Wanted: advise from multi cat owners.

[caty]

I have three cats. I'm having a problem finding a dry cat food that all three cats can tolerate. Every brand I try, at least one will throw it up. When I switch brands, I mix it with the old brand per advice from vet. Then I try the new brand for a month. But, I have yet to find one that all three can "keep down". I've bought cat food from the grocery store, the vet's office, and pet stores. I haven't tried every brand available yet. Am I missing one? Any suggestions?

[mike_c]

1. I buy the mature catfood from Costco for my five....

When you say "throw up," do you really mean they consistently don't tolerate the food or that they occasionally throw it up? All cats do the latter (in my experience), no matter what you feed them.

[caty]

5. It happened everyday until I

switched them to MEOW MIX INDOOR FORMULA. Two are o.k. with it, but one throws it up four or five times a week.

[petronius]

27. Could it be that they like it too much?

My big guy often pukes when he gets excited and eats too fast - maybe changing meal sizes and schedules would help...

[WCGreen]

13. The COSTCO Brand works fairly well for our four kitties

[NJCher]

2. sheesh, what's the matter with you?

Don't you know you're supposed to serve up a buffet?

Two types of dry food, minimum. One should be Dental Diet to clean their teeth. Open two-three cans of wet food per day and alternate it throughout. Half 'n half. Water.

They'll learn to pick and choose what works with them, at least my two did, anyway.

C'mon over--my kitties will train you in servitude.

:)




Cher

[caty]

8. I do give them

canned cat food twice a day, but the one I'm having a problem with won't eat it. Only dry cat food. I haven't tried mixing the two though.

[LynneSin]

3. Have you tried Royal Canin for Sensitive Stomachs?

http://www.feline-nutrition.com/special.htm

My cats love RC and the food is great!

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

24. We use that (on your recommendation!)

They took to it right away, except Morrissey, but he was adopted from HART and was likely used to different food.

[Dora]

4. We have three cats too.

We feed ours Natural Balance dry food (I buy it at Petco).
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/products/UltCat.html

Our cats are 16, 12, and 11 years old, and they like this food. The switch to it was problem free, and they've been eating it a couple of years now.

[Ready4Change]

6. My .02

I've gotten best results with the Maxcat Adult dry food.

But, in truth, cats just throw up. Sometimes it's due to food. But sometimes it's a sign of other things. They don't like how you were awat for several days of vacation. They don't like the fact that you moved the couch. Buffy doesn't like how Fluffy is now sleeping in her spot all the time. Oh, look. THIS spot hasn't been barfed on yet.

The excuses go on and on. Cat barf is just a fact of life with a cat as a pet.

[calico1]

10. Sounds like my brood.

And have you noticed that when a kitty needs to puke they run for the carpet like you or I would run to the toilet? I have tile and hardwood floors but nooooo...they gotta go for the carpet to puke!


About the puking, mine do it too. Sometimes its just because of hairballs. Unless they are puking every single day I don't think its a major problem. Maybe switch them to indoor formula food. I feed mine one made by Wellness. Also, plant some of that sweet grass in little pots and put around the house, that way they can have "salad" too.

[MADem]

11. Good gravy, that must be a cat rule!!!!

You could have marble floors with an entry rug, and they run for the rug!!! I wish I could speak cat, and find out WHY!

[caty]

12. Ditto

on the rug thing.

[Ready4Change]

19. Wish I could breed one of my cats traits.

Before she barfs, she lets out a particular, sort of stretched out meow. It gives us just enough time to get a paper towel or old newspaper infront of her to catch the barf. It saves us a lot of mess.

Unfortunately, none of her kittens seem to have gotten this trait. Otherwise I could be rich.

[thinkingwoman]

26. LOL

Ready, you truly made me laugh out loud with that post! I've got three cats at the moment (we lost our big guy a little over a year ago and still miss him) and your words perfectly described a day in the life at our house, culminating with: "Oh look. THIS spot hasn't been barfed on yet."

The other day I heard that sound that one of my cat's gives as a pre-spew warning and turned to find her on my bed. I rushed to move her to the floor and made it in time but when she was done she shot me one of those cat glares--how dare I move her off my bed! :shrug"

Such is life with cats.

[demnan]

7. You might try working to rid your cats of hairballs

Hairballs are what cause most cats to throw up, imo. I know it's difficult to do, the brushing, the brown stuff in the tube and providing grass to assist them in puking (they sometimes need to puke!) I would try to determine whether they are indeed sensitive to the food or if perhaps they have hairballs.

[caty]

9. When I find

a hairball that has been thrown up, it is JUST a hairball. When Miss Kitty throws up, there is no hair in it. I think she just can't digest the food that well.

[no name no slogan]

23. That brown stuff in the tube is a godsend

I use that with my two boys, and it has really worked well. They still get the occassional furball or two, but it's really cut them down a lot.

I also comb both of them at least once a day. They both tend to shed a lot and it's a lot of work to keep control of all the cat hair. I've tried different things to keep the shedding and dander down, but the only thing that works is to be diligent with the brushing and vacuuming.

[ahem]

14. Have you tried Nutro?

Our cats love Nutro - Natural Choice Complete Care (except for our elderly cat who only eats wet food and doesn't like the Nutro wet options.) We get the 'Weight Management' variety, as our babes tend to get tubby.

If you haven't tried it already, it may be worth a go.

:hi:

[Terran]

15. You might try Natural Balance

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/

It's a giddy webs site, but the stuff is good--good ingredients, and my three cats all eat it eagerly. The only place I have seen it for sale is at Petco; I really should go check my local pet store too to see if they carry it. A five-pound bag typically costs $8.99.

These cats are all fairly young and I haven't seen any throwing up problems, unless they've chewed on houseplants. Our older cats both died in the past year and a half, and one of them had life-long throwing up problems, but he seemed to have it less with NB.

You might also make available to your cats some live grass to eat. Cats naturally want that and if they can't get it they'll eat other plants that may not be good for them. You can grow your own fairly quickly, for example, from rye seed, that's one they typically love. If they get that, they may throw up less.

[zanne]

16. How long does it take a starving stray kitty to get picky?

Two weeks. I've timed it. I've been feeding strays for five years now; every morning, I'm on my back porch with three different types of canned food and two different types of dry food thinking, "What was God thinking when he made these creatures"?

[Heidi]

17. I know what God was thinking when s/he created

the Wiley and Excellent Boy Cat Named Ginger. God was thinking, "Heidi needs to learn humility."

[Ready4Change]

20. A year later our strays will still eat any and everything.

Mother and 3 pseudo-feral kittens (now young cats.) We took them in because they were clearly about to starve. (Mother was a barely a stray. Not that great a hunter.)

It took a while to clear them of health issues, but we got it done. All healthy/happy now. But I think they recall what their outside life was like. They have NO interest in going outside, and will eat absolutely anything we put in front of them.

[Orsino]

18. Can't help here.

Two of mine are prone to the two different types of stones, so three of them eat Royal Canin S/O. Another just had a kidneyectomy, so she's on Hill's K/D. Another is on leukemia medicine, so she gets the stinkiest, graviest Fancy Feast cans in which we hide the medicine.

And still there's the occasional yacking up of food. Most cat owners and vets will tell you that this is normal, but I believe some malice is involved. :-)

[NJCher]

21. don't hate me 'cuz I'm lucky

But my two rarely throw up. In fact, one has never thrown up.

LOL posts, 16 & 17.

Thanks for the tips, though, everyone. I have a friend who has a cat with a diarrhea problem and I'm going to send this thread to her.




Cher

[China_cat]

22. Read the ingredients of what you're buying

I've always had at least one that played the hide and go puke game. It stopped when I realized that the foods they were throwing up had processed fish in them.

I eliminated the processed fish and eliminated the throwing up at the same time.

For some reason, they're fine with fresh fish but not in cat kibble OR the canned varieties.

[Love Bug]

25. Mine throw up because

they wolf down the dry food then drink water which makes the kibble swell up so they barf some up.

[SOteric]

28. Hills Science Diet sells a formula for healthy adult cats with

Sensitive Stomachs.

Before my aging kitty passed away last year (he suffered kidney failure) it was one of the brands he was best able to digest and keep down.

[caty]

29. I tried that one,

but it made all three throw up. I guess every cat is different.

[bertha katzenengel]

30. feed two different kinds

We feed one kind that never changes: Science Diet Sensitive Stomach. They all eat it, and it has reduced vomiting by our hork-a-day cat by about 75%.

The other kind changes, but not too often. Usually it's Max Cat. Sometimes we change it for Friskies or Kit & Kaboodle or one of those other commercial brands you can get at the grocery store. Changing one of them up now and then gives them some variety. When we switch, we don't mix them. Don't see a need for it. (Never heard that advice before, but then, I don't know everything :7)

You'll find the right food(s). Best of luck!

[caty]

31. The vet

said that when you change their food, they can get diarrhea. But, if you mix it half and half for awhile, that will cut down the chances of that happening.

[hyphenate]

32. The problem with any dry catfood

is actually that when a cat eats near his/her water dish, they will drink immediately after eating, and the water expands the food in the stomach, which makes them regurgitate the food.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Put the water dish across the room from the food and see if they continue to throw up.

2) Try doing a mix of hard/canned or hard/soft (like the package food) and limiting the amount they get to what they can eat in a 15 minute time frame. Then take the dish up and wait a couple of hours before giving it to them again. It should make a difference.

3) Sometimes the cause of the vomiting is that the cat/s are allergic to either the filler or some of the dyes in the food. Believe it or not, the best thing to try is the cheapest thing on the market--usually the store brand. See if that works.

My old ladies used to throw up a lot, and the three of them lived to be 17 and 18, so it's really not a major problem. Sometimes, they will regurgitate it and then go back and eat it again!

You might also consider giving them some rye grass or other grass that you can get at most pet stores. When a cat has an upset stomach, the grass helps them to vomit when it provides fiber. Giving them a little of it every day won't hurt, and might provide enough fiber to keep them from vomiting their food.

[Lorien]

33. I work for a rescue, and I've had great results with Innova Evo and

Artemis Fresh Mix. I've still yet to encounter even the most finicky felines who won't inhale them. They're available in Natural pet supply and health food stores. You can go to www.artemiscompany.com to do a retailer search. Both products are made with human grade ingredients-a far, far cry from the slaughter house sweepings and diseased meat of "pet grade" products like Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro and the like.

To learn more about pet grade foods vs. human grade foods, go here: http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm