Non-Diabetic Siamese Regurgitating, Food Advice Needed.

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ToddyTiger

ToddyTiger

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I didn't know where else to turn with this question, so I thought I would ask here.

Background..

Roscoe is a 4 year old Lynx Point Siamese. I've had him and his twin sister since they were about 6 weeks old.

For the last year, he has been regurgitating/vomiting within 10 to 40 minutes after eating. It was usually a couple of times a week thing, but this month its been a few times a day thing. Its always undigested food and he is hungry right after (it just happened 20 minutes ago and he went right for the food dish again) I've tried a few different sensitive stomach dry foods, which work for a few days or weeks, then the vomiting starts again. I thought canned food might work, so I started feeding canned food twice a day. But again today, he regurgitated within 20 minutes of eating. He just had a full check up in Late Sept/Early October. Totally healthy.

Several years ago, I had a Seal Point, and she used to do the very same thing. From what I have read, regurgitating after eating is very normal for Siamese. But I am worried he is not getting enough food right now. He hasn't lost any weight and he acts normal the rest of the time. I suppose it could also be that the increase this month is due to him trying to munch on the Christmas tree. I keep spraying it with bitter apple, but he goes for it anyway.

As I said, I've tried hairball gels, hairball foods, Siamese specific food, sensitive stomach food. But nothing seems to help. I guess I'm looking for food suggestions or just someone to say, this is a Siamese thing and he'll do this forever. hehe

Thanks!
Sarah
 
Could it be that he is just eating too fast? I have a lynx-point siamese that thinks he has to bolt his food down and will hurl about 10-15 minutes after eating. What has worked with him is adding a lot of water to his canned food and putting it in a large bowl (ceramic pie plate) so that he has to work at it to get to all the food. I also have another civie tat isn't siamese that will vomit after eating if the food contains any form of grains or beef, he is highly allergic.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Does he scarf his food? If so, place a mug upside down in the center of the dish - it will help slow his eating.

Also, did they do a motility evaluation - how fast things move through - to make sure that the peristalisis is going in the correct direction and the correct speed?

Constipation will prevent things from moving through ... so the only way out is urp!

There are some cats that have to be propped up in a sitting type position to keep the food down; I believe it has something to do with the junction between the esophagus and the stomach not working properly to keep food down once it gets there.
 
It very well could be that he is eating too fast. We have 4 cats and though each one gets a plate, they like to play musical plates and eat as fast as they can going from plate to plate.

I should get a bowl that will keep him from gulping his food down.


No, they didn't do a motility evaluation. They probably should have.

I think I'll try placing his food higher up and getting a special bowl for him.
 
Hi Sarah

Vomiting/regurgitating is not normal for any cat, including all breeds :)

As others have noted, many cats who bolt their food will have it come right back up. I have also known a few cats who will vomit if they eat an entire meal at once. These rare cats must be fed just a bite of food (literally half a spoonful) at first, then after 10-15 minutes they can be fed the rest of the meal.

If he has not held down any food in days, he needs to go to the vet pronto tomorrow morning as he must be dehydrated and there may be a more serious problem. If he's holding food down, but just not the 'first' meal, then I'd try the slow-feeding method for a few days. If he is still vomiting, then he needs to see the vet. If you have an internal med specialist available to you, you can go and have an ultrasound done at the same time. It's possible that he has some form of IBD.

You mentioned that he is chewing the tree. Is he actually ingesting anything? The pine needles, though not toxic, can act as a mechanical irritant and cause vomiting (this is what grass does too). An unlikely possibility is that he has eaten a ton of pine needles and they are sitting in his stomach, causing problems. I can't imagine a cat doing that though, and it's likely he'd be able to vomit them out. (Cats and dogs, mostly because they are "horizontal" rather than vertical like us, can get heavier foreign bodies like coins or a big knob of fur "stuck" in the stomach as gravity doesn't help it pass.) Have you seen any needles in his vomit?
 
Hi Sarah!

I had this same problem with Bandit. It turned out to be a combination of two things--dry food and tooth resorption issues.

I would check his teeth, and see if it looks inflamed at all around the base of any of his teeth (or better yet, take him in for a visit and have the vet check them out). Bandit was swallowing his dry food whole and vomiting it up because his teeth were a mess because of tooth resorption. (He was swallowing the food whole because it hurt him to chew, and his stomach just couldn't digest the whole dry food). Tooth resorption is very common in Siamese cats, and the only way to fix it is to have the offending teeth pulled.

Once I switched him to an entirely canned diet with frequent feedings (4 times a day), the problem completely went away. Occasionally, if someone accidentally feeds him more than he should have at one sitting (more than 1.5oz), he'll vomit it up from eating too fast.

So my advice is 1. Get rid of any dry food you're feeding and 2. Get his teeth checked out.
 
One of my GA's did the same thing - took me about 8 years to figure out that he was eating too fast and gulping air at the same time. Air pockets would get trapped under the food - it came up with the belch. I'd give him a little bit, pick him up and hold up 'sitting up' or sort of over my shoulder and 'burp the baby'.... :-D When I put him down back at the bowl, he'd eat and not do it again. I currently have a drooler puppy that I have to 'burp' every time she eats or her whole meal comes back up.

Good luck! Hugs,
 
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