Why is my cat throwing up hard cat food?

Grazyna

I have tried several brands of cat food (grocery store brands) even the "hairball" kind and my indoor cats (especially one of them) regularly throw up the hard food almost whole. Any suggestions why and how to help them? Thanks!



Jolene

Sounds like my old cat who did that all the time. She was a bit greedy and didnt know when to stop and rarely chewed her food. Vet told me her teeth were bad and it was hurting when she ate so she found it hard to chew. If she is an inside cat, pick some grass (no seeds). This will help if she has a hairball that is a bit stuck. It can sometimes take a week to get up a stubborn hairball and the food always come up first. The grass should help the hairball come up, or pass through. You can buy hairball wet food, usually from the vet. will only take a couple of small cans to help her.



Andrea

First off, never soak dry food in water, this is a sure fire way to breed bacteria. Second, dry food is a very bad diet for a cat to be on exclusively. It causes kidney problems and dehydration, and cats dont "chew" the way that we do. Their teeth are designed to rip and tear food. Try feeding wet a few times a day, and make sure you are feeding a good quality food, one with no fillers (corn, wheat, soy) and no by-products or animal digest. All of this will be much easier on your cats stomach. A wet diet also helps with hairballs. Most of those grocery store brands are absolutely horrid food. Check out the labels, I am sure "corn meal" or something similar is the first, second, and third ingredient.



Fredda

Ive had 2 cats like this, and in one case it wasnt vomiting - it was regurgitation, because it happened almost immediately after eating and was tube shaped. When the food comes whole like that, its almost always from eating too much too quickly. Try smaller amounts left out, or if you free feed, try getting on a regular feeding schedule. But, overall, this can be tricky. My first cat (who lived to be 21) was the worst of all with it...she inhaled it and then tossed it back out. On the second try, it stayed down. But I think it would have helped if I had limited the feeding and done it on a schedule. Finally, you may never get a total handle on this, especially with having another cat. You kind of have to adopt the same routine with both, so hopefully it will work. But my current kitty who does this will go through 3 or 4 day periods where its frequent, and then it wont happen for 2 months.



Hailey

Soaking kibble in water only becomes unsafe if left out too long. I actually recommend soaking the kibble, as cats dont drink enough water as it is. Soaked kibble can be left in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Feed her only as much as she will eat in one setting 2-3 times a day. Also, try a higher quality kibble... the corn and fillers may be upsetting her stomach.



Odelia

One of mine did the same thing. It was the exact brand of food he was fed at his previous home (he was one of many there, so they werent sure if he did the same there), he had no hairballs, and the vet said that he was in perfect health. The theory was that he was eating too fast/too much and the food was taking too long to digest, so he threw it up. Strangely, his littermate that we adopted from the same people at the same time never had this problem at all. I started feeding them soft food morning and night, with just a couple of tablespoons of dry food left out during the day while Im at work, and it fixed the problem.



Arnoldo

He/She is not chewing up the food so even the kinds you are using are not being able to digest correctly even if there is a hairball there. Try soaking the dry food in some warm water for a few minutes. This should help.



Jone

If you have multiple cats and are feeding them out of 1 bowl that may be a problem. It would help if there were more then one bowl so none of them has to scarf down the food as soon as you give it to them.



Consuelo

Its simple, just stop feeding it the hard stuff=]



Felicitas

Mine does it because it eats it to fast, and if thats the case then he/she will learn