My cats keeps vomiting at least once a week, need advice.

[Khadgar]

I own two male cats that are brothers, around 5 y/o.

I usually just feed them normal dry food and water, and canned once or twice a week as treat.

My one cat though has recently been vomiting around once a week on average, it's usually just one big clop of digested dry food.

I think this may be attributed to the fact I bought a larger cat bowl within the last year that I fill once a day and basically let them free feed, never knew until now this is a bad idea as they always stayed at normal weight, and my other cat hasn't had any issues at all.

The cat that has been vomiting weekly has also been meowing a lot more then average lately, for now I'm going to stop free feeding him and twice a day instead as I learned this can be very bad

The problem with free feeding, explains Dr. Thomas Morganti, DVM, of the Avon Veterinary Clinic in Connecticut, is that every time your cat goes for that kibble, there’s an insulin spike. The pancreas can’t handle the long-term overload, and eventually you’re looking at a cat with diabetes.

Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD, has explained here at Petful that offering all-day dry food is especially problematic: “Cats conditioned to the never-ending dry buffet are at risk for developing obesity, urinary problems and kidney failure, to name just a few of the top feline health risks of a dry food diet. It would be like a human moving his recliner to a Las Vegas buffet.”

Would appreciate any thoughts on this, and whether a trip to the Vet is necessary at this moment or just stopping the free feeding should fix him up?
Thanks

[Dug]

Yeah free feeding is hit or miss and overeating can cause vomiting. The type of food could have something to do with it so perhaps try a different brand of dry food or maybe wet food. Is there any hair at all in the vomit?

[the game]

Probably ate something it shouldn't have

[Low Hanging Fruit]

My cat does this around this time of year. For him it is an allergy he has during the summer in my area. Not a ton we can do about it. Not to say this is your problem but it is something to consider.

[Lenonis]

I had the same problem.

Couple of things that helps:
1) Brushing them more regularly
2) Limited the access to food (bought a timed dispenser feeder)
3) given them wet food every day in addition to the dry.

[Deleted]

Is it food or hairballs?

[Synbios]

Free feeding is obviously a ridiculous idea and leads to overweight cats in most cases. It's a simple math formula. If your cat eats even one calorie more than he spends every day, then eventually he'll be overweight.

However, depending on the cat(s), serving the day's portion in one go can be perfectly fine, as cats like to eat a little bit at a time throughout the entire day. This can also be a problem, however, if the cat a) likes to eat ALL of the food at once, which is unusual and a cause of vomiting, or if b) you have more than one cat and one of the cats eats more than his portion, in which case you're in for an annoying time feeding them correctly.

Anyway, if the vomiting persists despite the change, you should go to the vet. Try weighting both cats every week with the new diet and see if one of them keeps gaining weight and try to adjust the quantity you give them. Neutered cats (ALL cats should be neutered, otherwise you're quite literally Hitler as you cause the mass extermination of cats all over your city) need far less calories and so you may need to tweak the quantity you give your cats around until their weight is stable.

[Jokerfiend]

I own two male cats that are brothers, around 5 y/o.

I usually just feed them normal dry food and water, and canned once or twice a week as treat.

My one cat though has recently been vomiting around once a week on average, it's usually just one big clop of digested dry food.

I think this may be attributed to the fact I bought a larger cat bowl within the last year that I fill once a day and basically let them free feed, never knew until now this is a bad idea as they always stayed at normal weight, and my other cat hasn't had any issues at all.

The cat that has been vomiting weekly has also been meowing a lot more then average lately, for now I'm going to stop free feeding him and twice a day instead as I learned this can be very bad

The problem with free feeding, explains Dr. Thomas Morganti, DVM, of the Avon Veterinary Clinic in Connecticut, is that every time your cat goes for that kibble, there’s an insulin spike. The pancreas can’t handle the long-term overload, and eventually you’re looking at a cat with diabetes.

Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD, has explained here at Petful that offering all-day dry food is especially problematic: “Cats conditioned to the never-ending dry buffet are at risk for developing obesity, urinary problems and kidney failure, to name just a few of the top feline health risks of a dry food diet. It would be like a human moving his recliner to a Las Vegas buffet.”

Would appreciate any thoughts on this, and whether a trip to the Vet is necessary at this moment or just stopping the free feeding should fix him up?
Thanks

Quit being a cheapskate and take the fucking cat to the vet. It ain't a PC or a tool of some kind. I will never understand these types of posts.

[Deleted]

Dry food and water? Give me that for 3 days and ill gag aswell.
Also i suspect the majority here enjoys torturing small animals in the backyard, not the best place to ask about animal care.

[belfpala]

Quit being a cheapskate and take the fucking cat to the vet. It ain't a PC or a tool of some kind. I will never understand these types of posts.

This. Advice here will just be anecdotal.

[Sam the Wiser]

OP, don't ask MMO-C for actual advise on this. I have 2 cats that only eat dry feed and they have been fine for 10+ years.

[shadowmouse]

As others have said, there is a reason not to have medical advice threads, and although this is for pets it will suffer the same issues. See a vet, preferably one who is comfortable with cats. [Not all are.]

With that said, if I recall there are some problems with feeding male cats in particular a diet of dry food, and some dry food is not exactly good for them anyway. Be sure to discuss the longer term effects of that with your vet while you're there.

[Khadgar]

Appreciate everyone that took the time to reply, read all your comments.

Yeah free feeding is hit or miss and overeating can cause vomiting. The type of food could have something to do with it so perhaps try a different brand of dry food or maybe wet food. Is there any hair at all in the vomit?

Nope, there indoor cats but I let him outside in the backyard for a little bit and noticed grass in there, so yeah guess it was definitely the grass this time.

They've never been overweight, and I wasn't aware of the other problems that it can cause like diabetes, the one that keeps vomiting, despite being larger naturally, weights a little less than his smaller brother.

As others have said, there is a reason not to have medical advice threads, and although this is for pets it will suffer the same issues. See a vet, preferably one who is comfortable with cats. [Not all are.]

With that said, if I recall there are some problems with feeding male cats in particular a diet of dry food, and some dry food is not exactly good for them anyway. Be sure to discuss the longer term effects of that with your vet while you're there.

I'd take him to the Vet right away if this is definitely a reason for medical assistance as a responsible owner, but a few hundred dollar bill or whatever it may be is more than I can afford at the moment due to my current financial situation, it's not like my cats have health insurance either

[Puupi]

Free feeding? Our cats have had 24/7 buffet for 30 years, none of them have been fat or sick. We've had like 15 cats in our family during that time.

[Deleted]

I own two male cats that are brothers, around 5 y/o.

I usually just feed them normal dry food and water, and canned once or twice a week as treat.

My one cat though has recently been vomiting around once a week on average, it's usually just one big clop of digested dry food.

I think this may be attributed to the fact I bought a larger cat bowl within the last year that I fill once a day and basically let them free feed, never knew until now this is a bad idea as they always stayed at normal weight, and my other cat hasn't had any issues at all.

The cat that has been vomiting weekly has also been meowing a lot more then average lately, for now I'm going to stop free feeding him and twice a day instead as I learned this can be very bad

The problem with free feeding, explains Dr. Thomas Morganti, DVM, of the Avon Veterinary Clinic in Connecticut, is that every time your cat goes for that kibble, there’s an insulin spike. The pancreas can’t handle the long-term overload, and eventually you’re looking at a cat with diabetes.

Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD, has explained here at Petful that offering all-day dry food is especially problematic: “Cats conditioned to the never-ending dry buffet are at risk for developing obesity, urinary problems and kidney failure, to name just a few of the top feline health risks of a dry food diet. It would be like a human moving his recliner to a Las Vegas buffet.”

Would appreciate any thoughts on this, and whether a trip to the Vet is necessary at this moment or just stopping the free feeding should fix him up?
Thanks

Your precious animals aren't feeling well and instead of calling a doctor, you ask bunch of random people at a gaming website? Maybe those pets aren't so important to you after all.

[chazus]

Nope, there indoor cats but I let him outside in the backyard for a little bit and noticed grass in there, so yeah guess it was definitely the grass this time.

Letting an indoor cat out sometimes is very different from an outdoor cat being an outdoor cat, and an indoor cat being indoors 100%.

I'd take him to the Vet right away if this is definitely a reason for medical assistance as a responsible owner, but a few hundred dollar bill or whatever it may be is more than I can afford at the moment due to my current financial situation

You can't tell what the reason is, and neither can anyone here. There are a hundred tiny details you're leaving out that can't be conveyed by an internet post. Checkups are usually pretty cheap, just to get an inspection ($30-50). Even if it wasn't, get it done. Do what you have to. Borrow money. You shouldn't be in a position where you can't afford health stuff for them in the first place.

it's not like my cats have health insurance either

Why not? Do you? Your family? Your car?

[MatadorMedia]

How about you take him to the vet?!

[Independent voter]

It's it making that weird hairball sound before it pukes?

[Glnger]

make sure they aren't swallowing strings and such

i have a boy cat that vomits usually once a week more from eating too quickly than overeating.

[Khadgar]

It's it making that weird hairball sound before it pukes?

I'm not too familiar with the difference, they rarely cough up hairballs, the sick cat does have a longer fur coat and shed a lot though, perhaps that could be a major cause?

I'll have to start brushing him a few times a week