I recently put my cat on a steady diet, controlling her portions, but now she vomits after eating to fast.

Question

I took away her bowl FULL of food, and started measuring out meals. She gets so excited now at meal time that she INHALES her food, and then throws up. I don't want her to be a chubby, unhealthy cat... but she throws up her entire stomach contents! I have plenty of toys around for her to play with when I am not home, and I play with her when I am home.... any thoughts? The vet doesnt seem worried.

Answer 1

blondie got the right way of reducing her food but I do feel that dry food is never appropriate when it comes to helping your cat eat better. Dry food is beneficial to the cat owner, in which it is easy to serve but it brings little to no benefit to your cat's overall health and well being. Contributor Ken has a lot of wonderful links to sites which will inform you on why your cat really needs to eat a diet of exclusive wet/can. If you do feel like you would want to switch, now is a good time since you are trying to portion control your cat's meal instead of free feeding.

I will help you to transition if you are interested to find out how.

Figuring how to feed a cat depends on the age, activity level and health status of your cat. I will address your concern by giving you advise base on the assumption that your cat is generally healthy and have no special dietary or medical needs.

If you have been feeding your cat dry food around the clock with a food dispenser, the first thing to do is to stop slowly. Kibble addict resist changes and it's not a good way to cut them off dry immediately. They are used to the smell of dry kibble - where food manufacturer trick their senses with addictive coating to entice them to eat. Also, your cat is used to the crunchy texture of dry kibbles and will resist eating wet.

What you need to do is a gradual transition - introduce her to wet food slowly. Start off with a mixture of what she is eating now and mix it with the wet food.

If your cats eat both wet and dry, you can eliminate the dry almost immediately. On the other hand, if they are kibble addicts, you need to go slow. Feed more times, less quantity because kibble addicts are used to having food around 24/7 (if you free fed).

A normal healthy and active adult weighing at about 6-8lbs would need about 6oz of wet food a day. For kibble addicts, you need to upped the number of feedings at the beginning but each time, serve only a smaller portion. Since they are used to eating all the time, you can try feeding them up to 6 times a day. This is just a very extreme recommendation because once your cat has established a wet food appetite, you can greatly reduced the number of feeding and increase the quantity.

Once you got your cat to eating wet food, you can now feed either 2-3 times a day. Always monitor your cat's reaction to the food. If after four weeks or so, you find that your cat seems to have grown a little more chubbier, reduce and the opposite is correct if she seems to be hungry at all times.

Sometimes, when switching to all wet using scheduled and portion control feeding method cat owners feel bad when they see their cats begging for more food. Resist the temptation to give in. Cats can very well go a few long hours without eating. Stick to your routine. But never starve a cat into eating.

The decision to switch to wet food is the correct one and I am glad that you have taken a step forward in ensuring your cat gets all the proper nutrition and species appropriate food.

Answer 2

erm

it could just be hairballs

try giving her fresh grass to eat (which helps the cats stomach) or buy the malting medicine, which she can eat

also, try a different vet in case its the cats stomach

Answer 3

well keep a little food out always so she wont be so hungrey and not eat so fast

Answer 4

This happened with my cat, so what I did was when he started gulping down his food I would pull him away from the food and give him a little smack. Also, I would only give tiny portions at one hour intervals because my cat didn't work with me telling him off! Unfortunately if you live with housemates they will do things like leave food out, so I suggest talking to them about leaving out food if you live with housemates! If all else fails, switch vets because he or she should have advice which doesn't leave you answering online! That's what the experts are there for right?

Answer 5

well i think that you mite be giving her something that she ant have of just give her little at a time and not just a whole boll at once and the cat should be limited on how much t eats od just call an animal shelter

good luck hope your cat feels better

Answer 6

Two ideas:  One is to put large marbles in with her food so she has to slow down to eat it.  I read this somewhere.  I don't claim it's a great idea - but it's an idea.  Perhaps someone else can comment on it.

A better idea is to remove the dry food and replace it with wet.  If you do that you can feed more and so perhaps the excitement of actually getting food will die down some.

From my blog:

Why do cats get fat? It can be a combination of issues, or just one. First the obvious - overfeeding. This may happen either because you're giving in to the begging or because you're free-feeding (keeping food available all day) and your cat is not self-regulated. The second reason is feeding inappropriate, low-quality food (most dry foods). The third would be medical reasons I'm not qualified to discuss, but they're rare. Most cats are fat simply because they're fed the wrong food and are fed too much.

Is it bad for cats to be overweight? Of course! It's very bad. It often leads to diabetes, not to mention that fat cats probably don't feel very cat-like. Who would when dragging around extra pounds?

Why is dry food bad? With very few exceptions, dry food is not appropriate food for cats. It's chock full of carbs/sugar, doesn't provide enough meat-based protein, and is often loaded with grains such as wheat or corn (which provide those carbs/sugars). Wheat, corn and soy are known allergens and in many cats will cause digestive upsets. Not to mention most also contain "meal" and "byproducts." Cats are obligate carnivores who need to eat a diet high in protein (from meat) and fat and very low in carbs. The mouse is the perfect cat food - meat, organs and bones, with perhaps a tiny bit of grains that may exist in the mouse's stomach. In addition, dry food leaves cats dehydrated. They do not instinctively drink enough water because they're designed to get it IN their food. This results in concentrated urine which can lead to all sorts of problems. And it DOES NOT CLEAN THE TEETH! Really - think about - does dry food clean OUR teeth? If it did wouldn't dentists prescribe cookies instead of brushing?

What should cats eat? Cats should eat a species appropriate diet which very much resembles Atkins (Catkins). A raw diet is the very best, so long as it's properly supplemented to meet a cat's nutritional needs. There are many raw feeding forums available through Yahoo Groups that one can join to learn more. The next best choice is a good quality canned food (or even a commercially prepared raw diet such as Nature's Variety). These foods will have meat listed as the first ingredient, will not contain corn, wheat or soy, may include organ meats, and will not list "meal" or "byproducts." See the What to feed link for suggestions. Additionally, the brand By Nature Organics is a very good food, and at 150 calories per 6oz can, is a very good choice for weight loss.

What about supplements for weight loss? The addition of L-Carnitine to a cat's diet may assist with weight loss. 250-500 mg per day can be added to assist with weight loss. It is probably best to start with a lower dosage until you see how your cat reacts.

How much should my cat lose?  If possible, have your vet set a target weight for you.  But if your cat is obviously obese you don't need to do that before getting started.  In fact, if you're feeding dry food currently it's also a good idea to make the switch as soon as possible, even if only a few pounds need to be lost.  You can also consult this chart to get an idea of how overweight kitty might be:  http://www.placervillevet.com/feline%20b...  

How soon will I see results? Cats need to lose weight slowly, at the rate of no more than 1 pound per month, and often less. This is because rapid weight loss may cause hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) which can be fatal.

Why is this info different from what my vet told me?  Many vets haven't been properly trained in feline nutrition.  They may attend basic small animal classes, but the only cat-specific training they receive is sponsored by Hills.  Not surprisingly, they are taught to reach for a bag of Hills __/d when a cat presents with a particular problem (k for kidney, d for diabetes, etc.).  I am not a nutritionist but I've gathered this information from people who DO know what they're talking about.  (See links below).

So what should I do?  The solution is to switch the fat cat (and any others in the household as well) to a good quality grainless canned food (or research raw feeding). Because these foods are species appropriate, the cat will lose weight at a safe, slow pace (no more than 1 pound per month). Switching foods needs to occur slowly, and if you're trying to get a kibble junkie to eat canned food, that will happen naturally.

How much should my cat eat?

This varies. Average cats may eat between 20-30 calories per pound per day. But note that that is IDEAL pounds. Using 25 calories per day for example, an 8 pound cat could eat 200 calories per day. By the same token, a cat who weighs 20 pounds but should weigh 10 could eat 250 calories per day. You multiply the ideal weight by the calories to arrive at that figure. When working toward weight loss, it's perhaps best to start at the lower end of the scale (20).

How do I find out how many calories are in cat food? See the link "Values in canned food." If it's not listed there, you'd need to contact the manufacturer.....I believe that link provides some help there as well.

How will I know it's working?  Because this takes time you probably won't "see" any results for quite a while.  You may not even be able to feel them.  If dragging kitty off to a clinic to be weighed once a month is not an option, then you might want to consider buying a baby scale.  The best scale will also list ounces in addition to pounds, so you can really see what's happening.  But if that's not an option, just jump on the human scale yourself and note your weight.  Add cat and repeat.  Then do the math.

That's all there is to it!  Not only will fat cats lose weight, but it and any others in the home will reap many benefits of eating a speciies appropriate diet.

See the links below for detailed information on this topic.

UPDATE: Sophie lost 2 pounds in a year following this plan.  She was already at a healthy weight but the new diet fine tuned her.  Poppy lost 5 pounds the first year which wasn't bad.  The following year when I switched her from canned to raw she gained back a few pounds but that was due to a number of different factors - all of them user error on my part!  But she's almost back down to where she was, and THEN it's only 4 pounds to go!

Answer 7

If you reduced her food portions too quickly or all of a sudden, that might be why she's gulping her food.  If she feels like she's not getting enough, she's feeling starved.  Besides, it's very bad for a cat's health to go on a diet suddenly -- their livers can't handle the sudden change, the way humans can handle starting a diet suddenly.  It's recommended, when trying to get a cat to lose weight, to decrease the portions very gradually.  Just an example -- if you've been feeding one cup of food per day, reduce it to 7/8 cup per day for one week, then continue reducing the portions gradually until you reach the desired amount of food per day.  The idea is to keep the weight loss slow but steady -- too quickly can cause liver damage.  Your vet should have told you this, so if I were you, I'd find another vet.

Answer 8

Try keeping a bowl set out, but only pour a certain amount total per day.  

Answer 9

Starving her is not the answer. feeding diet potato chips isn't the answer either. The answer is to feed appropriate food to the species which means no kitty crack





Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 10

if you are taking her off of a diet where she constantly has food available you should measure down her food little by little until she is eating the right amount...that way she and her body can get used to less food...its not healthy for animals to have a sudden diet change...

Answer 11

OMG i think you need to get her to a doctor. O_O