ritual vomiting?

Question
QUESTION: Our cat vomits around the same time (7:40-8pm) almost every night.  It is usually when we are eating dinner and after we have fed her, however, she does not usually eat her dinner until we are finished with ours.  We have tried feeding her different kinds of food and she still continues her 7:40 ritual.  Any thoughts?  We feed her dry food in the morning at 6am and then feed her wet food around 7pm, although she picks at it and eat it at some point during the night.

ANSWER: Ann,

I am wondering if there is an issue with the quality of the wet food or if your kitty is prone to hairballs. My best guess would be that your kitty is sensitive to one or more ingredients in the wet food and you may want to look at changing to a holistic wet food if you are going to continue to feed it regularly. You may find that a limited ingredient formula will be better tolerated. You can usually find limited ingredient formula cat foods anywhere that holistic type foods are sold, the price range really isn't that drastically different per serving and it is much better quality. Just so that you are aware, I feed holistic and limited ingredient foods as I have a cat with food allergies and I have found that the whole household has benefited, there is less vomiting and diarrea and the cats all have less loose fur and dandruff. All in all, it is the way to go in my opinion, but do your research to ensure that you are buying the product that you are expecting to. You will want to make sure that it is a formula that is a premium type because what you are getting in the way of a guarantee is the assurance that the ingredients and ingredient quality are consistant. I can't stress enough that doing your research is the way to choose the best nutrition for your pets, you may find that what is a great food today will be replaced by an even better quality food five years down the line. This is one of the reasons that I strongly recommend that pet owners stay current on pet food and look for a product that they are comfortable feeding. The money you spend on pet food is money saved in pet health expenses. Just so that you are aware in many of the grocery store pet foods you are looking at things like wood chips, sawdust, cheap grain waste and other junk as fillers, and the foods that you may think are using good quality meat and fish in their foods are in fact using ingredients unfit for human consumption and I would really prefer not to go into detail, just in case you get this around meal time. I can't emphasize enough, do your own research, do not buy into your pet store owner's propaganda about what is best for your pet, they make a profit from your decisions and while some pet store owners are concerned about the welfare of your pet that isn't always the case....I hope that this information gets you off to a good start in your search for good pet nutrition. Keep in mind that pet food manufacturers, vets and pet store owners do not have to live with the long term consequences of their recommendations and some folks out there are more interested in making a profit than your pet's long term health. If you doubt this look at the pet food scare where foods were pulled off of store shelves because pets were dying of kidney failure (this included some of the prescription diets sold in vet offices). That should help to bring things into the forefront for you. I know that you love your pet and want to do what is best for him so look at the products, do the research and hopefully your kitty will be around for many years to come to thank you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks!  We actually are feeding her premium foods recommended by the shelter where we adopted her.  We've spent hours pouring over the ingredients to make sure we aren't giving her anything but real meat and fish products.  I am happy to try other products though.  We don't buy anything from the grocery store, except from Trader Joe's, where the shelter said had quality food based on the ingredients.  Everything else we either buy from the shelter itself or from pet stores where we find lists of good ingredients.  The thing is, it doesn't seem to matter what we feed her, she still has a 7:40 episode.
Do you recommend going off wet food altogether?

Answer
Ann,

If you find that regardless of recommendations from the shelter and trying new holistic foods available at pet supply stores (go for high quality, limited ingredient in terms of things like duck, venison, rabbit, uncommon pet food protein sources and grain free) that she continues to vomit you may try things like pureed chicken. The cheapest way to give your cat things like chicken breast, turkey, duck, rabbit, etc is to cook the actual meat yourself and either puree and freeze the meat with the water from cooking (you will want to steam/broil the meat). You can freeze it into ice cube trays and then pop out portions each night to thaw for the next day. You could also see if the vet recommends an elimination diet to find out exactly what is bothering her system, it certainly sounds connected to the wet food. By the way some other yummy treat ideas from a cat's perspective are poached salmon, baked trout, one of my cats even loves bison in small doses. If you offer a high protein treat a few teaspoons at a time to replace the canned food you may find that the vomiting stops and your cat doesn't feel like they are missing anything. I hope that helps. Do remember though when you offer meat make sure that it is fully cooked, and has no spices, condiments or things like onion or garlic. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.