. Still, like I said, I'd kinda prefer that it decreased even more.

Do any of you have issues with food gobblers? And do they throw up after doing this? (I'm talking more of the feline variety, not human, because I know some of you have family members who inhale their dinner, too.) If so, what have you done for it? I'd be willing to try a different food, or any sort of natural remedy, what have you. I just want to save my flooring from the Vomit Of Doom. Plus, I can't tell you how appetizing it is to be sitting at the table eating MY dinner and hear that familiar "urk...urk...urk...bluuurrrrrp" in the background. Yum.



I've gotta say though, at least he is hitting the litterbox now, so maybe some progress has been made. I don't know that I ever want another male animal. Boys are just trouble.

Comments

[theldara.livejournal.com]

I've always found males to be much easier than my fussy females ;)

Try elevating your food bowls. Callie used to puke daily, but since we raised all their food and water 4-5 inches off the ground (we made stands and bought stands for thier food - Ross in JC is GREAT for these raised bowls and holders cheap!), she isn't puking nearly so much. Probably just once or twice a month now! We also had to elevate Emma's too. Seems that eating from the ground causes more air intake and more puke/gas issues.

Catnip also can cause puking. If you leave catnip toys out all the time, try taking them up.

Also, when Callie was worst, we got this stuff call CatLax from the vet. The over the counter version did NOT work, but the one I bought (for cheaper, hah!) from the vet did to work. We load it in a 3cc syringe and squirt it down her throat whenever she looks pukish (you can tell with her!). Max gets it sometimes too, for the same reason. Very helpful to both when they need it. It is in a red/white tube.

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Additionally, on the food. We moved all the cats from Iams/Science Diet to Nutro Complete Care. I use the indoor version now. This helped digestive issues as well, and made a noticeable difference in coats, as well as less litterbox waste.

The boy cats and Belle also get one tub of gooshy food daily. The Meow Mix packets, Fancy Feast Elegant Medlies, and Meow Mix Wholesome something or other gooshy foods are the three they prefer. I would feed it to all 5 of them, but Callie and Anna don't like gooshy. The increased water intake from the daily gooshy does seem to have benefited the boys as well. We do have to give Max smaller portions though, due to his gobble food issue. He doesn't seem to really yack out small portions, even though he still gobbles his gooshy.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

I only give mine one can of gooshy daily, too. Sabrina usually doesn't partake, but she's hit or miss. The other three love it, but I split one can between the three. I figure that's not enough to really hurt them, because I know it's very rich and high in fat/calories (plus not good for their teefs.)

Gen's issue is much more with the dry food. He will occasionally throw up the canned stuff, but 9 times out of 10, it's the dry. He's just a weirdo.

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Max and Jazz split their can, but Belle does get her own. Anna used to eat it, but anymore she just wants her Temptations treats, which have a soft center that I think she likes.

There's actually some debate on gooshy being bad. If you'll look at cat's teeth, you'll see that they're all pointy - they have no crushing/grinding teeth. They're not designed for dry foods like dogs and humans can grind down with our molars. They're designed to rip and tear meat, thus they only have teeth for those. The dry food somewhat cleans their teeth, but it is hard on the teeth too. It also does not provide the moisture levels - fresh foods cats would eat in the wild are high mositure, cat's don't have tounges designed to really get water efficently (think about the difference between a dog's tounge and a cat's - one is great at water lapping, one very poor). Gooshy is a good way to get necessary water in.

Gooshy food is lower in fat/calories than dry food, by far. The dry food is very dense in calories and very low in moisture (which contribues to dehydration, because it takes a lot of moisture from the cat's system to be able to get the dry food into a digestible form). There is continuing debate that this high carbohydrate, high calorie dry food diet that modern civilizaton has created for cats is negatively affecting their health. There are more and more overweight and diabetic cats, with more and more human illnesses coming up. There may be a corralation there. I look up the new research once a year or so, and so far I haven't seen any concrete answers.

I still feed dry. I free feed it pretty much, it's always available. Besides, Anna and Callie just won't eat gooshy even if I did have the ability to go to a raw food or canned/frozen diet for them. Regardless of the reasearch, it doesn't do anyone any good if they won't eat it! So, I'm still feeding dry, though I do give the three gooshy eaters gooshy daily now where I used to just do it a couple times a week. They haven't gained any weight from it, and so far my only overweight kitty is Anna (and just by like a pound, she just looks fatter cause she's so crazy short! Little legs on that cat, LOL).

[theldara.livejournal.com]

Meant to mention, if you don't have one, the corded Dirt Devil hand held spot cleaner is great for cleaning up cat yack off carpet. I had a Bissel Cordless Spotlifter, but we killed it. The corded Dirt Devil works better anyway.

[bluesilverkdg.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I hadn't thought of elevating the bowls. I will give that a try. The silos in the guest room are a bit higher, but you've seen their little dishes in the kitchen. They're right on the floor.

They still have those catnip toys that you brought over, but I'd daresay the 'nip is gone from them. I do give them catnip on occasion, but I just sprinkle some in the floor, and it's more as a treat than anything. I think his main issue is just gobbling as though his life depends on it.

I'll try raising the bowls, and if that doesn't seem to help, I'll look into CatLax. Thanks for the tips!