Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 9/26/2008

Question
Hi there,
I have two male cats, one of which we took in from outside when he was a kitten.  He's now over a year old, but the problem lies with the older of the two.  He's throwing up completely undigested food probably once a week.  It started around the time the other cat became older than 6 months.  I've read from many sites that he could be eating too fast.  I assumed he wants to make sure his younger friend doesn't get to it.  I haven't changed his food or how much he gets.  Only thing different is, I gave them each a bowl after the upchucking began so there was no quarreling.  Why would he still be throwing up?  Could it be his age?  Like I said he was fine before the other one came along.  He's also going on 9-10 yrs old.

Answer
Hi
my own cat had this problem a few years ago. And it was due to the fact that she was eating too fast. we combat this by giving her smaller portions more more meals so that she didn't fill up too much. we also got her teeth checked and it turned out she had some bad teeth which meant that she was gulping her food rather than chewing. After having the teeth removed she improved although we had to add dry crunchy food to the wet to encourage her to chew. after a while she settled down again and the throwing up stopped.

Get his teeth checked and if they are Ok try adding dry food to smaller meals to see if encourages him to chew. Also feed him on his own without the other cat being around so that he doesn't feel under pressure.

best wishes Kate
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