My cat keeps throwing up - not hairballs- just full chunks of food?

This is a common problem with cats who eat dry food. Here is the reason:

Cat's are strictly carnivorous. Without meat proteins, they starve to death. They cannot digest grain proteins well at all.

Most mainstream cat foods have the very minimal amount of meat products. Cats, who are sensitive and require more than the minimum, do what is known as scarf-n-barf, where they eat this stuff and the stomach doesn't recognize this stuff as real food. The stomach rejects that stuff to make room for "real" food.

I have a cat who is like that. I have tried feeding her wet food, which has more meat, but she doesn't like it. Another thing is that cat's who don't like a certain kind of food cannot be starved into eating it. They will literally starve themselves to death, waiting for you to serve them something they recognize as edible food.

Here's what I ended up doing. I went to a pet specialty store. Then I checked the list of ingredients and looked for the ones that had the most meat products and that had their meat products towards the top of the list. Eukanuba (indoor formula) is a very good kind.

Naturally, specialty brands are expensive, so if you're like me and have no relations to Bill Gates, mix the specialty brand with the supermarket brand. I usually scoop one part specialty brand with two parts of the cat-fast-food type stuff. So far, the mixture has been successful with my cat and the carpet is much safer from barf stains.

Good luck. Your cat and carpet will both love you for this!

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RE:

My cat keeps throwing up - not hairballs- just full chunks of food?

She will eat and then 10-30 mins later throw up . It looks like somebody puored out some dry cat food and put a few drops of water on it to slightly moisten. She does this two to five times a month on average. Is she just eating too fast and not digesting? Or could something be wrong?

I think if it was just her eating too fast that she would throw up more often..I am thinking hairballs. It doesn't hurt to give them some generic vaseline off of your finger every day..put some on her nose to let her try it out first and usually they will accept this way.. If you notice some really hard stools in her litter 5 or 6 times a month then it's likely hairballs. Check and see if there's hair in them, then you will know for sure.

She is regurgitating her food. (not be confused with vomiting)

Put a golf ball in the food. She will have to eat around it, and it will slow her down.

Also, look at what kind of feed you are giving. Shape of kibble, quality of food etc. Sometimes you need to play with a few kinds to get the right one for a particular cat. (make sure to give the food time to be accepted...and to mix with the other brand when you are changing; will help cat's tummy)

My cat does this because she was a stray that was rescued. You would think after 5 years she knows she eats better than I do...but old habits die hard.

Good luck

Consider putting her on a better quality diet. Cats will gorge themselves on cheap food because they are trying to get enough nutrition. Also cheap supermarket pet foods can cause allergic reactions in some animals.Try a good quality kitten/cat food. Also, while meatier, better quality cat food may cost a bit more, they get the right nutrients so they actually eat less of it, not to mention that better health means less health issues/vet bills. Cheap food is more expensive in the long run.

Mine do it too.

Most likely they've eaten the food too quickly which has then expanded in the stomach and made them sick. Do you leave food down all the time? If you do, it may encourage your cat to eat little and often, which would stop this happening so much!

have you changed her food? cat allergy sounds to me. Try a different food and maybe you need to wet the dry fod a bit and see if she eats less. She may have had tofight for her food as a baby and that seems to not go away in my experience. You may need to take up her food and feed only in intervals as some of my other cat friends have to do. I would go with allergy of the food first.

I wouldn't be too worried about you can always take her too the vet to have her checked though. It sounds like she is just eating too fast. try giving her little bits of food at a time. See if that works. Or if you moisten her food slightly it will be smoother going down & less chance of it coming up. lol Good luck!

Talk to your vet. Your cat may need a certian type of food,Or is eating too quickly. If she's eating and drinking water regularly you can probably rule out a disease.

sounds like sensitive tummy to me, try Science Diet or some other name brand specially made for cats with Sensitive Tummy problems, it worked for my mothers cat...it MAY still throw up from time to time, but should decrease drastically from what you've got now.