Conference misery::feline

    Just an update.  I went and got some Iams tonite which Alex scarfed down. 
    He ate about 1/2 a cup and so far so good.  I haven't found any
    surprises yet!  I also got some Petromalt and dosed all of them again,
    because I noticed that the Kat-a-Lax had expired.  I hope this helps
    him.
    
    Karen

    Karen,
    
    Sometimes it is the food that makes them throw up.  Taja, my Siamese
    mix, will barf if he eats too much supermarket canned food like
    nine-lives and whiskas.  He and T.K. are my only shorthairs and they
    are the ones who puke the most.  Petromalt usually takes care of it.
    
    -Roberta
    

    Another possibility is color additives in foods.  For this reason I
    switched to Iams many years ago for one of my cats.  She will still
    throw up occasionally, but much less so.  I also find that if she comes
    in from outside, when it is cold, and eats immediately she often loses
    it!  I guess the temperature change affects her.  Hope your kitty is
    better. 
    
    -Judy Woo

My vet recommended Tender Vittles (any flavor) for Hannah.  She was eating 
Iams and 9-lives canned and was heaving a couple of times a week.  For about the
last 3 weeks she's been eating TV dinners (and as much of Simon's Kitten Iams
as she can get) and has only heaved once, after I offered her a couple pieces of
shrimp (on Christmas).

The vet mentioned that TV's seem to work for cats that have 'sensitive' 
stomachs.

In Hannah's case, I knew that it wasn't that she was madly inhaling her food -
she picks.  If it wasn't for the fact that she is now two and a half years old,
you could almost swear that this cat doesn't eat enough to keep her alive!

    None of my guys will touch Tender Vittles.  So far so good.  Alex ate
    this morning and still hasn't thrown up.  I'd been feeding them Purina
    Cat Chow (for a couple of years now) but it looks like it is time to go
    back to the Iams.  Cleo is my finicky eater and turns her nose up at
    just about everything so making this switch back isn't going to be
    easy.
    
    Karen

re: .0

I noticed two interesting things here: he's not chewing his food, and he's
eating grass.  

Have you watched him eat?  Is he madly scarfing down his food?  Our cat
is a complete pig and eats as fast as she can.  Oftentimes she'll make
herself sick because she eats too much too quickly.  I think maybe he's
eating grass because he's still hungry, or because it makes his stomach
feel better (repeated vomiting, I imagine, would make a cat's stomach
as tense as a human's).

If he is scarfing down his food, try feeding him less food, but feed
him more times a day.  Also, chop up his food with a spoon or fork
as you feed him.  I've also found that spreading the food around a 
large dish makes our cat eat more slowly.

We do those things with our cat when she goes on one of these binges,
and it seems to settle her down.

Nevertheless, if you're concerned or if things don't improve, the vet
is the only person who can really say for certainty what you should do.

/chris

    I feed them dry food only.  Alex is pretty private with his habits.  I
    rarely see him eat.  Last night I was surprised to see him eat the Iams
    in front of me because he likes to be left alone when he eats.  He
    doesn't like the other 3 to be around him when he either eats or uses
    the litter box.  He doesn't really like the other three, period! :-) 
    Today he hasn't thrown up once, so that's good news.  It's the first
    time in over a week.  
    
    Karen

    Well, everything was going pretty good.  I got everyone but Cleo
    transitioned over to IAMS and I've been giving them Petromalt once a
    week.  Alex was doing wonderfully until this morning and now he is
    throwing up the IAMS.  I'm going to watch him over the weekend and if
    he is still throwing up, I'll take him to the vet on Monday.  I'm
    wondering if there could be a genetic problem with his digestive
    system.  When he was a kitten I held him back from selling him because
    he was all skin and bones, for awhile I thought I would have to put him
    to sleep he looked so pathetic.  By the time I got him fattened up he'd
    stolen my heart and I couldn't sell him.  He has always been on the
    thin side, sometimes he's too thin, especially when you compare him to
    his sister and litter-mate Skeeter (who was born overweight and will
    always be overweight!)  Do any of you know of any genetic or birth
    defects in the digestive system of cats?
    
    Karen

    I'm just guessing but the word hernia came to mind.  Has he been
    X-rayed?
    
    Giudi

    No, he hasn't been x-rayed.  I felt along his tummy this morning and
    there doesn't seem to be anything abnormal that I could feel and he
    didn't look at me like I was nuts.  There weren't any tender spots
    either or he would've jumped.  I'm kind of wondering if he has a string or
    something in his tummy.  I guess a trip to the vet is in order, huh?
    
    Karen

    I seem to recall in one of the James Herriot books, some sort
    of birth defect that interfered with eating, that was surgically
    correctable....
    

    Ah, I remember that story mentioned in .10.  It was pyloric stenosis I 
    think.  This is when the pyloric opening (between the stomach and small
    intestine) is too small or blocked.  Projectile vomiting right after
    eating was the symptom.

    If he had a string, I would expect more acute symptoms.  I had two
    cats operated on for blockages last year.  The first was about 24 hours
    away from death when I got him (adopted him), and at that point he had
    not eaten, drunk or gone to the bathroom in 5 days.  The vet said he
    was "classically blocked".  His symptoms extremely very tender stomach, 
    bad dehydration, along with not eating, etc.

    In the second cat's case (this is poor Spike, who now has eye
    problems), he had swallowed a string.  He was very definitely sick,
    refused to eat and kept throwing up bile anyway.  He was also extremely
    depressed, and was getting very dehydrated.  His stomach was not as
    tender as a textbook blockage )as my vet said, they don't usually read
    the books ;-) ) but it was very clear that something was seriously
    wrong.  We knew it was a string when he threw up part of it.

    I guess what I am trying to say is that in the two cases I saw, the
    symptoms were very acute, and I think you would havbe seen more severe
    symptoms by now.  So I hope your cat doesn't have a blockage (they are 
    expensive).
    
    Let us know what the vet says...
    
    Sue B. + Smokey, Spike & Trouble
    
    p.s. have you noticed anything in the stools?  That might tell you if
    he ate something funny.

    
    	Hi, I'm kinda new to cats ( Spring 91 model ). Mittens has 
    	been a pretty good pet, lately ( 3 times in the last 2 weeks )
    	he's barfed. twice well after he's eaten and today immediately
    	after he had some Friskey's Seafood surprize... I noticed this
    	morning the morsels were complete ( like they just came out
    	of the can ) I surmised cats must not chew their food?? 
    	reading this note seems like cats are just wierd. 
    
    	Should I be concerned about Mittens blowing lunch? take him to the
    	Vet? He's an indoor cat, with occassional escapes to go get stuck in a
        tree. %^) 
    
    	The food was refrigerated over night, perhaps cats don't like
    	cold food? We give him 1 can a day, half in the morning/ half
        night. Some how we skipped half a day and the can is opened
    	at night and finished in the morning... Should I open
    	the can in the morning and leave it at room temp ( covered w/cap )
    	until night time ( will it spoil and get omeba's and other gross
        bugs ) We're a ninety's family, rushing home at 6 and whipping
    	out supper/ bath / and to bed .... 
    	                               Signed,
    					  frantic about feline 

    Yes, it is a good idea to serve food at room temperature or warmed a
    bit in the microwave instead of straight from the fridge to the bowl.
    
    Mittens could have hairballs due to grooming and ingesting hair.  It
    builds up in the intestinal tract and can cause problems if it can't
    pass through.  Try swabbing some vaseline on his lips (some cats will
    lick it off your finger) or buy a product made specifically for the
    elimination of hairballs like Petromalt, Femalt, or Laxatone.  These
    products come in tube form with instructions on how much to administer. 
    They are also extremely palatable.  My boys lick in straight from the
    tube.
    

    If your cat doesn't like the taste of the Petromalt, put a small dab on
    the top of his food.  This is what we do for our two new cats because
    neither of them like the taste of the cat lax but they love the taste
    of food, especially Chubs.   (I always thought cats went bonkers over
    this stuff cause Lea loves it and goes nuts when she sees the tube in
    my hand - it's the only time she's ever nice to me!)  

    This does sound like hairballs.  I actually follow the same food
    schedule you do without much of a problem, although I find the
    cats like the food better if I zap it for a very short time
    (8 seconds, no kidding) in the microwave after its been in the
    frig.  Th etime probably varies depending on how much of teh
    waves the dish soaks up.  I wouldn't leave unrefrigerated food
    out for hours.  Has Mittens had his normal vet visits for shots and
    stuff like that?
    

    Hi, Yes Mittens has had all his shots. I'll give some of these
    remedies a try, thanks alot, dean
    

    I've been watching Alex over the last few weeks and as long as I give
    him Petromalt a least once a week, he doesn't seem to have any problems
    with throwing up.  If I forget and go a couple of days past a week, he
    starts throwing up again.  He's still not chewing his food and I'm kind
    of wondering if he has a tooth problem.  I'm reluctant to take him to
    the vet because of finances at the moment and as long as what I'm doing
    is working I won't.  I'm really beginning to think that he has a problem 
    with hairballs because he is the one that sheds the most (and he sheds
    ALOT). 
    
    Karen  

    Would worms cause throwing up?  Would they be visible if so?  Can
    the type of worm be detected in the stool test?
    
    I'm certain Nippa throws up because of hairballs, however, I can't help
    but wonder if it due to something else......parasites....

    When we were having such a hard time with Roundworms...a few
    of my cats threw up and had visible live worms.  Yuck..
    
    Sandy

    Sandy-
    
    When you noticed the `present' was it fresh?  I always find it hours
    later.  How was their coat texture?  Nippa's is good, shiney, and she's
    not really shedding....which kinda leads me to believe she's got
    something other than round worms.   I think I'll call the vet....
    
    M

    yes...it was fresh...but I did find some not so fresh stuff that
    had dead worms in it!!   There were never any other signs of
    problems such as dull coat...we never even saw the worms in
    the stool.
    
    Good luck with Nippa.....
    
    Sandy

Sweetie had that problem once.  He did have roundworms.  And when he threw
up, you could actually see the worms in the "present".  This "present" was
as fresh as could be as I was there when he threw up (in the car of course!!).

So, I guess the answer is, yes if your baby does have worms, you can actually
see them in the throw up.  

Holly

    hmmm...I haven't seen any worms, I'm gonna ask the vet if is possiblt
    that she have them and if it would hurt her to de-worm her (I know it's
    poision) just in case.  SHe's had round worms before, and I though we
    rid her of them.  
    
    Would she have the distended belly?
    
    

    Michele...not in all cases does the belly distend.  Would it
    be possible to just bring a stool sample to your vet for him
    to verify.  Normally when we have one cat diagnosed with roundworms..
    my vet suggest deworming all of them.  
    
    Since my cats are indoor/outdoor kitties...I keep a bottle
    of Nemex II liquid at home..
    
    
    Sandy