Expert: Ali - 6/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have 3 domestic cats. Two are 8 yrs old and are brothers and one was adopted from the North Shore Animal League about
15 months ago. This one is female.  She is always vomiting all over the house after eating.  We feed all of the cats top quality food such as Royal Canin.  I give them all the lite brand to keep their weight down because they are all getting slightly overweight.  I only feed them once a day.  The bowl I use is a small double bowl so they get enough food to eat.  Can you tell me why the female vomits her food?  Does she eat too fast maybe?  I have tried other foods to see if its the brand but she does it with all of them.

Thx, Debbie in CT

ANSWER: Debbie,

I am a firm believer in the role that good nutrition plays in ensuring longer, healthier lives for our cats. Keep in mind cats are obligate or true carnivores, this means that the bulk of their diet must come from meat, many commercially available cat foods actually contain ingredients that cats can't break down and use because they lack the enzymes needed to do so. Cats have evolved on a diet of small mammals and birds and I think it's best to try and stick as close to nature as we can when providing food for our pets. In my opinion the massive Menu Foods recall was a disaster waiting to happen and it's up to us as loving pet parents to protect our pets by ensuring that they get an appropriate diet - most people are amazed at how much change they see in their cats when they feed their cat with his/her nutritional needs in mind. I would recommend that you consider checking out this website, it's one my vet recommended to me after my oldest cat became a victim of Menu Foods -the address is catinfo.org. This web site was launched by a veterinarian who wants to educate pet parents about the nutritional requirements of cats and how best to meet your cat's needs, this vet also has information and recommendations on topics like basic cat care.

It's not unusual for cats eating many commercially produced pet foods to have difficulty with vomiting/diarrhea - in some cases it's because the manufacturer has changed the ingredients without notice so that they can provide you with the cheapest possible product that is low quality. In some cats vomiting/diarrhea indicates a sensitivity to a chemical, preservative or ingredient in the food. Royal Canin is recognized by some as a high quality food, however feeding a lite food means that there are more grains and cheap fillers used that cats just aren't able to digest/get any nutrition from. There are better options out there in terms of quality and value for your money.

I don't recommend feeding lower quality foods (many cat foods labelled 'All natural', 'Premium', 'Vet recommended', etc are actually low quality) because I don't believe they're properly formulated to meet a cat's complex nutritional needs and beyond that I'm just not convinced that most of these foods are safe to feed our pets since the laws really haven't changed much since the Menu Foods recall. Lower quality diets can increase a cat's chances of becoming obese or overweight because some cats will continue to eat in spite of being full because they feel like something's missing - and often times the cat's right. Manufacturers are using low quality ingredients and they're also trying to use grains/starches as fillers - this isn't appropriate for cats, they're true carnivores which means that in order to be healthy they must eat a meat based diet, not food made mostly from soy or grain. Obesity or being overweight can lead to serious medical problems in cats including heart disease, diabetes, and an increased risk of developing crystals in their urinary tract.

In today's world the convenience of commercial pet foods leads many pet parents to feed their pets canned/dry foods. Pet parents have been told for years that commercially produced pet foods are the only good option for our pets and these products provide the safest, most balanced option in terms of giving our much loved furry family members the best nutrition possible to maintain their overall health throughout our pet's lifetime. Many vets recommend pet foods that are grain or soy based - the problem with that is that cats aren't able to digest their plant based diets so these foods just don't provide our feline companions with what they need in order to live longer, healthier lives.

All cats, regardless of size, species or breed are obligate or true carnivores, this means that all cats must eat a high quality meat based diet. Long before we domesticated cats they had successfully evolved over thousands of years by hunting, killing and eating prey animals. Cats do get small amounts of grains, nuts, vegetable matter and seeds by eating the partially digested stomach contents of their prey, that provides them with vitamins, minerals and fiber to help them stay healthy.

Many pet parents believe that commercially available cat foods are the only option when it comes to providing a cat with the best nutrition, the reality: this just isn't true. Folks say that pets are living longer, healthier lives and they attribute that statistic to the foods that line the shelves of pet supply stores, if that's the case why are vets are seeing increased incidences of renal failure, diabetes, obesity, cancers and other serious problems in mixed and pure bred cats/kittens. My theory about why pets are living longer is twofold, pets aren't allowed to roam freely as they once were which means that the number of animals dying because they've eaten something poisonous or they've been hit by a car is lower than it was many years ago.

The pet food industry has few standards or guidelines to follow in terms of what is and isn't acceptable to put in pet food - this means that companies have been and for the most part still aren't taking responsibility for the quality of ingredients they include in pet food. In my opinion allowing pet food manufacturers to decide what's acceptable without stringent standards dictating the type and quality of ingredients end up in pet food which is somewhat like a cat guarding a bird's nest - bad things can happen quickly. The pet food recall touched our household and has left behind a permanent mark - my eldest resident cat almost lost her life as a result of eating tainted food during the Menu Foods pet food recall.

I was feeding a high quality cat food that was supposedly vet recommended. I learned a heartbreaking lesson the day that my baby girl almost died - just because the label says the food is high quality, premium or vet recommended doesn't mean it's nutritious, species appropriate or even safe. Over the last couple of years my kitty has required ongoing medical care in order to maintain kidney function and I've lived with tremendous guilt caused by the fact that my baby girl has suffered through hospitalization, frequent blood work, and routine injections of fluids under her skin because I fed her food that was poisoned. I've been left with a healthy distrust for the safety of foods manufactured by a poorly regulated pet food industry or anyone else who stands to profit from my fur kids get sick.

You might find that switching your cat over to a commercially available raw diet such as Feline pride or trying out high quality holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients such as Wellness or Spot's Stew alleviates your kitty's diarrhea after several days to a week (the cat's system has to get rid of the junk that's hanging out there). For the moment it's a good idea to give your cat a tbsp or so of plain, organic, unsweetened yogurt twice daily, this will help alleviate the diarrhea because yogurt contains beneficial bacteria normally found in a mammal's healthy digestive tract.

I have included the ingredient list for Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat by Halo so that you can compare the quality of the ingredients with the food you're currently feeding. The ingredient list of Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat is as follows: Turkey, Pea Protein, Whole Dried Eggs, Oats, Pearled Barley, Pea Flour, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Pea Fiber, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Green Beans, Carrots, Cranberries, Zucchini, Alfalfa, Inulin, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Salt, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Bitartrate, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Ribflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.


Feeding cats high quality homemade raw diets, is probably as close to the food they'd be eating if they were given their choice, but it can be expensive to purchase high quality ingredients and the equipment needed to properly prepare the food. I recommend that pet parents who are interested in feeding their cats homemade raw diets do extensive research before diving in. It's good to seriously consider trying a commercially available raw cat food like Feline Pride to see how your cats respond. I only feel safe recommending two brands of commercially produced canned/dry food because I believe these companies are committed to providing a higher quality food than most of the major pet food manufacturers. Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo are high quality holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients, Wellness is designed to be fed as a combination of canned/dry (at least the last time I checked it out) while Spot's Stew can be made up entirely of canned or dry food. Both of these foods are available in canned and dry forms. When my 3 resident cats were just eating Spot's Stew a 6 lb bag lasted about a month or so, the food costs roughly $25 CAN and that breaks down to a cost of about 28 cents per cat each day to feed them a high quality food.

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

QUESTION: How much dry cat food per day should I feed my 3 cats?

ANSWER: Deborah,

I recommend feeding dry food sparingly if at all, because cats aren't really designed to eat dry food - if left to their own devices they'd eat small mammals and birds which don't come in kibble form. If you have trouble switching your cats over to canned/homemade raw diets you can mix small amounts of the new canned/raw food with the kibble they're used to eating and gradually increase the amount of the new diet while slowly reducing the old diet your cats may switch over more easily. If for any reason you must keep feeding dry food I'd suggest feeding 10-15% less than the label recommends because most pet food manufacturers recommend more food than the cats actually need. If you notice that the cat is losing weight you can increase their food, if they gain you can reduce their food further until their weight stabilizes.

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

QUESTION: The one cat still throws up after every meal even with the switch over to the wet food (wellness) formula. Now the mess to clean up is worse They all like the wet food very much though.  Is this something I should seek a vet about?  Is it normal to throw up all the time?

Answer
Debbie,

Since you've just recently changed the food you're feeding your cats and one is still vomiting frequently there are a few things to consider. I would recommend feeding the canned Wellness at body temperature, this may reduce the likelihood that your kitty will vomit after meals. I would also recommend against storing leftover portions of food in the can because the food can take on a metallic smell which may indicate that portions of the metal are leaching into the food, I normally keep them in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap. I don't suggest warming the food in the microwave because it destroys some of the nutrients, the way that I usually warm cold food that's been stored in the refrigerator is to float a ziploc bag with a portion of canned food in it in hot tap water. Once the food's reached body temperature it's ready to serve. If you feel more comfortable heating the cold food in the microwave I'd suggest keeping the power as low as possible and putting the food into the microwave for the shortest amount of time you can.

If the cat who still is having issues normally gets fur balls more frequently than the others and vomits as a result then he may just be responding to having fur balls, if this is the case I'd suggest trying him on 1-2 tbsps of pure canned pumpkin daily to see if that improves things. My middle resident cat, Sooner eats dust bunnies and if he can find some cat hair that's been shed on furniture or in his bed he'll eat it, as a result he often vomits 2-4 times per week. The canned pumpkin will help a kitty who has a hair ball that's causing vomiting or suffers from constipation get things moving through their system more quickly without the use of laxatives or other medications.

Another possibility is that your kitty could still be adjusting to his new diet, sometimes cats who are having difficulties on one specific diet will take some time to settle down once their diet is changed. If you have any reason to be concerned that there may be something else going on with this kitty you can take him to the vet for some blood work and a physical exam to determine whether there's any medical issue causing the vomiting. If your cat routinely eats foreign bodies like dust bunnies his vomiting might be related to ingesting non food items, obviously if the cat's appetite drops off or he develops symptoms including fever, lethargy, pain in the abdomen or just not seeming well then he should receive immediate medical attention.

If your kitty still seems healthy and isn't showing any obvious signs of illness my recommendation would be to give him a week or two and see if things settle down, sometimes it can take awhile for things upsetting a cat's system to leave it, for instance in the case of food allergies or intolerance it's well established that it can take several weeks after isolating and removing the problem food from the cat's diet for the symptoms to stop. Based on my own experience with my eldest resident cat who has food allergies I can confirm that it takes awhile for the cat's health to return to normal - it took my baby girl a little over 2 months. In terms of the vomiting you're seeing it may just mean that your kitty needs a bit of time for his system to work things out.

Provided that there's nothing in your cat's diet or environment that could be causing him to vomit my experience has usually been that the cat should stop vomiting within a short while if the issue is related to a food intolerance or allergy.  I have had the occasional cat that vomits quite frequently when he eats too quickly, a way to combat that would be to take a few minutes and hand feed him his meals slowly. Sometimes cats can become quick eaters because they're worried that they may have to give their meal up to a faster eater or the more dominant cat in a household. You can remedy this by either feeding the cats in different locations or feeding them at different times during the day so that there is only one cat eating at any given point. I've also heard people suggest that placing a couple of extra large marbles in the cat's food and mixing them in will force the cat to eat more slowly because he has to work around them, this isn't a strategy I've ever tried so I can't tell you how well it works based on my experience but provided that you use marbles too large for the cat to swallow I see no reason why it wouldn't be worth trying. Please feel free to update me and let me know how things are going with your cats, I'll be looking forward to hearing whether or not any of these suggestions have helped to reduce or stop your kitty from vomiting after meals.