Question:
I had recently changed all the kitties over to Royal Canin dry food with hairball control being a "bonus" of the indoor cat category of food. 3 outta my 5 kitties have been throwing up at least every other day. Sure there's some strains of fur in the puke but it is usually food and water...oh they are drinking alot more water but I think that is b/c they are puking more.
About 5 years ago I had tried them on the Iams hairball maintenance and we had the same reaction where there was greatly increased puking.
Is this what I am suppose to expect? Does this go away? I have been feeding them this Royal Canin for 2 months...Does these foods have the same affect on anyone's kitties? I actually started blending it with some Nutro last week and the puking has greatly lessened...my 14yr old was starting to lose weight. Should I give up on these hairball foods?
The love for all living creatures is the noblest attribute of man.
-Charles Darwin
Answer:
How long ago did you switch food? It is suggested to do it slowly -exchanging the old food for the new a little at a time or their stomachs can become upset and they can throwup or get the runs. I had better luck with hairballs by switching to wellness canned food (not a hairball formula). Rocky hardly has hair balls at all anymore. All that puking doesn't sound good. Maybe something in the hairball formulas is upsetting to their stomachs.
Answer:
Time for a Dental cleaning too, mine were geting sick from the gingivitis and it was spreading to their throats, making them sick,
so if they haven't had a cleaning lately, look into that. there are some Vets that will do it without anesthsia(?sp) and cost less.
How old are your cats?
Answer:
Cat Daddy wrote: Time for a Dental cleaning too, mine were geting sick from the gingivitis and it was spreading to their throats, making them sick,
so if they haven't had a cleaning lately, look into that. there are some Vets that will do it without anesthsia(?sp) and cost less.
How old are your cats?
The "pukers" are 14, 13 and 2. The 14 year old recently had her checkup and the vet said her teeth are awesome. If they had bad teeth why would the hairball remedy affect them and not "regular" food?
The love for all living creatures is the noblest attribute of man.
-Charles Darwin
Answer:
We used the Nutro Hairball Maintenance for years with great success. I never saw a hairball out of my two longhaired. I only stopped using it when we went to all wet food. I'd say they just don't agree with the food.
You say revolution, I say jah. --O.A.R.
Dell and the two cats, Isabella and Hermione plus 5 amazing dogs
Answer:
Quote: If they had bad teeth why would the hairball remedy affect them and not "regular" food?
For 2 months of throwing up at a rate of every 2nd day, there maybe something else that is making them puke,
and being your not having a diarhea problem to go with the puke, the other medical possibilities should be checked out too.
If the Vet checked the teeth thouroghly, at 14 years she would have some tartar build up,
My Vet also sent my cat away with a good check-up, a week later she went in to another Vet for a second opinion,
and not only did she have 3 cavities but also was hyperthyroid, don'yt know how that all got past the first Vet, but I still though something was wrong.
she had the worst problem with puking, whole food chunks, frequently, weight loss, it was so bad she was taking the steps one leg at a time because of the muscle loss from thyroid overproduction,
the red swelling in her throat was treated with antibiotics,
then the other cat that was puking was taken in and she also had redness and swelling in her throat, more antibiotics,
and neither of them had a diarhea problem, but did stop puking completely.
These 2 were also eating from the same plate when I feed them the canned food, and I suspect that they shared the bacteria this way.
My other cat was switched to Chicken soup for the Cat Lovers soul, and she had to get her old food mixed in 50/50 to cure her runs, she never had a puking problem.
They all 3 went in for a dental cleaning after that because the tartar and gingivitis could be part of the bacteria problem.
Switching food slowly may help, but if the 13 and 14 year old had never had a dental cleaning you could check into that too.
I'm going to get my cats teeth cleaned every other year minimally from now on, just hope I can find a Vet that does it without anesteshia(?sp), as it can be hard on the kidneys.
Good luck, I hope you find it is as simple as the food, I wouldn't want anyone's cat to be as sick as my oldest was when she got a clean bill of health from a Vet, and that's why I think you may want to get more diagnoisis.