Changing a cats food

Re: Changing a cats food

bonny10 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:07:50 GMT

Iv kept him just on the iams for the last few days and he hasn't been sick again. I think its the hills that makes him sick as there were pieces in his vomit that hadn't been digested. I am contemplating changing his food as i know iams isn't the best (thats why i put him on hills plus i can get discount on it at work). For the moment i think il stick to iams and slowly introduce hills again see if he is sick again.

Re: Changing a cats food

Mrs Dot Dot — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:01:20 GMT

I fed my lot Hills for years and it made their coats really shiny, which I liked but 2 of them vomitted pretty regularly... one young, one older- one, at first I thought might have some sort of food allergies cos he obviously picked up food elsewhere as he also vomitted up red chunks of cat food as well as hills..... now adays I put him vomitting down to furballs..... it has a pattern of him vomitting up undigested & digested food for about 5 days before a huge! furball comes up... and he has the biggest ones I've seen ever! He is a shorthaired moggy, with a not particularly thick coat, but after me thinking the worst for ages, I'm pretty convinced now that it is furballs. He hates katalax... He's been fed on JWB for a long time but now thinking about changing over to RCW neuter as we've just changed over at work.

My older vomitting female I now have on a additive free/ preservative free (as much as possible) diet and feline i/d for her calicivirus/ stomatitis and this so far seems to keep this under control and also her vomitting has decreased significantly.

Often I think cats just wolf down large amounts of food and then vomit it back up so I think it is always worth feeding little and often and see if that makes a difference.

Re: Changing a cats food

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:06:58 GMT

It may be a bit to rich or have too much fat in it for him as well. Go Cat doesn't exactly have the best quality of ingredients and it has lots of cereals. Both Hills and Iams are pretty fatty and personally I wouldn't feed Iams as it's been linked to FLUTD in cats. Hills coats their food with fat as well. Have you tried feeding something like James Well Beloved or Burns? Or just feeding a smaller amount of the Hills with the Go Cat?

Re: Changing a cats food

Sal the 1st — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:38:26 GMT

one of mine is sick with Iams sometimes and I have put it down to the fact that the kibble is a bit smaller than the Hills and he is the feline equivalent of a hoover. I think he just eats it too quick and too much of it and when it has gone down and starts to swell a bit - then he is sick. Doesnt happen with the Hills but I think it is because he actually has to crunch these so doesnt eat so much so quickly?

just wondered if yours is the same?

Re: Changing a cats food

Fiona Leathers — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:22:12 GMT

There are some companies which have a delicate or sensitive product within their range, so it might be an idea to switch to that to see if it makes a diference. Some diets just don't agree with kitties and if they're going to eat it long term, you don't want them puking all the time!

Re: Changing a cats food

bonny10 — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:54:14 GMT

He was wormed last week and never suffered from hairballs before. I have got some katalax so might introduce that for a few days see if it makes a difference.

He is eating well again today but seems to be sick in the night, he seems fine in himself.

Re: Changing a cats food

les punton — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:15:03 GMT

mmm i would of thought if it had been caused by the new food there would have been vomit before now.

has he been wormed recently? does he get hairballs?was it a gradual change?

I think if he was mine I would feed a light diet for a few days then reintroduce the food gradually, then if he was still being sick I would look into the food change.