Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is not a recent problem, more like a 13 year and counting problem and its coming to a head. His name is Gump (Forest Gump), short blue hair cat, possibly with blue russian in him, I know most say that about any blue/grey cat, he doesn't look like a pure-bred russian, but has like 4/5 features of the russian. Anyways...

For most of his life he has had a vomiting problem. At random times moments after he eats, he will vomit the food up (which isn't too bad since its just chewed up food). He can sometimes go weeks or months without doing this, and then he'll have a spell and do it for a week.

I cannot say if he is over eating, he has grown skinny in his old age but nothing dramatic, his weight has been steady for the last several years. Never seen blood in the vomit, so there isn't major damage being done to his throat & tubage. The vomit itself as said is typically food he just ate, for the most part he eats dry food, so its just soggy cat food.

But since he has been doing this for 13 years, its starting to get on people's nerves, including mine unfortunatly. He has the habit of getting on furniture when he does this, such as my bed, kitchen table, the area rug in my room (of course not the easily clean wooden floor).

So...anyone have any suggestions on maybe stopping this habit? Cause the dreaded words of "he's had a good life, maybe its his time" has been said. Of course I won't put him down until he truely has a major problem, but maybe I can solve the problem.

If the cat has not been checked out by a vet, you might want to do so, although since this is a long-term problem, I'll bet it's been addressed.

Good luck! I hope some other folks have more ideas for you!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Hi,

First you have to try and find out if there is a physical reason for the increase in vomiting. Senior cats are at high risk for several health issues that can cause vomiting, such as kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and inflammatory bowel disease.
From there you talk to your vet about treatment options, if any.

It may be as simple as your kitty no longer being able to digest the same food, but it's impossible to say without a vet check.

Please take your kitty in and let us know how it goes.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Do check with the vet.

At 13 and otherwise being perfectly healthy, he has not lived a good long life and it is nowhere near time to put him down. Many indoor cats live to 17 and 18.

If he is healthy (and probably a good chance since this has been going on for years and is tied into eating), there is a good chance simply elevating the food dish will help him a lot. One of my cats had this same problem. He'd vomit after eating. Raising his food dish helped 100%.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

You can find elevated food dishes in pet stores or online. They kind of look like a mini tray with the dishes built in to them -- dishes on legs. If you do get a double sided one, keep food and water separate. Keep just food in the elevated one or you will probably have more mess. Cats tend to like food and water in separate locations.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

I am a brand new member here----this will be the very first post I have responded to. I had a male short-haired Tabby for 12 years when he was sent to Rainbow Bridge because he had Renal Failure.(March 8th of this year) But his entire life he vommitted just like this cat. I had him tested by two different Vets who could find no reason for it, other than he was a "pig" and gulped his food too fast. Most likely due to the fact that he was taken from his mother too soon. (he was a meer 4 weeks old when the neighbor gave him to me).....But I am very much intrigued by the fact that raising the food dish helps this! This is the one thing I had never heard of! FASCINATING to say the least! Also, by a "larger" kibble size, could you recommend a cat food that has large kibbles? I feed my three cats, (soon to be 4 once again) Iams and also Friskies Chefs Blend. I will be getting another kitten as soon as it turns 10 weeks old and should this male have the same problem, I want to be WELL informed this time! Thanks so much!

I can't think of a large kibble food off-hand. Just try raising the food dish for chronic vomiting and see if this helps. Some people have put rocks in the cat food dish to slow down the gulping, but this seems to me to be an open invitation to dental problems.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Thank you all for the replies, and sorry for the delay in my reply (truck driver, we work loooong hours). Since Gump my 13 year old's problem was random, I waited until he had another episode, and began the "raise food dish" method. So far so good. I'll reply if he decides my rug needs another cleaning.