Cat food advice...

[Sarlon]

So my furchild is 1 year old now...and still addicted to catnip...

but hes been throwing up his food...not constantly enough for me to really worry, but I wonder if its his cat food?

I use purina indoor cat formula, and am currently living on a VERY tight budget. Can anyone give some advice?

[spark]

Hrm. I'm not sure how much you're paying for the Purina... We have our cats on Solid Gold cat food, which is supposed to be very healthy, none of the really icky stuff that gets put in some cat foods. (You'd have to ask my boyfriend for the details, he did most of the research in picking the brand.) Anyhow... it's around $10 for a 4lb, or $25 for a 15lb, which is how we buy it, since we have three cats and it's cheaper that way. (That's the dry food of course. Our cats don't get any wet food save for rare treats.)

Oh, I should add that ours do still barf once in a while. It seems to just be a thing some cats do. One of them horks up hairballs about once a month, one of them barfs for no good reason every now and then, and the third doesn't at all. So changing food may not fix the problem. Or it might, food can be a factor. But it might just be your cat is a barfer.

[Sarlon]

hes a strictly indoor cat, thats why I wanted to find a more indoor dry food formula.

and I think I pay like $10 - $12 for a 15 pound bag

[spark]

Ours are all indoor too. Honestly a lot of the time "indoor" doesn't actually mean much. I believe most indoor foods are just slightly lower calorie because the cat gets less exercise inside. There's no specific thing he needs in an indoor food that normal food doesn't have.

(And see what I edited in above, far as I can tell some cats just... barf. For no real reason.)

[spark]

I just took a quick look around the internet. Have a read here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7152237AABtzoG

Indoor food may actually be bad for your cat, as it can have more filler and less protein.

[Sarlon]

the reason I'm concerned is hes not throwing up hairballs...hes throwing up his cat food with liquids.

[spark]

Yep. As I said, one of mine throws up hairballs, but the other one just throws up. No hairballs, just food. She's not sick, I've taken her to the vet, it's just something some cats do.

I mean... if they're throwing up and never keeping food down, that's something to worry about. But if most of the time they eat fine, and just every now and then they barf, it's not something to be really concerned about.

Here's what the internet has to say on that one again: http://www.best-cat-art.com/feline-vomiting.html

[Kittish]

Keep as close an eye as you can on his eating habits for a few days. Does he bolt down a lot of food very quickly then barf soon after? Or does he just barf at random after having a few bites? How much water is he drinking and when? If it's right after he eats, and he eats more than a few bites, it could be the food swelling when the water gets absorbed is causing him to barf.

If you do notice that he's tending to bolt down lots of food right before he barfs, or is having a large drink right after eating, you might want to start controlling how much food is available to him. Pick up the food bowl after he's had a few bites of food, wait half an hour or so and offer him the food again. Repeat as necessary until the habit of 'nibbling' is established with him. I had to do this with one of my cats. She would gorge herself, then a few minutes later barf it all back up. Took me a few months to get the habit of having just a few bites at a time established for her, and every so often she'd try to go back to the gorging behavior (usually when I oopsed and let the food bowls go completely empty).

Growing 'cat grass' (which is usually rye grass) for him might also help with the barfing problem. I'd go with that plus a high quality food over any 'indoor' food. You can get little kits for growing the grass, or make your own with a shallow bowl or tray and some potting soil. Just watch out for fertilizers and such in the potting soil if you make your own.

If these don't help with the barfing, or if it gets worse or more frequent, then a visit to the vet is in order. There might be a serious medical condition going on, or an allergy or sensitivity to some ingredient in his food.

[taxguykarl]

We had a tabby who could not keep anything down except Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula.

[candyshopgirl]

My pom chi can't eat kibbles and bits at all,she pukes everytime.But she handles beneful great. My suggestion is to buy something like 9 lives.I've always had luck with it for my two cats. Animals are like us,some can't eat certain things.

[protege]

Baxter occasionally barfs after eating. Mainly, because of how he eats. Like most Maine Coons, he sometimes wolfs down his breakfast. Too much too quickly, means that he barfs. Doesn't happen very much though. Sally on the other hand...takes her time, and doesn't at all.

I do know that milk is actually bad for some kitties. Water is actually better--much less chance of it coming back up.

[MaggieTheCat]

I have a kitty and my boyfriend has two kitties. My kitty never ever ever throws up -- he's almost 3 years old now, and I think he's only ever thrown up once in his life. My boyfriend's kitties throw up more often. Not enough for us to be concerned, just occasionally. Sometimes it's shortly after they eat, sometimes it's completely random. We don't think much of it unless they start doing it frequently -- in which case you better get them to a vet pronto, 'cuz cats can get dehydrated really fast if they're not eating/drinking or, worse, throwing up a lot in a short amount of time.

Also, yeah, cow's milk is generally bad for dogs and cats. Boyfriend's one cat LOVES LOVES LOVES milk, but he gets really really sick when he drinks it, so we don't let him have it, not even a slurp. Once I accidentally left a cereal bowl out with some milk left in it. Cat drank a bit of it and promptly threw up all over the couch. I was pissed! Learned my lesson, though. Cats are generally lactose intolerant, so they'll either throw up or get diarrhea from cow's milk. Thankfully, there is a type of milk that we can get at the pet store that is lactose free and designed for cats and dogs that can't have cow's milk. Boyfriend's cat loves it as much as he loves regular milk, and it doesn't bother him at all.

As far as cat foods go, the general rule of thumb is to look for something in which the first 2-3 ingredients listed is some kind of meat. If there are a lot of fillers listed first (corn, rice, anything like that) then the cat won't get enough protein. Of course, we also just found out that boyfriend's other cat has kidney disease, and she has to be on a LOW protein diet, but that's another story. Cats, in general, need high protein, so at the very least, the first ingredient listed should be meat. Preferably the first 2-3 ingredients. All foods will have some fillers like corn or rice in them, just try to avoid the ones that have those listed first.

[Gravekeeper]

Mine horks food back up from time to time. But its just because she occasionally wolfs things down too fast. Especially cat treats.

She never horks up hairballs though, oddly enough.

[Eric the Grey]

I've never noticed my kitties wolfing down their food, except the larger one, who will wolf down canned meat. I don't give them very much of that though, so who knows.

I have found that food can play a role in this however. The food I've found that works best for my furballs is call "The Goodlife Recipe" They throw up much less with this than with any other dry food. Note, there are some negative reviews of this brand, but from what I've read, and how my kitties respond to it, I've discounted them. Choose for yourself.

One thing to be aware of, if you are going to try to find one that works. Be careful of quickly changing their diet, as it can make things worse. Mix the old and new brands gradually until you've weened them over to the new brand completely, to ease the transition. It'll be better for them if you do.


Eric the Grey

[Geek King]

She never horks up hairballs though, oddly enough.

I would posit that you just haven't found them yet. Somewhere there is a secret stockpile for you to find. Probably in the dark with a bare foot.