Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 7/28/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello. I adopted two senior male cats about a week ago (both 8 years old was the shelter's best estimate). I already had one senior cat, so now I have three. One of the adopted cats keeps vomiting immediately after he eats. I DID take him to the vet just this past Monday for a physical examination and blood work. He does not have an intestinal obstruction and his kidneys and thyroid are functioning normally. The vet prescribed 1/2 of a 10mg Pepcid AC daily to help with stomach acidity, but it's not working. I've also tried sitting with him and comforting him as he eats and keeping the other cats away in an effort to reduce stress. A few months ago, he got a URI at the shelter and lost weight. He is better now, but needs to put the weight back on. He WANTS to eat, but can't keep it down 2 out of 3 times. He's active, uses the litter box normally, and acts content most of the time. I don't know what else to do! Please help. Thank you.

ANSWER: Well he is stressed Nicole, but did you also change his food as well? This will also cause vomiting.
You should get some prescription food like I/D at the vets for him to eat during this transition period and that will settle his stomach. It is a bland food but is highly nutritious and should help.

Vomiting after eating is regurgitation and it is usually stress related if all other issues are ruled out such as kidney failure etc. So it's either the stress, the food or he is scared that he won't get enough food. You might also want to get a can of A/D which is a more pasty form of food for cats that are recovering from surgery and other stresses and see if that will help his weight issue.

I can't really add more than your vet told you. The Pepcid doesn't work because his stomach might not be the issue at all, unless the food is irritating it. What are you feeding him? What did he eat at the shelter and how long was he there?

He must be getting some food into him self or he wouldn't be using the litter box much at all!


I hope he gets past this soon but you still might want to pick up some dry or canned I/D for him.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again. Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly! I really appreciate it. I did not change his food. The shelter gave me two bags of the same food that they were feeding him (Science Diet Optimal Care). He was there for two months. We did not necessarily rule out Inflammatory Bowel Disease at this point since that would require a biopsy. For the stress, I could try feeding him in a separate room away from the other cats. If that doesn't help, I could try a more bland diet. Maybe it's IBD or a food allergy. He won't even touch canned food at all. I've tried different brands, from the "junk" food to the natural, holistic brands. He sniffs it and walks away and goes for the dry stuff (which he then throws up).

Answer
Well the one thing he doesn't need is his food being changed. Since he is on the best food he could be, You could try and wait it out or get some of the I/d for the next few weeks. If it helps and he stops regurging then you can slowly switch him back to the old food. My question is, did he vomit or regurgitate at the shelter?

Food allergies are uncommon and usually manifest with skin rashes, breakouts, itching etc. Diarrhea and vomiting follow. A food intolerance is different. If he didn't vomit from this food at the shelter then that isn't the issue.

I would call them and ask if he did. Try the I/d for a few weeks and see how he does.