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Forum THE LOUNGE Question for BinkyBunners with cats

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    • MimzMum
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        I have an older cat….she just turned ten this year. She has a terrible time with hairballs, despite groomings and special food and the chocolate toothpaste (laxatone) which I’m lucky to get her to take.

        She also seems to have trouble voiding a bit…sometimes needing to right after she vomits, (sorry, gross I know), and I’m worried she may have some bowel disfunction or defect that is causing these problems, rather than just the hair intake.

        What do you do for your cats to help prevent hairballs and keep their insides moving well? BTW, this is a shorthaired black cat…& she does not groom my longer haired one due to the fact that she hates him.

        Also, could there be some kind of bile problem or other endocrine malfunction that causes cats to throw up more? She tends to heave right after a meal also, depending on the type of food she eats. I find she doesn’t seem to be able to keep the gravied types down every so often, so we try not to feed her those, but even a plain caked can of food will make her sick sometimes. Dried food, same thing. It’s really frustrating.


      • Monkeybun
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          I know it sounds funny, but can you give her grass to eat? Jack, my Mom’s old maine coon kitty, ate ALOT of grass and even with his long fur with him eating a ton of grass he did very well with hairballs and such. They sell special Cat Grass in pet stores, if kitty wont eat regular grass. I’ll take a peek around and see if i can come up with anything else.


        • ScooterandAnnette
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            One of my mother’s cats often throws up after eating. He was a stray, well he was probably feral actually but we found him snuggled up against the house for warmth one winter. He will often just wolf his food down in a hurry and then throw it up again a little later, probably because he eats too fast.

            One of my cats (Harley) will sometimes throw up a bit, and usually that’s when I start to feed them more tinned food. They get primarily dry food – Cat Chow indoor cat formula, meant to help control hairballs and weight. Harley also has fairly long fur, and I have to say that amount of throwing up and hairballs has decreased dramatically since switching to this food.
            – Annette


          • Lintini
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              Mimz…my cat is 13 and she throws up constantly after she eats, dry and wet food too. Even on Science Diet she pukes it up right after. I think it’s because she eats it too fast as well. She was adopted from the shelter and I think that, she still thinks she might not be fed or something like she was as a kitten. I’m going to try Monkey’s suggestion with grass because she is an indoor cat and doesn’t eat any. I know my dogs will eat grass if they get an upset tummy. It’s worth a shot. I don’t know what you mean by “voiding” though?


            • Furface
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                MimzMum, is this something she has always done or a newer thing?
                If it’s a newer thing or getting worse I’d have to suggest a vet checking her out.

                I had a cat who was very pukey her whole life (14yrs).
                It didn’t seem to mater what I fed then but there are many more options today.

                I’m not saying she definitely has allergies but it’s something worth a try.
                Today it is known that allergies can cause many many symptoms & that corn is the #1 cat dog food allergen, followed by wheat & soy – all of which have no business being in cat food to begin with – they are just fillers.
                It is possible to have trouble with some meats as well but it’s much more likely to be corn or grain.
                I would try switching food – 1st no corn(same for dogs & buns – no corn). Then you could try no wheat etc.
                I personally have gone to a totally grain free food. No Corn or grains of any sort, no oatmeal, rice, barley.
                I’m extremely fussy about pet food after that whole China poisoning our pets in 07. I want home grown, real food, human grade ingredients – no or as few as possible chemical crap – they eat way better than I do.

                The grass is also a great idea however I would think of it as treating the symptom rather than finding the problem.


              • MimzMum
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                  Furface…she has seemed to have an easily upset stomach for some of her life, but it seems to be getting worse as she ages. I wondered if it’s a physical defect coming out because she will also scratch her chin and throat up with her foot if I let her nails get too long, (not at the same time that she heaves, mind) to the point of making divots in her skin that bleed and scar. It’s not a constant, but I’m wondering if the two are related.
                  Also, even though she was spayed young (pet store cat) she still tends to (I think this is what she’s doing) ‘mark’ territory by scooting her booty on things and leaving some kind of ‘stuff’ behind…very smelly. I have to go look that up too, it worries me since I had cancer, I don’t want to think she might have it too. I lost a good black cat to VRS in 1999, I don’t want to go that road again.
                  She is a little on the heavy side. And by that I mean, if I look at the chart on the vet’s wall…she’s one stop away from OBESE, body shape-wise. She doesn’t get much exercise I’m afraid. Poor thing can hardly make it to the counter, which is where I keep the dry food so she doesn’t O.D. on it.

                  Lintini, I have them all on Sci/Di hairball dry food and this certainly doesn’t seem to be worth the $. We’ve just had to buy this kind of food for my dog since his GDV and so we get it for the cats too. I don’t think they are thrilled with it.
                  And I use the word void to mean peeing and pooping…it just takes less time to write.

                  MB, grass only makes her throw up faster. They love it too, but I can’t let any of them have it, I find little piles within five minutes of them swallowing it. Usually with my bare foot…ick.

                  I’m going to have to check the grain content of all their foods. They usually eat the dry I mentioned, plus the tins of Fancy Feast salmon varieties. We used to give them the indoor formula dry…but they built up a resistance to it and can’t eat it at all now. What’s weird is, if I make fresh salmon or beef or chicken, they all turn their noses up at it. The only human food they’ll eat is tuna fish, and not on any kind of regular basis. They’d rather have their nasty, smelly old tinned foods. yuck.
                  Only my Fuzzy cat, gone two years now, would eat the giblets from the turkey. Since his birthday was Thanksgiving Day, we made a special plate for him each year. Gosh I miss that guy. ;_;
                  *sigh* I think at my age, I’m going to swear off any more cats as well as dogs in future. I love my furbabies, but I hate to see them having physical problems. It just breaks my heart because I can’t seem to do anything good for them.
                  Bunnies are enough of a handful! 0_0


                • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                    I know the title of your post discludes me (I have no kitties) I wonder how hydrated she is? Kitties in the wild get water from food-and when fed dry kibble at home they just don’t drink enough water. So I know switching the food up big time wouldn’t be a good idea-but perhaps adding a bit of moisture to her kibble could help-at least with elimination.

                    If you aren’t thrilled with science diet (it has a lot of corn filler in it) perhaps a grain free formula with some wet food could help a lot? And maybe instead of a manufactured wet food-give real wet food -ie. tin of salmon, tin of tuna-then there are no additives or chemicals (Salmon better then tuna b/c of mercury content) and it’s just rich fish instead?

                    *sigh* I think at my age, I’m going to swear off any more cats as well as dogs in future. I love my furbabies, but I hate to see them having physical problems. It just breaks my heart because I can’t seem to do anything good for them.
                    Bunnies are enough of a handful! 0_0

                    I know the feeling. Was reading a story about dogs, and this family what they found for them was to have one old dog, one middle aged, one young dog. That way the two youngers ones can keep themselves busy and the older one can sleep more; and then you only have one old one at a time(it’s financially and emotionally draining to have seniors) and the cycle just sort of stays-when the old one passes the middle one is elderly the pup is middle and you add another pup. That’s what I’d like to get going with dogs-we are wanting to add a pup this spring likely


                  • MimzMum
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                      lolz…Ahh, I should’ve titled my post BB’ers with ADVICE on cats instead.
                      I think I may just try some regular canned salmon for people and see what she does with it. As far as the dry is concerned, maybe a soaked dry would be better for her. Maybe she’s bloating and that’s what makes her throw up? Hm.
                      K&K, do you know of any grain free dry foods for cats perchance? I suppose I can search the web, but if you have a recommendation, I’ll give it a try.
                      I see where you’re going with the three dogs idea, and it sounds like a good one…but it’s not for me anymore. It’s a hard decision to come to, but I really just can’t handle the heartache when they pass any longer. It is just too painful.

                      Taking care of dogs (one or more) really is just too much for me to do, physically. It’s one of those, “I’m getting too old for this kind of thing” things. lolz. I love my furbabies, trust me, but when they are all gone (probably all of them in about 10 years) I will be in my late fifties and most likely ready for the old folks home! (Or an insane asylum, one or the other.)

                      The biggest reason we are not adopting any more is the hubby is pretty fired up against it…or much of any other animal for that matter. He simply doesn’t like having to be the one who takes them to the vet for that last visit, and since most of our pets have gone in under ER circumstances, it’s just not something he wants to repeat and I can see his point. It’s not that I don’t want to go or to help with this kind of thing, and we do have a vet that will come to us in this circumstance, but our iffy transportation and extreme climate brings the ‘hero’ out in my husband and he won’t let me ride in unless it’s safe.
                      Yes, it helps one to move forward when there are others who need your attention, but it can also make the load heavier and harder to bear at the same time. It’s a pretty tough thing to balance I think.

                      Okay…kind of went on a rant there, sorry. Dang, I hate seasonal affective disorder…it makes me talk too much! >.<


                    • Furface
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                        I feed Orijen to the cat & dog. It’s grain free. It is the very best food I’ve ever found. The animals love it. I love it – read the ingredience & about the human grade everything & no rendered meat etc. Their coats are awesome soft & shiny. Everyone comments on how soft Bucca is. Grain free foods also make for less pooping because they are not eating all that filler that just goes right through them. Poop is less smelly too. You feed less than you feed with the filler type foods.

                        I buy the med bag Adult Dog – 15.4 pounds (7Kg) for $37. Bucca weighs 55 pounds & this bag lasts her 2 months. The bags says to feed her weight dog 2 cups per day but she gains on that much. She stays a perfect healthy size on 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups a day. She has a waist unlike me. LOL
                        If we go for a huge walk I give her some extra. They do have a bigger bag but I don’t buy that because I it would last so long that I’d be afraid of it going bad.
                        I buy the cat the 5.5 pound (2.5Kg) bag for $23. It lasts him longer than 2 months. The bag says 1/2 cup for his weight per day. He gets about that amount & stays a good weight/shape. He is a lean cat, no waist, but no belly either. LOL Poops are way less smelly.

                        Their is an all fish version that is a little more money.

                        It’s a Canadian company & they use all local ingredience. They make it & Arcana (their other not quite as rich food) at their own facility & don’t make stuff for other companies there so no chance of cross contamination like in the 07 fiassco.

                        http://www.championpetfoods.com/
                        http://www.orijen.cz/orijen/about/
                        http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/


                      • MimzMum
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                          Thanks for the recommendation, Furface! I’ll definitely check those out, they do look expensive, but I’m paying nearly that for Science Diet as it is, so what’s the harm? I just hope the import fees aren’t too much over the top.
                          Will check out those links, thank you! Hopefully they have a canned dog food, since Shadow seems to prefer that to dry, but if not I can soak the dry.

                          Unfortunately, my cats have constant access to “crunchies”…this is mostly why my black cat is so fat. If I try to ration it, they seem to have more trouble with their stomachs, probably from the sense that they are not getting enough energy from what they’re eating now. Hopefully this will stop as they feel more ‘full’ with proper nutrition.


                        • RabbitPam
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                            Hi,
                            Thought I’d weigh in as a former owner of one cat, Lambchop. He was only 5 when he died, but I learned some about cats at the time.

                            In this instance it may be that she’s got an irritation in her throat. I might not make a special trip, but next time you go to the vet, bring her along to have the vet check her throat. Unless she gets worse, of course. Then it’s call the vet time.

                            But as far as throwing up goes, I learned that cats throw up more than a teenage model with bulemia. The just are always throwing up for the craziest reasons. Furballs. Sudden noises. a breeze. I was in a petstore, got leg rubbed by their kitty, the watched as he paused to heave. Just no real reason. The are the biggest vomiters of the animal kingdom. So it’s really whether she’s doing it more frequently and with more distress than usual. Anything that bothers them a little with do so a lot when the get to be in their “golden years.”

                            Sammy just fell over. I can see her nose wiggling so I know it’s just a flop. Animals are so weird.


                          • MimzMum
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                              lmao….Sammy does this just like Fiver…goes over like he’s been shot. Audible thud. From a room away. Scares me to death.

                              Yeah, I know what you mean…. I’ve dealt with cats and their gag reflexes pretty much all my life…I just worry with her because it’s not just furballs that come up…sometimes it’s just food. Period. Or in rare cases, bile because she hasn’t had anything to eat for too long. My Griffy cat is the one who gets me ready to call paramedics, because most times he gets something about halfway up, then either chokes on it and we have to do a kitty Heimlich, or swallows it back down. There isn’t an “EW!” loud enough.
                              It would be nice if they liked hairball medicine…but no, of course not… >_<
                              I hadn’t thought throat irritation…but hey, if so…between that, and Griffy and Mimzy both having sneezing fits…there most likely is SOMETHING environmental causing all this. (Oh if it were only that easy.)

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                          Forum THE LOUNGE Question for BinkyBunners with cats