Hi - we have two cats, and one of them does that as well. There are a couple of things that could help. You didn't mention the cat's age, but older cats often have a problem similar to this. Is there another animal in the house? Sometimes, cats "inhale" their food to be sure they get it before the other animals in the house have a chance! One solution could be to feed your kitty in a separate place that other animals cannot get to - when our kitty gets bad about "wolfing" food, we feed her in the bathroom just by herself with the door shut. She relaxes because no one else can get in, and she beats her head on the door when she is done and ready to come out! Ha!
Also with this kitty, we found the better quality of dry food, the better she tolerates it no matter how fast she eats it. The cheaper brands like Special Kitty have a lot of fatty fillers (cheap) that tend to come right back up within a little while of eating. We've tried a lot of different brands, and so far, there are only a few that don't re-appear in short order - Purina One (turquoise bag), and Eukanuba Lamb & Rice or Chicken & Rice. She can also tolerate the new Purina one in the green bag, but it doesn't set as well as the other two kinds. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but worth it in the long run (how much are you really saving when you are wiping it back up later?). The Eukanuba especially is great - her whole coat changed when we started feeding her that food - she got a sleek shiny coat, her tummy settled down a lot, and would swear her eyes got brighter! : )
Another we've noticed is a big difference in how often you groom them vs the throwing up. Hairballs play a significant part of the vomiting cycle, IMHO. If they have a lot of hair in their tummy, almost anything will come back up. Try buying some of the malt flavor hairball stuff from the pet store - it comes in a tube like toothpaste and cats love it. It "greases" their insides a little so more hair passes through instead of clumping in the gut. Hairball helping treats are also a good idea, since you can control the treats - they can't be wolfed down so fast!
I hope those ideas help you a little bit. It could be just a really bad habit your kitty came with - some teens bold their food too! Ha! If she just has a bad habit that can't be broken, you'll probably have to supply the food in small quantities more often so she doesn't make herself sick!
Good luck to you - |
We had this problem with a cat of ours - we took her to the Vet who recommended that we feed her smaller, regular meals. So, instead of feeding her once in the morning, once in the afternoon and one in the evening, we gave her much smaller meals, but more often. This seemed to do the trick! Visit: http://www.allthingskittycat.blogspot.com for more info on cats |