Calico gets sick when upset

Question
My 10 year old calico female seems to get sick any time something upsets her, such as not getting enough attention, doors being closed when she wants in a room, or her feedings not being when she wants them.   It is like she wants to punish me for not feeding her or doing what she wants.   At times when there is food in her bowl she wolfs some down, gets worked up and gets sick.

Is this normal behaviour that happens sometimes with Calicos?  She has been doing this for a few years, and is otherwise healthy but no one seems to be able to tell why.

Yes she has been to a vet and there is nothing medically wrong that they saw.

Answer
Terry,

This isn't what I would call normal behaviour for any cat, calico or otherwise. I'm almost wondering if putting large marbles (too large to fit into her mouth) into her food and making her eat around them would slow her down to the point where she wouldn't make herself sick... It's worth a try. My only question for you regarding her diet would be - what type of food do you feed her? Canned, dry, raw? Perhaps a dietary change is in order, some cats simply don't do well with certain types of food.. If she's eating kibble I have a cat the same age that we can't give kibble to because he wolfs it down then vomits it back up almost immediately because he doesn't take the time to chew his food at all. Since we switched his diet over to mainly canned food he really doesn't vomit very often beyond the occasional upset tummy or hairball. If your kitty is eating canned food and doing this perhaps watering it down to a soupy kind of consistency would help to slow her down enough to give her body a chance to accept the food without bringing it back up. As for raw food, perhaps mixing it with a good quality canned food and adding water to it will help.

I suspect that she's perhaps an anxious type of kitty who stresses easily. I don't think that she's trying to punish you, her vomiting sounds more like a way for her to release anxiety. You may want to talk to your vet about putting her temporarily on an anti-anxiety medication since this is a long standing issue without a clear medical cause and see if perhaps she settles down some.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali