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Over-eating or something else?

1K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Libby. 
#1 ·
My 16 year old boy has always been a barfy cat. Poor guy rarely goes 2 weeks without barfing. No one's ever found anything wrong though. Just recently I noticed something though after all these years. Not sure if it's new ir not, but, he'll be laying in bed with me, 45 minutes to an hour after he last ate, and he'll jump up and down off the bed because he's got to vomit (good boy for getting off the bed!) and within a few minutes of vomiting, he'll be in the litter box, too. Which just strikes me as unusual. If he's just barfed up the last meal he had, why need the litter box at the same time?

My theory with his persistent, life long vomiting, has always been over eating. I've never seen him eat too much, but after 16 years it's all I've got. Recently I thought about drinking too much; he'll sit and drink for 5 minutes straight sometimes. Anyway I just wanted to run it by others, because I know he hates it, and older as he now is, I worry about it more, even if it's been a life long issue. He's got no other symptoms of illness. Occasionally people suggest diabetes, because he lives to drink, but he doesn't have any symptoms and never tests positive either.

Any spit balling, ideas, are appreciated. :grin2:
 
#5 ·
Get his kidneys checked ASAP (bloodwork, urinalysis). Have a thyroid test (usually called a T4 test) run while you're at the vet - kidney failure and thyroid issues are pretty much a given in older cats, and you want to catch those things as soon as you possibly can. Don't put it off on a cat his age. My girl was diagnosed with kidney failure at age 14.

You didn't mention what you feed your gentleman - has it always been the same food, or at least the same protein source? Kibble or canned? Have you done any experimenting with limited-ingredient diets, or eliminating certain ingredients/protein sources? Do you free-feed? If you think it's over-eating, have you considered reducing his food intake and spreading his meals out? (or if you free-feed, eliminate the grazing and switch him to set meals)

Also, does he ever regurgitate? Regurgitating happens immediately after food is eaten - basically as soon as it hits the stomach, it gets sent right back out, with zero digestion. Or is it always vomiting, some time after he's eaten, after some digestion has taken place?
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
He used to regurgitate when younger, but hasn't in years. He's always had a sensitive stomach, but it's always been his only symptom of anything.

He has access to dry food all the time, but only eats a little between meals, as he's partial to wet canned food. He's switched foods a few months ago, but that was to try to address the vomiting becoming more regular than monthly (became every 2-3 weeks). Eats a can (5.5 oz) a day split into 3 meals, and he's actually good enough to save some bedtime food and only eat half when givrn, half a while later, because ge knows he won't grt more for the longest stretch of the dsy, overnight.

He's had a rough year, as have I, with a death and new people and cats moving in, so for a few months he was eating more than normal out of stress and anxiety, but that's gone back to normal now as he's calmed down.

He mainly eats chicken, both as prime ingredient in dry food and wet. With wet though he's got some variety of seafood and rarely beef. He's never been fond of beef, and hates turkey. For a while I noticed seitching to pate seemed tp help, but then that stopped making a difference.

We've tried so much, but nothing works long term. The vets just run the same tests happily and say "if he's not got any other symptoms, I wouldn't worry" and indeed he's been like this all his life. The only real change is the type of what comes up, and that the frequency now varies wildly. But that's it. His appetite, litter, thirst, energy, all are normal by age and personality.

To touch on something else, I mentioned he was eating more for a few months due to stress, grief, etc. If it was overeating now, it wouldn't make sense since he was eating so much more then without any change in this issue.

I feel like I'm running in circles. I'm scared for him, but they never find anything wrong, and so I pay for expensive tests i can't afford (but do anyway) and get the same "he might just have a sensitive stomach" answer. Even trying different vets.
 
#8 ·
It could be the esophageal sphincter has been damaged from the frequent vomiting. It happens to people with GERD as well as people with eating disorders who purge. I have GERD caused by the medication I must take and if I eat too soon before bed, food will just come up simply because I'm laying down. Deglyzerhized licorice is supposed to help by soothing the inflammation. In my case, the medication relaxes the esophageal sphincter thereby causing the reflux.

Our bodies react to stress differently. For some, it's their stomach. Have you tried giving him Pepcid for the vomiting? And George's Aloe is very soothing to the digestive tract after throwing up bile.
 
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