My friends cat is dryheaving every day, whats wrong?

[LeanNsupreme]

My friends cat is about 6 yrs old, and for about a month now the thing dry heaves or coughs about 4-6 times a day, for about 10 secs aprox each time, like he's about to throw up or something but never does, my bud is gonna take him to the Vet soon, but maybe somneone here has a similar experience w/ their cat.

[Ping]

We have something like that in our kitten about 8 months old. He would do that soon after we got him about as much as what your cat does, and after a week it nearly stopped. He still does this every now and then, and I think he was either sick with something or had a persistent hairball that he was fighting back down.

[babycake]

It's hard to say over the internet. Asthma seems to be a common issue in cats, sometimes mistakened for hairballs. Best to let the vet diagnose it.

[Lil Bastrd]

Try using a hairball remedy (the gel you give to them) for about a week. if this doesn't clear the coughing I would get the cat looked at by the vet just to make sure that it isn't a symptom of something else.

[LeanNsupreme]

thanks

[smoothie.]

its a hairball

my cats when young would do it all the time

the tips of their tongue would come out and theyd seem to be puking but only sometimes do.

if they ever do puke, take a look at it. if theres a big ball of hair, see if you can find a better "hairball control" food.

its so sad when they get hairballs, seems like my cats are dying =(

[Ping]

Cats will always get hairballs, but I found the best thing to keep it to a minimum is a good diet of wet food only. There is so much junk cat food out there, and we've noticed since feeding our cats straight canned food without by-product, they shed a lot less. When they clean themselves, they don't lick up as much of their fur into their mouth.

The down side to good quality wet food like Wellness is that it costs nearly 3 bucks for a 12 oz can.

[Lil Bastrd]

Originally Posted by Ping

Cats will always get hairballs, but I found the best thing to keep it to a minimum is a good diet of wet food only. There is so much junk cat food out there, and we've noticed since feeding our cats straight canned food without by-product, they shed a lot less. When they clean themselves, they don't lick up as much of their fur into their mouth.

The down side to good quality wet food like Wellness is that it costs nearly 3 bucks for a 12 oz can.

Question for you, as you only use canned (wet) cat food, what do you use to keep the cats teeth clean and healthy ? Just curious as I have had friends with old cats who go off the dry and only eat the wet, but they still wanted to keep the teeth clean.

[babycake]

Originally Posted by Lil Bastrd

Question for you, as you only use canned (wet) cat food, what do you use to keep the cats teeth clean and healthy ? Just curious as I have had friends with old cats who go off the dry and only eat the wet, but they still wanted to keep the teeth clean.

I'm not the original poster, but my cat gets mainly canned, too, and I brush his teeth. The feline vet we see said you don't even have to use a toothbrush -- your fingertips will do. Use the C.E.T. Enzymatic paste they sell at vet clinics. It works really well.

[Fafine]

im assuming its the same for helping a dog brush their teeth? if so then just squirt a bit of dog toothpaste onto your finger and just wipe the toothpaste on their teeth, thats the way my vet told me

[LeanNsupreme]

Can you people start your own thread for cleaning your pets teeth for fuck sakes??


Thanks very much to everyone else for the helpful advice though.

[Tegra_Devil]

cats can often start dryheaving if you change them from a food they are used to. cats should generally stay on one brand of food for a long time....we had our cat on the same dry and wet food since she was a pretty much born for 6 months, then changed her to a new dry food, but kept the wet the same, and she started dryheaving a couple times a day for a couple weeks, then it stopped for good.

my local spca Vet told me this

[babycake]

Originally Posted by Tegra_devil

cats can often start dryheaving if you change them from a food they are used to. cats should generally stay on one brand of food for a long time....we had our cat on the same dry and wet food since she was a pretty much born for 6 months, then changed her to a new dry food, but kept the wet the same, and she started dryheaving a couple times a day for a couple weeks, then it stopped for good.

my local spca Vet told me this

I have to disagree with this.

My cats get a rotation of a few different brands and proteins of food and this has never happened. Additionally, variety is best, no matter what kind of diet is being fed (dry, canned, home-cooked, raw).

What I'm quoting below is from a dog nutrition site, but it holds true for cats as well. This has been verified by a few holistic vets and "animal nutritionists" that my pets see. The last thing you want is to feed your cat the same thing every day for the rest of his/her life.

Variety is important no matter what type of diet you feed. Even if you use commercial foods, it is best to find at least two or three different brands, using different protein sources, and rotate between them, anywhere from daily to every few months.

Also, even “complete and balanced” diets may contain quite different levels of nutrients. If you always feed the same food, any nutritional deficiencies or excesses present in that food will affect your dog over time. The same is true if you feed different varieties made by the same company, since they tend to use the same vitamin/mineral formulations in all of their foods.

Your dog is also more likely to develop food allergies if fed the same food all the time. It takes time for an allergy to develop, typically months to years. Dogs that are fed the same food for extended periods of time will often develop allergies to one or more of the ingredients in that food. Variety is particularly important for puppies, since puppyhood is when the immune system learns which foods are normal and not a cause for reaction.

Source: http://www.dogaware.com/wdjhomemade1.html

I don't see the connection between switching foods and dry heaving, unless it was due to food intolerance such as allergies, then that may be possible, but the problem itself then would be due to certain ingredients, and not the act of switching foods itself.