Vomitting Question

[csimon]

We have not had any diet changes for Sweet Dick Tracy the Savannah, but he has vomited about 1 time per week for the last few weeks. It's not daily, thank the gods, but what do you think it could be? He gets Traders Joes canned chicken food occasionally, and Orijen Cat & Kitten Dry Cat Food as his usual. Months ago, he stopped eating Primal chicken nuggets for some reason. Thoughts?

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Once a week doesn't sound like a stomach infection... it might take some vigilance to work out the trigger. Is it the same time each week? Is it linked to anything at all? Is it shortly after eating? Does he tend to wolf down a meal (as regurgitation after eating too fast is fairly common)?

 

[csimon]

I will keep a closer eye on this and report back. What happened last week was all of a sudden i glanced at his cat bed by the window and there was dry vomit/could tell it was the kibble. Yesterday, it was on the bathroom rug (fresh with some bits of the canned food) when I got home in the afternoon. It appeared to have cat hair in it. I do worry that he grooms too much. How much is too much?

 

[WitchyWoman]

First thing that occurs to me in these situations is it's something in the food. If that's the case, it could take a lot of time patience to figure out. Orijen kitten food is primarily chicken, turkey, and fish. If he stopped eating the primal chicken, I'd start by eliminating chicken from his diet. Usually the suspected culprit has to be eliminated for a year and then added back into the diet to see if the issue reoccurs.

You could just try weaning him off dry food and using high quality canned instead. And maybe try adding some raw beef, buffalo, or rabbit into his meals to get him used to another protein. Or even just get him eating 2 or 3 different brands of food. The risk of developing allergies increases when an animal eats primarily just one type of protein or one type of food.

 

[Patti]

If you are seeing hair in the vomit you might want to try giving him some hairball medicine and see if that resolves these episodes.

 

[csimon]

If you are seeing hair in the vomit you might want to try giving him some hairball medicine and see if that resolves these episodes.

Do you have a recommended brand? This is over the counter, right?

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think most hairball remedies are similar, yes the type you find in the pet store

 

[SavannahLuv]

Most pet stores have a good selection to pick from and different brands come in different flavors, chicken, fish, malt. The ingredients are all similar on the ones I've looked at, the main difference I could find seemed to be the flavor. My last kitten, Kai, ended up preferring the Sentry Hairball Relief in malt flavor over the GNC Hairball Formula in chicken flavor.