Cat throwing up her food

Question
I have a 13 year old cat and we have had her since she was 6 weeks old.  I have seen her throw up grass several times and never hair balls.  However, for the past month or two she has been throwing up her food once or twice a week.  She has been on Purina Kitten Chow and through the stages and up to the Purina Naturals now.  She also gets canned food twice a day (Purina, grilled, Fancy Feast).  It appears like the food is her undigested dry food more than anything.  She plays around the house but also sleeps more---could be age.  What do you suggest?  Thanking you in advance!

Answer
Elana,

My first thought would be that she's eating too fast and too much at one time.  Have you noticed her trying to scarf her food down?  Or that she's eating real fast, and as soon as you have her food down, she's done?  Those are the most common reasons that cat throw up after eating.  

My next concern would be that she's developed allergies to something in the kibble--likely grain.  Purina isn't the greatest food (but no kibble is good) and I do believe it has grain in it.  Cats often develop allergies to grains, as their digestive systems cannot handle grains or carbs.  The more they're fed this stuff, the more likely they will develop an allergy to it.  Look at the ingredients on the kibble.  If there is any corn, corn gluten, wheat, wheat gluten, rice, bran, oats, etc, then that is all grain.  I would consider cutting out the kibble and just feeding her canned or raw.  However, if you must feed her kibble, then buy her a better quality kibble, one that is grain free.  There are a few out there, and if I had to recommend one, it would be Orijen.  It can only be bought in independent pet stores.  Other grain free kibbles are Wellness Core, Nature's Variety (although I'm not positive this one is grain free), BG (Before Grain), Innova Evo (again I'm not positive it's grain free, but I think so) and others.  

The only way to tell if she has an allergy to grains is to change her food to one that is grain free (and only with the okay of your vet since she is an older kitty).  I would recommend doing at least a 2 wk trial of grain free kibble (or any food for that matter).  If she does have an allergy to grain, then when you switch her to something that's grain free, you should notice a decrease in the vomiting within a wk or so.  If you don't notice a change and it's been 2 wks, then she may not be allergic to grains (but I'd still keep her off grains anyway).  It could be the protein source.  Cats develop the same type of allergies to protein sources as they do to grains or other things.  You could do the same thing with an elimination diet.  Check to see what protein source is in the Purina Kibble (and canned).  Chicken is the most common protein allergen, followed by turkey and beef.  So, if the kibble contains just chicken, you can try and see if not feeding her anything with chicken in it (including canned) helps with the vomiting.  Again, if no results or changes in 2 wks, than it's probably not the chicken.  

If you do notice an improvement when you stop either the grains or chicken, then you know that you should not buy any food with either of those ingredients in it.  These allergies are becoming more and more prevalent in society, and lots of people are realizing that they can't feed their cat the food they've been feeding it for yrs.  But before you do this, I would watch her while she eats, to see if she scarfs down her food real fast.  If she does, then she needs food where there's larger chunks (like raw) where she has to actually bite it into pieces before it's digested.  

Regardless, I would think of taking her off kibble and putting her on canned only.  Canned is much better than kibble any day, and you can get grain free canned as well.  But of course only do this with your vet's approval since your kitty is older, and you have to be aware of and respect any other health problems that she may have (not to mention that older kitties take longer to adjust to changes in food).  

As for the sleeping, that is most likely due to old age.  The older a cat gets, the more they will sleep.  They simply don't have the energy they did when they were younger.  Often older cats get arthritis, which causes them pain, so they prefer to just sleep and be immobile than experience pain.  But in general, older cats will sleep more anyway.  I wouldn't worry too much about her increased sleeping, but just keep an eye on her overall to watch for any health problems, as trust me, in older cats, they're there (I lost my 18 yo angel last June--and I'm still not over her as I miss her so much--but she had a ton of health problems that seemed to crop up in the last 2 yrs of her life).  So just watch her for any changes, and if you think she's in any way acting differently, get her to the vet.  And love her a ton!!!  

Good luck.

Savannah