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Expert: - 9/4/2009


Question
Hi there Norm.
I have two long haired sisters about a year old, both are fed in the same way and the same food. One of them has started to be sick after eating sometimes (I'd say once or twice a week, although today she has been sick twice, hence the question!). She hasn't lost weight, seems perky and alert and has no other health problems that we can see. I'm not sure whether it is just down to overeating (we feed them in one big meal and they graze all day) or something more sinister. She does sometimes eat toadstools out of the lawn, so maybe that could be it, but overeating or some other problem seems more likely to me.
I was thinking of starting to give them a few smaller meals to see if this stopped the problem. Do you have any other advice?
Many thanks
Claire

Answer
Claire,

How old are the sisters?  Secondly, do you know whether or not the cat food company changed the formula.  Even though they are sisters, one can be hypersensitive to a food whereas the other may not be (just like siblings in a human family).  Have you had them checked by your vet?  The mushrooms from outside may be suspects in all this, given the regularity of the vomitting!

Smaller meals might be in order.  However, I would check with the cat food company to see if they have changed their formula (these are rarely announced publicly). Some cats do develop a hypersensitivity to some foods as they get older.  These also could be symptoms of a mild pancreatitus (but I am not a vet), which is fairly easy to treat.

Please let me know what your vet says.

Best regards... Norm.  

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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