Gross Cat Question

[Circe]

Cats hork. I know. It''s a fact of life. But at what point should you worry?

My cat is a very fluffy cat. She''s like an animated plush toy. And she throws up A LOT.

At first I thought it was because she was, well, sort of stupid: she was a stray, and she will vomit like a Vegas slot machine if I give her dry food first. I always sort of assumed she was just bolting it too fast. But she''s been trying unsuccessfully to hork up a hairball for two days now (she does the Dying Swan Kitty Pose, shrugs, and wanders away), and just now, even though I gave her wet food first, she basically pulled a Linda Blair and projectile vomited everywhere before proceeding to attempt to eat first my ivy plant and then my cut tulips.

(I did, btw, buy her wheatgrass earlier in the week: wheatgrass which she promptly ignored until it withered.)

So ... thoughts or suggestions? Do you guys think there''s, a) a problem, or enough of the hint of one to see a vet, or do you, b) think I should just feed her some particular brand or dose her with something over-the-counter? If b, suggestions?

 

[Maisie]

Date: 3/24/2010 10:00:51 PM
Author:Circe
Cats hork. I know. It''s a fact of life. But at what point should you worry?

My cat is a very fluffy cat. She''s like an animated plush toy. And she throws up A LOT.

At first I thought it was because she was, well, sort of stupid: she was a stray, and she will vomit like a Vegas slot machine if I give her dry food first. I always sort of assumed she was just bolting it too fast. But she''s been trying unsuccessfully to hork up a hairball for two days now (she does the Dying Swan Kitty Pose, shrugs, and wanders away), and just now, even though I gave her wet food first, she basically pulled a Linda Blair and projectile vomited everywhere before proceeding to attempt to eat first my ivy plant and then my cut tulips.

(I did, btw, buy her wheatgrass earlier in the week: wheatgrass which she promptly ignored until it withered.)

So ... thoughts or suggestions? Do you guys think there''s, a) a problem, or enough of the hint of one to see a vet, or do you, b) think I should just feed her some particular brand or dose her with something over-the-counter? If b, suggestions?

I can''t help at all. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your post!! You have such a wonderful way with words!

 

[dragonfly411]

Date: 3/24/2010 10:19:48 PM
Author: Maisie

Date: 3/24/2010 10:00:51 PM
Author:Circe
Cats hork. I know. It''s a fact of life. But at what point should you worry?

My cat is a very fluffy cat. She''s like an animated plush toy. And she throws up A LOT.

At first I thought it was because she was, well, sort of stupid: she was a stray, and she will vomit like a Vegas slot machine if I give her dry food first. I always sort of assumed she was just bolting it too fast. But she''s been trying unsuccessfully to hork up a hairball for two days now (she does the Dying Swan Kitty Pose, shrugs, and wanders away), and just now, even though I gave her wet food first, she basically pulled a Linda Blair and projectile vomited everywhere before proceeding to attempt to eat first my ivy plant and then my cut tulips.

(I did, btw, buy her wheatgrass earlier in the week: wheatgrass which she promptly ignored until it withered.)

So ... thoughts or suggestions? Do you guys think there''s, a) a problem, or enough of the hint of one to see a vet, or do you, b) think I should just feed her some particular brand or dose her with something over-the-counter? If b, suggestions?

I can''t help at all. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your post!! You have such a wonderful way with words!

What Maisie means is - Hork is the best word I''ve ever heard. Along with Vomit like a Vegas slot machine

Thank goodness for this forum for making me laugh when I need it.

To add something productive, vets have food you can mix into her regular diet that will help with digestion and hairballs.

 

[packrat]

bwhahaha I''m so sorry but I can''t stop laughing!

We finally bought our cats anti hairball food. Neither have thrown up since (that I can recall anyway), and it''s been since Thanksgiving that we switched their food. Part of *our* cats problem stems from the fact that they insist on drinking the water that collects in the bucket from the water heater. It does not matter how much water they have, they drink that nasty crap, and it makes them vomit. We also shave our cats now and again b/c they both have thick plush fur..tho Bella is more like a wooly sow coon. We tried that stuff you put on their paw and they lick it off and it did work somewhat..but shaving them and giving them weird hairdos is way more fun.

You could always call the vet and ask what they think, see if they think it warrants a visit or if they have any suggestions!

 

[Catmom]

I have a hairy beast of a cat that without harball formula food would hork on a daily basis. It''s the only thing that saves me. That and constant brushing so that there are few loose hairs for him to ingest.

 

[lulu]

Try hairball food, hairball treats or some petromalt. Brushing a long haired cat also helps.

 

[bee*]

Definitely try hairball control food-my cat was forever vomiting up hairballs even though he''s a shorthair and he hasn''t vomited once since I switched his food. Also not sure if you guys have it in the US but we have a product called defurrum over here and it works wonders also. I use the two in conjunction with each other.

 

[vespergirl]

I just wanted to mention that I''m having the same problem with my shorthaired cat. I was feeding her the Purina ONE hairball control formula, and it worked quite well.

This time the supermarket was out of it so I tried Purina ONE sensitive stomach formula, and it''s not helping, so I''ll switch back to hairball control.

However, I do notice that it''s right after she eats her wet food that she vomits - Fancy Feast. I think that she eats it too fast. Can anyone recommend a good wet food?

My cat is almost 16, and lost several teeth, so I need a wet food option for her - thanks!

 

[Circe]

I am tickled that you all enjoyed the phrasing. That ALMOST makes it better that she makes a point of doing this as *I* am eating a meal (which, I suppose, is what I get for feeding her first - no good deed goes unpunished). Methinks I will buy her some hairball control food on the way home, and devil take the hindmost (or, in this case, foremost).

Vesper, I use Fancy Feast, too ... wonder if there''s something in it that disagrees with their delicate palates. Then again, much like Packrat''s cat, mine seems to ingest a fascinating variety of stuff-you-wouldn''t think tasted good, so ... YMMV.

 

[rhbgirl24]

hork.... ha....

I agree with what everyone said. Mix a high quality dry and wet food together (think natural: blue buffalo, wellness, even science diet hairball if you cant find anything else.)

Also brush daily and you can supplement with another hairball treatment, like the paste.

 

[Little Monster]

Circe... I''m sure hairballs are a bigger issue at this point, but just wanted to point out that the ivy & tulips your cat is trying to eat are also on a long list of toxic plants for cats... she might be trying to settle her stomach eating plants, or eating them to puke up the hairballs easier... who knows... but just FYI...

here''s a link for the list from the ASPCA: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/plant-list-cats.html

best of luck with the kitty!

 

[Circe]

Little Monster, thanks for the tip! I knew about some of the flowers on the list, but I had no idea tulips or ivy were on there - now, to divest myself of greenery. Also, apparently Suicide Cat strikes again (I''ve posted about this cat having gone through several lives with us already). D''oh!

 

[Little Monster]

Circe,

glad to hear Suicide Cat is doing okay!

Only mentioned the toxic plant issue becuase our cat (sticking his tongue out at you from my avatar) almost killed himself by eating a gigantic bouquet of tulips (massive vomitting, diarrhea, dehydration, etc). I''d never seen him puke once before! Anyway, I enjoy tulips (my favorites!) from afar now

 

[kas baby]

hope your kitty is feeling better. I know this is a different species and all, and I don''t know if cats are allergic to it, but when we had bunnies we gave them papaya tablets as "treats" to help with hair balls and we never had any problems.

 

[Amethyste]

I think your kitty might have food allergies?
Might not be the hairball at all -
The projectile image is what concerns me... What are you feeding her?

When I got my rescued from the SPCA, she did vomit a lot and a lot of hair too... That's because she was licking her hair off cause she was allergic to food, which in turn made her skin itch... It is a vicious circle. She is now on Quail food ( wet ) and the Hills' prescription ( dry ) diet of Duck and green pea. I tried everything for my cat... I spent so much money in food to find one that works. The trick was to introduce her to a protein she never had, so trying to get Quail food is a challenge!!!

I would do some vertical analysis on the matter - to me, it seems that there might be an underlying cause other than the obvious...

 

[HollyS]

Since she''s fluffy, and everything she eats is coming right back up, I''d say she has quite the hairball.

You might need vet assistance.

As for my own cat, she scarfs food like a dog. Doesn''t chew. It''s *chomp, swallow*. The ONLY thing that has helped is to give her Purina Naturals cat food (tiny pieces). We cut out all wet food, and canned tuna. We stay away from anything that seems to have too much ''flavor'' or ''color'', as these make her eat faster, and then upchuck more frequently.

 

[LGK]

Date: 3/25/2010 9:28:10 PM
Author: Circe
Little Monster, thanks for the tip! I knew about some of the flowers on the list, but I had no idea tulips or ivy were on there - now, to divest myself of greenery. Also, apparently Suicide Cat strikes again (I''ve posted about this cat having gone through several lives with us already). D''oh!

My cat is also all about the Bulimia by Plant. My husband occasionally gets me roses. Rat thinks they''re a wonderful edible gift for him, and eats the roses. Rat yaks up the roses, often frighteningly whole. Mmmm. Recycled greenery. Nice! We have to make sure to buy only cat-noshable plants because he *will* eat them, no matter where you try to hide the houseplants. Once we gave him some live wheatgrass. That induced For Reals Bulimia. Eat wheatgrass. Yak up wheatgrass moments later. Eat more wheatgrass. Barf that up. Down some more wheatgrass. And yep, yet more gently used wheatgrass coming back. He did this until he made himself bleed. It was totally sad and ridiculous and now he doesn''t get wheatgrass. I probably should have pried it away from him before he hurt himself with his bulimia fest, but I was kind of frozen in awe/horror. And he seemed to be enjoying it in a rather disgusting way.

My sister got a really fabulous video of her barfer kitty. He had a small esophagus (if I remember that right), and thus if he ate too fast would inevitably return used food at an alarming rate. His very favorite thing to do was to devour his food, puke it, and then re-eat it. Apparently slightly digested was much yummier. She finally videotaped this favorite evening activity of his, much to everyone''s horror. The camera was shaking because she was laughing her butt off the whole time. I think I gagged actually when she showed it to me. She''d seen the process so many times she was totally immune to the ickiness factor I think.

Ah cat puke. It is such a fun fact of life with a cat. I love hardwood floors- so much easier to de-puke. Good luck with your Suicide Cat, Circe. I hope the hairball formula is good for her. I can''t get my guys to touch it- they give me the stinkeye if I so much as try to replace their favorite foods. And they''re both super skinny and one is capable of going on suicidal hunger strikes... last time I tried a food switcheroo, Rat literally gave up eating out of sheer spite until he nearly died. No more food switching for me!