occasional vomiting

by Natalie
(Twin Cities)

Hi again, Donna,

One of our cats (male, neutered, 1.5 years) is a big boy at 14 pounds. He's always LOVED eating but occasionally eats too fast and later will cry a deep moan, run into the basement (the litter box area) and HURL. It happens maybe once every couple of months and tonight, all of his undigested food was in several piles in the basement. We give all four of our cats Natural Balance (dry and wet) and none of the others vomit.

Voltaire seems well otherwise (he's the most active and has the best appetite of any of the cats). It's been a half- hour since he vomited and he's resting in my laundry basket of clean clothes (of course) and he sneezed too! So I'm wondering if he has a cold and if that could be contributing to his tummy upset.

Other than the occasional vomiting, he seems fine (and I do tend to be hyper-vigilant when it comes to their health) I was wondering if I should get him into the vet soon? Or is there some other natural remedy I can try with him.

thanks again Donna.

Best,
Natalie

RESPONSE:

You don't mention any diarrhea so I will assume his stools are nicely formed. If this is the case, the most likely culprit for causing the vomiting right after eating is gastritis, an inflamation/irritation of the stomach lining. This is very common in cats. Our own Charlie has this same problem and he only eats raw, homemade food!
Try Happy Tummy by Spirit Essences (click the link on the left). We have used this with Charlie and it works well. Also, make sure you give him a hairball remedy routinely, especially as the weather warms up and molting begins.
You may also want to try feeding him less at mealtimes and supplement his diet with snacks/treats to satisfy his need to eat. Feeder balls work great for this. (You can find them in our Cat Supply Store)
Dry food tends to irritate the stomach more but once his tummy improves he should be able to tolerate it fine.
Keep in mind that cats tend to vomit easily so this is not an uncommon problem and does not always signal a serious illness. However, that being said, a vet visit never hurts, especially if you are worried. After all, you know him best!
Let us know how it goes!

Donna
House Full Cats Mom