cat question

[allikatac]

Hi Everyone!

I know that there are a lot of cat lovers here and I am hoping that I can get some advice. I have a 1 and half year old Bengal, Kenya, who has just recently started to throw up her food. I kid you not when I say that before last month she only has thrown up one time in her "kittyhood" and has never had a hairball. I have heard that Bengals tend to have sensitive stomachs, but can that start all of a sudden?

Kenya has not been throwing up everyday... probably every 3 or 4. Other than this, she is acting perfectly normal. Her energy level is abundant and all of her other "functions" are fine. We did notice that she became sick a few times after giving her treats so we totally cut those out, but she still has been sick a few times. I did call our vet on Friday to see if she thought that we needed to bring her in(I worry over the smallest things) and she thought we should first try a change in food and bring in a stool sample. We are currently feeding her Innova Evo(dry) and nothing else. The vet suggested putting her on a senstive food diet. She suggested Purina One, Iams, or Science Diet. We did buy the Purina One and are going to try to gradually switch the food over, but do you have any recommendations? My vet doesn''t seem to recommend the high quality food and that is what we have been trying to provide her.

I grew up with two siamese cats who are always throwing up. When I brought the issue up to my parents, my mom said she didn''t know why I was worrying since she has cleaned up after these two everyday for the last 13 years haha. At the beginning they had tests done to make sure all was fine and everything was normal so they just eat a senstive food diet.

Have you guys had any cats with similar issues? Sorry for the long post!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Hum....

My cats don''t normally throw up, but I have had some experience with them throwing up in the past, and here are some things I can come up with based on those experiences.

Do you have any plants? Are they eating them?

You you have any cat toys they are eating?

Do you groom them weekly? I have short haired cats and they still throw up fir balls every now and then.

Are they going outside (than you don''t know what they are getting into!). Also, if they are, than the stool sample would be an important thing to do.

Hope this helps, hopefully someone has more to offer.

 

[allikatac]

Date: 11/11/2008 8:47:13 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker
Hum....

My cats don''t normally throw up, but I have had some experience with them throwing up in the past, and here are some things I can come up with based on those experiences.

Do you have any plants? Are they eating them?

You you have any cat toys they are eating?

Do you groom them weekly? I have short haired cats and they still throw up fir balls every now and then.

Are they going outside (than you don''t know what they are getting into!). Also, if they are, than the stool sample would be an important thing to do.

Hope this helps, hopefully someone has more to offer.

Thanks for the reply! Those are some great questions.

We don''t have any plants in the house... we moved to a new house last year and just never bought any mainly due to this reason.

She does have a lot of toys and we have considered that. We threw out a few toys last week that we thought she could be ingesting anything from. I guess it could be a possiblity that something from a toy irritated her stomach. Everything else seems to be functioning fine for her though. Last year at xmas time she somehow ate a twist tie and we thought that it may result in a surgery. Everything turned out fine, but she was sick for quite a few days. This doesn''t seem to be anything similar to that experience.

We do brush her a few times a week and she has never had a hairball. It seems that she is just throwing up her food about an hour after she eats(but not everyday).

She has never been outside so I question her getting something that would give her a parasite, but we are still going to do the stool sample. The vet also doubts it will turn up much.

Thanks again,

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

My Background: 3 1/2 years of Pre-Vet Med at Cal Poly Pomona
Worked 2 years in a Cat Speciality Hospital as a Vet Tech
Now in the RN program

Yes, cats can develop sensitive stomachs at any time. My 15 year old cat has developed a sensitive stomach within the last year and never has had an issue before. His kidney functions are fine , cbc is fine, BUN levels, were fine. ect. I switched him from Science Diet hairball to the raw diet mixed with the innova dry and he''s been fine since.

Also, similarly, my 1 1/2 year old min pin suddenly started the same symptoms but she also had hair loss, found out she developed allergies to a wide range of common ingredients in many foods including Royal canin. I started her on the IVD Venison and she hasn''t had an issue since.

I would NOT recommend Purina ONe or Science Diet in either case, Innova is a much higher quality dry food.

Also, make sure she isn''t bouncing around right after eating, or gorging herself because this can also cause kitty stomach problems.

Hope this helps!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Thats a tough one. Maybe she just has bad GERD (reflux). Is it the cat in your aviator? If so is she a pure breed? After hearing your mother''s stories, I am wondering if some breeds are more prone to that, but I don''t know for sure. My Burmise it at risk for a few things.

Hope the food change helps things a little.

 

[IloveAsschers13]

Hey-

I''m not sure why you''re vet isn''t more concerned. One of our cats starting throwing up and it turns out he was severly dehydrated since he wasn''t getting enough because he was throwing it up.. I guess just make sure he is doing everything normal, and changing the food sounds like a good idea!

 

[portia]

Hi allikatac,

My DH and I have two Bengals - one 10 yr. old male and an 8 yr. old female (in my avatar). They both throw up more than your average cat. We also have a 2 yr. old Savannah and she never throws up so I''m thinking that maybe Bengals do have sensitive stomachs. We have tried switching foods and that worked a little bit for our female... she had suddenly developed a sensitivity to a certain type of food (the cubed shape wet food) and after we switched she was better. The male cat has always been a nervous cat so he tends to throw up when he''s really stressed. I would definitely try switching food and see if the stool sample checks out ok at the vet. We have been feeding our cats Purina Pro Plan and that seems to be the best for us so far. However, after reading Resonance.Of.Life''s post I''m thinking maybe we should try something of higher quality.

Your kitty is so cute! He has *beautiful* markings!!

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

To check for dehydration:
Pull the skin near the shoulder blades (scruff) and see how quickly it goes back to where it should be. Slowly = dehydrated. You can do subcutaneous fluids if this is the case. I would highly recommend if this is the case, to do it yourself since the charge for the electrolyte bag and administering it yourself is more cost effective than having the Vet techs do it or you. It''s very easy and if anything your vet can also teach you how to do it yourself.

Good Brands:
-Innova
-Royal Canin
-IVD (fish and potato, duck and potatoe or venison and potato) it really cuts down on any food allergens since it''s reduced to ONE protein and one carb source. For this one you do have to get a prescription for it. I pay $11 for a 10 lb bag for my DSH cat and my min pin. Which is sincerely not that much more than what I was paying for Science diet before I took my Animal Nutrition course.
-Wellness


You might want to try a pre-mixed and pre-prepared raw food diet in addition to dry food. I noticed too while on these higher quality dry foods, their stools have smelled less and are smaller in size for both my cat and my dog.

 

[EricaR]

My friend''s cat started throwing up after every single meal, and after many $$$tests$$$ it turned out that her kitty had developed an allergy to soy products which are commonly found in cheaper foods. She switched him to a food without soy and the vomiting stopped almost immediately.

 

[that_someone_special]

One of my cats (the one in my picture) would barf almost every day. He convinced himself that he was so starving that inhaling is food would fix his problem. He actually has stopped barfing-- only about once a month now. He kind of grew out of it.

Does kitty eat too fast maybe? In his barf I would always find whole chunks of cat food.

 

[allikatac]

Thanks everyone! I knew I would get some insightful answers.

ROL, ILA & Erica R- The vet did seem to think that it could be an allergy to something in her food. I will definitely look into another brand of food though. She doesn''t seem to be dehydrated. I did the scruff test haha. Like I said, she is only throwing up every few days and this cat would like to live in water if possible. We have been letting her drink out of the faucet more often to make sure she is getting extra fluids.

LtlF- She is the kitty in the avator and she is a pure bred. I never thought of GERD. Maybe she is like her momma

Portia- Thanks! Yours is beautiful too! It''s nice to know another bengal owner has had a similar experience.

TSP- I have considered her eating to fast to be a reason since there is usually whole cubes of foods as well. Do you have any tips on how to slow her down? We have tried feeding her smaller more frequent meals, but sometimes I think she eats faster that way because she thinks she is starving.

 

[Lorelei]

Allikatac,

If you do suspect dehydration this can be extremely serious and need urgent treatment, so if you are in any doubt vet ASAP. Please be careful with the scruff test as if you don't know what you are looking for it can mislead you into thinking everything is ok when it may not be. If your cat is vomiting for a few hours and you are unsure, call your vet.

Also little and often is great advice when feeding.

 

[that_someone_special]

It''s hard to say really how he changed. If he went too long without food he would act like that. So now I have them on a twice a day schedule, and if there is extra whining I''ll give a little bit as a snack. Other than that-- he still thinks he''s starving to death but slows a bit. Sorry that isn''t much help.