cat health problem - food question

[Sherbet]

My cat has been throwing up a lot in the past year. For a week a while back, it was really bad, and he didn't have much of an appetite. The vet gave him some medicine to help settle his stomach, which we're no longer using. It helped, and we switched from Hill's Science Diet Sensitive Stomach to Hill's Prescription Diet I/D dry catfood. I thought he was doing better, until my roommate informed me that he had been puking while I was asleep or out of the apartment. The vet recommended switching to Z/D catfood, info can be found here:

Prescription Diet: Therapeutic Pet Food for Cats and Dogs | Hill's Pet Nutrition

However, it's $57 for a 10lb bag! I was shocked - I really don't want to be shelling that much out for catfood unless there's no better alternative. The vet said there's more testing we can do if he's not better in about a month. Basically, I'm wondering if anyone knows of anything else I can try, or how to find a coupon to save on the cost! *sigh* poor Mew.

Out of curiousity, it would be interesting to know how often everyone else's cat throws up, just to know how abnormal my cat is.

[skyrocketneko]

Does he inhale his food? Fiona likes to inhale it, then she pukes up whole pieces because she hasn't bothered to chew at all. She'll puke 2-3 times a day sometimes if I don't watch her while she's eating.

Can you place a few bowls around the house with only a small bit of food in each? If he just plain eats too fast, that might be a quick fix.

[Plumeria]

I don't know what you can do - but I have the same problem with my boy cat. He throws up all the time. I think it's because he doesn't chew his food well enough -- you can see that in his vomit. When he eats, he kind of inhales it. It really bothers me.. my female kitty doesn't throw up at ALL. She's only done it once because of a bad hair ball. But my other cat, she threw up a lot like the boy does now...and she lived to be a long healthy 15 years old.

Honestly..wish I had some advice, but I've just about tried everything. I've resigned myself to being patient and cleaning up puke all the time...

I'm using the same food you were -- the sensitive stomach food. As for price -- maybe you could mix a little bit of the older food with the newer food to help a little bit with the cost issue.

[Skeen]

My cats have never thrown up but they've always had digestive problems. We tried all the different prescription foods there were, and not only did they not help, the cats hated them. So, we switched to Innova EVO, since it has no grains, no corn, and no by-products.

It's expensive (like $40-something for the big bag?), but the cats eat less of it since there's no filler in it so it lasts longer than a prescription bag, and it's made their coats all glossy and nicer than they were.

Their problems haven't cleared up completely*, but they're almost gone, and at least they don't walk around covered in their own poop anymore, and our house smells better.

*Yes, they've been tested for everything we could possibly test them for, most of it twice. They've been on medications since they were 8 weeks old and are doing much better now after their last round. The vet said we probably don't need to continue treatments.

[morrioghan]

When my kitty was younger, she had this problem. Not only that, but she'd have diareeha at least once a day. At the time, we were feeding her Purina Kitten Chow, but when she was old enough, we switched her to Purina Indoor Adult cat food. she hasn't had a problem since!

[ristvak]

My first cat puked all the time. Usually when his food was fresh, but yeah he would throw up at least once a day (we used to joke that he was our little bulimic kitty) We fed him Friskie's though, and I think we tried different foods but since nothing helped we just kept giving him that (if he's going to puke anyways why spend $50 a bag, right?)
He eventually passed away from kidney failure, but he was 10 or 11.

The cat I have now has had a few problems throwing up, but it's mostly been a reaction to stress. I've been feeding her Purina since I brought her home.

Honestly, if the vet can't find anything wrong, you might just have a weird cat. So is the luck of the draw...

[Imbrium]

My cats used to throw up a lot. At least one of the three would throw up every single day. We switched them to a grain free food called Taste of the Wild and they throw up maybe once a month now. It's about $25 for a 15lb bag. They eat less of it though, and they are more active.

[Jenniferf82]

My long haired cat does barf up hairballs every couple of weeks, but, that's not unusual. We have some cat grass for him, so he eats it whenever he feels the need to yak one up.. Icky, yes..
Cats tend to gulp down kibble in chunks rather then chewing it which obviously would cause an upset stomach.. lol
I would ask your vet if you can switch to a canned version of I/D first before trying dry Z/D.
Other then the long haired cat yaking up hair balls, I haven't had my other ones throwing up since we switched to canned and then to raw a couple years ago. Though, my one female cat always barfed on dry food. I had almost forgotten it, she hasn't done it in a long time..
I would split the canned food into a few feedings throughout the day too just for the heck of it.
Though, you may be looking at some kind of blockage too, so keep an eye on your cats weight..
We had one years ago that ended up with a partially obstructed bowel from eating a fake mouse..

[tsukikakushi]

At the practice where I work, we use Purina E/N, it's a veterinary exclusive diet, and is pretty much just a bland diet. Z/D is more for animals w/ food allergies, which he may or may not have. the only way to test that is to try the food, no treats, etc. Is he just an indoor cat, or does he go in/out? He may be getting into things if he goes out. There's also a product called Fortiflora, it's pretty much like Activia for animals. There are other brands out there, but the Fortiflora is very palattable and most animals love it! Prescription diets can be expensive, but are definately worth it if the fix the problem! Good luck, I hope your kittty gets better.

[Sherbet]

Thanks for the replies!

Mew is strictly an indoor cat. His weight has remained pretty much stable, except gaining weight when I went on vacation and my aunt overfed him, haha. I've worried about him swallowing toy mice, interesting to hear that caused a blockage in your cat, Jennifer. I actually keep track of them and know they're all accounted for. No hairballs, his puke is always food and it's usually whole, not chewed. So maybe that's part of the problem, him eating too fast, though he doesn't always. I remember putting a salt brick in my horse's feed bucket to slow his eating down, and people talk about mixing foods so that there's a kind in there that requires chewing. I'll definitely experiment with things to see if I can slow him down.

About I/D canned - the reason I hesitate on that is because I've always thought it best to feed dry food, as it's good for the teeth. I used to give canned as a treat, but not in a long time. I talked to a friend today who runs an animal shelter, and she recommended Purina sensitive stomach. I think it's great that Z/D is an option and that my cat might puke less, but I would definitely loooooove to not have to go that route cause of the $$. My friend also suggested just a bland diet of turkey and rice. That seems... weird... but something to consider. It's great to hear of options I haven't heard of before. The good thing is that even though Mew has been puking a lot, generally it hasn't been making him dopey or weak or anything... he's still really perky and energetic and sometimes a pain in the butt getting into trouble. When he DOESN'T get into trouble, I worry haha. He does things like open loud squeaky doors or run around loudly at night. *shakes head*