My cat chokes

Hi, I am new to this group and also a new cat owner. I have two cats
and one of them chokes on occasion. I am wondering if this is a
hairball. Also do I need to feed her hairball control food? The other
cat doesn't seem to have this problem. Are hairballs serious?

Thanks,
Leslie
www.palette48.etsy.com
www.sweetoutfits.com

http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/medical-info.shtml

Vomiting
Some cats vomit all the time; other cats do so relatively rarely. Vomiting
is not a sign of the same sort of distress as it is in humans. Because they
are carnivores, they need to be able to vomit quickly and almost at will
without feeling sick.
On the other hand, a cat that suddenly starts to vomit, or vomits more than
usual or in some way demonstrates a departure from its normal habits should
be checked by the vet.

Reasons
Most commonly, a cat vomits because it has hairballs. To check for this,
examine the vomit carefully for small grayish pellets or lumps (it doesn't
matter what color your cat's hair is). If these are present, then hairballs
is the problem. Hairballs occur even with shorthair cats. All cats benefit
from regular brushing to help minimize shedding and ingestion of hair. If
your cat is vomiting because of hairballs, its normal behavior is not
affected. That is, it will be its usual self immediately before and after
vomiting.
To help prevent this kind of vomiting, feed your cat on a regular basis some
petroleum jelly (aka as Vaseline). If they don't like it, you can try
Petromalt, a malt-flavored petroleum jelly. Pats of butter will also work.
To give it to them, if they won't eat it of their free will, smear some on
top of their paw and they will lick it up as they clean it off. Be careful
to rub it in thoroughly, otherwise when they shake their paw, you'll have
gobs of vaseline go flying onto the walls or carpet. Give it to them daily
for a few days if they've just upchucked or are in the midst of dry heaves;
go back down to a weekly dose once they've gotten rid of existing hairballs
and this should keep them hairball free. Frequent brushing also helps; every
bit of hair on the brush is less hair in your cat's stomach.

Another common reason for vomiting is overeating, particularly dry food. The
dry food absorbs water and swells, and then they have to throw it back up.
If the vomit looks like a semi-solid tube of partially digested cat food,
that's probably what it is.

A cat may vomit when it is allergic to its food. You can check this out by
trying another brand of food with substantially different ingredients and no
food colorings.

Sometimes cats vomit when they have worms. Consult your vet for a worming
appointment.

If the vomit is white or clear, that can be one of the symptoms of
panleukopenia, feline distemper. If such vomiting occurs a coule of times
over the course of a day or night, a phone call to the vet is in order.

If cats eat something that obstructs their digestive system, they may try to
vomit it back up. If you can see some of it in their mouth, DO NOT PULL IT
OUT, especially if it is string. You may just cut up their intestines in the
attempt. Take the cat to the vet immediately.

If the cat displays other changes of behavior along with the vomiting, you
should consult the vet. Eg. listlessness, refusing food along with vomiting
may indicate poisoning.

Periodic throwing up can be a sign of an over-active thyroid. This is
particularly common in older cats. Your vet can do a blood test and find out
the thyroid level. It can also be indicative of a kidney infection:
something that your vet can also check out.

In general, as distasteful as it may be, you should examine any vomit for
indication of why the cat vomited.

Summary
Dietary problems include:
a.. sudden change in diet
b.. ingestion of foreign material (garbage, plants, etc)
c.. eating too rapidly
d.. intolerance or allergy to specific foods
Problems with drugs include:
a.. specific reactions to certain drugs
b.. accidental overdosages
Ingestion of toxins:
a.. Lead, ethylene glycol, cleaning agents, herbicides, fertilizers, heavy
metals all specifically result in vomiting.
Metabolic disorders:
a.. diabetes mellitus
b.. too little or too much of certain hormones, trace elements, etc.
c.. renal disease
d.. hepatic disease
e.. sepsis
f.. acidosis
g.. heat stroke
Disorders of the stomach:
a.. obstruction (foreign body, disease or trauma)
b.. parasites
c.. assorted gastric disorders
d.. ulcers, polyps
Disorders of the small intestine:
a.. parasites
b.. enteritis
c.. intraluminal obstruction
d.. inflammatory bowel disease
e.. fungal disease
f.. intestinal volvulus
g.. paralytic ileus
Disorders of the large intestine:
a.. colitis
b.. constipation
c.. irritable bowel syndrome
Abdominal disorders:
a.. pancreatitis
b.. gastrinoma of the pancreas
c.. peritonitus (any cause including FIP)
d.. inflammatory liver disease
e.. bile duct obstruction
f.. steatitis
g.. prostatitis
h.. pyelonephritis
i.. pyometra (infection of the uterus)
j.. urinary obstruction
k.. diaphragmatic hernia
l.. neoplasia
Nerologic disorders:
a.. pain, fear, excitement, stress
b.. motion sickness
c.. inflammatory lesions
d.. trauma
e.. epilepsy
f.. neoplasia
Misc:
a.. hiatal hernia
b.. heartworm
Vomit stains
You may now have stains on the carpet that you want to get rid of. Spot
Shot, and other stain removers, work well at removing stains. If you're
having trouble with bright red or orange stains, you may want to invest in a
cat food that doesn't use dyes. That can help considerably in reducing the
stain factor.




wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, I am new to this group and also a new cat owner. I have two cats
and one of them chokes on occasion. I am wondering if this is a
hairball. Also do I need to feed her hairball control food? The other
cat doesn't seem to have this problem. Are hairballs serious?

Thanks,
Leslie
www.palette48.etsy.com
www.sweetoutfits.com

When I had Ike (RB) he used to have coughing spells. The vet said it
was asthma and gave him a prednisone shot. This would eliminate the
coughing for about 4 months when the shot would have to be repeated.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Do you mean the cat chokes when he or she is eating?

Rhonda

wrote:
Hi, I am new to this group and also a new cat owner. I have two cats
and one of them chokes on occasion. I am wondering if this is a
hairball. Also do I need to feed her hairball control food? The other
cat doesn't seem to have this problem. Are hairballs serious?

Thanks,
Leslie
www.palette48.etsy.com
www.sweetoutfits.com

kmh wrote:
Going on this, I can't say whether it's a hairball. Does she hack at any
other time besides while eating? If it does turn out to be a hairball,
some grooming can help cut down on the hair ingested. I find that brushes
work best on my fluffy cat, and gripping rubber grooming gloves work best
on my shorthair. Sometimes I also wet my hands in the sink and run them
through my fluffy cat's fur to "groom" some hair off of him without him
knowing that's what I'm doing (he doesn't like brushed). Some cat grass
(you can grow it indoors) can aid in digestion and in hacking up small
hairballs. If these things failed me, then I'd try the hairball formula
food, but I'd rather do the other things first before changing their diet
just for hairballs.

You asked whether hairballs can be serious. It's possible they can get
stuck. It seems in my experience, that the fluffier the cat, and the more
it sheds, the more risk there is. My fluffy cat had to stay overnight at a
vet once and get fluids intravenously because he got dehydrated from a
stuck hairball. His hairball finally came out (I can't remember whether he
hacked it up or pooped it out). But some cats get them surgically removed
when they won't come out either way. My shorthair only hacked once or
twice in his life (8.5 years) and just never has this problem. So during
shedding seasons, or for cats at risk for more serious and frequent
hairball problems, you probably want to keep your eye out to make sure
they're eating and drinking enough and take them to the vet when you see
they're not.

kmh

Thanks for the informative answers. My cat doesn't choke when she is
eating. She just does it out of the blue but not very often. Nothing
seems to come up so I haven't seen any hairballs. I will try some of
everybody's suggestions and see if that helps.

Thanks,
Leslie

www.palette48.etsy.com
www.sweetoutfits.com

My Russian Blue did the same when we first got him...sort of like
wheezing spells out of the blue. The vet said it probably wasn't
anything serious but to give him a call if it got worse. It seems to
have gone away now the kitten's gotten older, so maybe it's something
they grow out of.

I suspected asthma too...

---MIKE--- wrote:
When I had Ike (RB) he used to have coughing spells. The vet said it
was asthma and gave him a prednisone shot. This would eliminate the
coughing for about 4 months when the shot would have to be repeated.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')