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Cat with behavioral problems and vomiting issues

Help!  I am at my wits end with one of my cats.  He is a 3 year old male inside cat.  We adopted him from a shelter when he was 8 weeks old.  First, the vomiting issue.  Since he was small, he has vomited on a regular basis.  He will vomit once a day, for three or four days and then stop for a week or two and then start the cycle all over again.  His vomiting can be at any time.  He could be sleeping and jump up and vomit or it could be while he is playing.  Sometimes the vomit is barely digested food, and sometimes it is fully digested.  I have taken him to two different vets who both say that some cats basically just throw up.  The first vet put him on Science Diet for sensitive stomachs, which didn't help at all.  The second vet did all kinds of lab work but found no problems.  I started reading online and found that many cats are allergic to the fillers in cat foods, so I switched him to Natural Balance.  No change in the vomiting, but his coat is much more silky.  Several months later, after hearing really good things about Blue Buffalo, I gave that a try.  Again, no change.  Back to reading, I found that probiotics might help, so I tried mixing some in with a little wet cat food (he usually only eats dry cat food).  He just sniffs it and walks away.  I don't know what else to do.  He seems fine health wise, no other symptoms, but I know there has to be a way to help him.  One thing to note is that his vomiting is worse when he is stressed by someone new being in the house.  This brings me to the behavioral problems.  

For the first year this cat was the sweetest cat ever to everyone except our other cat (a small female).  He has always bullied the female cat, but it is getting progressively worse.  He will attack her and chase her out of the room any time she tries to come out to socialize.  He is no longer friendly to anyone but my husband and I.  My family just came to visit and he hisses and lunges at them, trying to attack.  My family is actually so afraid of him that I have to keep him in another room.  He started to become this way about two years ago, but it seems to have gotten worse after the birth of my daughter.  He will attack me for no reason, but he also has very loving times as well.  He rarely ever attacks my husband.  I have tried every form of discipline I can think of, but nothing seems to work (one vet said this was because he was dropped off at the shelter at birth and was bottle fed).  Currently I use a spray bottle with water and a little bit of vinegar and squirt him to get him to stop doing something he isn't supposed to.  This will make him stop for a minute and then he is right back at it.  My last resort is to put him in the bathroom for a few minutes to remove him from the situation, but he usually starts back as soon as you let him out.  

We play with him with his toys several times a day, give him lots of love and attention and try to be as patient as we can, but he has now started hissing and lunging at my one year old daughter and I can't have that.  Any help would be appreciated.
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541150 tn?1306033843
Hmm….with what you’ve told me, I guess this is all stress related trauma;  a very dramatic and serious situation.  It’s even causing him to regurgitate quite often, thus not being able to digest most of what he eats. I wonder how he has been gaining weight throwing up all that food. Well let’s just take it step by step here. First, be sure he doesn’t have food related problems. If he has gained weight, then I take back what I said about IBD.  Food problems can certainly cause behavior change in cats. But I don’t think he has IBD. Perhaps looking into his stomach could help. Like I told you, health conditions and External Factors are the two leading causes of stress in cats. I believe your cat suffers stress caused by external agents.


I know my cat’s behavior changed a bit when he was suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I prepare my cats foods and it has worked for me. But I was 100% sure my cat had food allergies.  Vomiting is also a sign of IBD, but if there is no weight loss I’d say he has something else and, my guess would be BEHAVIORAL problems. Something triggered this aggressiveness in him. I once had a cat like yours. My only solution was to re-home him. I did not take him to a shelter but looked for someone who had no pets and no kids (my little cousin was making the cat extremely nervous). Some kitties really don’t do well with kids. The majority get used to their new environment.  You don’t have to re-home your pet. When did you have your baby? If you recently gave birth then I’d wait and be patient.  
Please, take a look at this page. Franny is a very experienced lady who knows her stuff.

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/stress.htm

I am pretty sure your feline’s vomiting is due to stress caused by environmental changes, such as you being pregnant, and then the baby.


To answer the question you had about how I prepare my cats foods, I’ll tell you. I create a “mouse” for my cats. It’s pretty easy actually. Here is one of the things I do. I get rabbit, turkey and chicken for them from a very reliable farm dedicated to selling healthy animals to those who put their cats and dogs on the BARF diet (raw meat). The website is hare-today.com.  I buy almost the entire animal (ground), including the heart, head and liver. They deliver the meat frozen to your door. I also buy some supplements to make the diet balanced and rich in nutrients. I get multivitamins, digestive enzymes, probiotics, glandular supplements, a product called Missing Link and salmon oil. I also buy heart at the market, just heart since cats cannot be healthy without Taurine. I give each cat 1 whole heart . You can never give a cat too much taurine. Their bodies get rid of the excess; but too little is dangerous. My cats get taurine from the animals I buy from them, the multivitamins and the organs I buy separately. That said, I built a Health Page titled cat Nutrition: BARF Diet which gives more information.  Almost every problem caused by food can be solved by switching the cat to a cooked/raw meat diet, including obesity, IBD, UTI and Diabetes. This community witnessed my suffering with my cat. I almost lost him.


I hope you find a way to alleviate your kitty’s anxiety. Just remember he is not doing these things off of pure madness or meanness. He is really suffering. I’d be glad to help you find out what it is that’s making him so depressed. I’m sure others will try to help you as well. If you could provide as much detail as possible It’d help us help you. Again, good job on caring for him so much. The reason I told you using vinegar isn't a good idea is because your cat's problems will not get resolved like this, as you've noticed, and while it may be safe, the kitty does not understand this way of discipline, and may or may not respond badly to it, like becoming more aggressive or less trusting. He knows why he is doing what he is doing, trust me, he knows. We just gotta figure out a way to help him feel better.

Exactly when did you have your baby?


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Avatar universal
Thank you for your suggestions.  I will check on a biopsy and will compare the ingredients in the foods we have tried thus far.   He lost a little weight when our baby was born (stress, I'm sure) but has since gained all that back plus some.  No, the vet did not do an ultrasound.  What type of recipe did you use for your homemade cat food?  

We did research the best way to introduce the cats to the baby and did it as slowly as possible.  While I don't doubt that some of his stress is from having the baby in the house, the change in his temperament started about the time I got pregnant, so that can't be the only reason.  

He used to love having other people (family, guests, etc) around and then it was like he just switched.  I agree about the hissing, but he doesn't just hiss.  He will corner someone (myself included occasionally) and attack their ankles and feet biting and scratching.  This is completely unprovoked and he is now consistently this way with guests.    

For the most part my daughter leaves the cats alone.  She rarely even tries to pet him and at this point usually just ignores him, but with the way he now attacking unprovoked, I worry that he will do the same with her.  

We already had the female cat when we got the male.  She is a very small and shy manx.  He truly terrorizes her and I can't get him to stop, which is why I use the vinegar.  Squirting this cat with plane water is pointless.  He will just look at you and then continue on with what he was doing (ie. chasing the other cat, jumping on counters, scratching furniture).  Because he doesn't like the smell of the vinegar (which I only squirt on his back) he will actually stop his bad behavior for a short period of time.  Why do you say no vinegar and what would you suggest as a way to get him to stop stalking and attacking the female cat?  
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541150 tn?1306033843
Can I ask what the results of using vinegar have been? Never spray your cat with vinegar. Water is ok for behavioral problems; but vinegar is not. If water doesn't help, that's when you know something serious is calling for your attention. So good job for taking him to the vet.

Another question. Did you adopt him first and then you got your female or did you get the female first?

It looks like either the vomiting is related to stress or a problem in the small intestine, in which case you'd have to do a biopsy to detect what it is. When the issue is related to food, a biopsy is usually the best approach. Pregnancy and newborns bring insecurities and stress to our cats. You need to introduce him to the baby slowly, step by step. First, allowing him to sniff the baby's blankie or a toy helps introduce him to the new smell. Then, letting the cat sniff the baby and the cradle will allow him to get used to the presence of the baby. If you didn't do this, then it is obvious your cat is stressed out. There are online articles on how to introduce a cat to a baby, and I believe there is a Health Page on that as well. Your cat hissing at people is just a sign of stress or fear, not meanness. Imagine being in a place you can't get out of to run and hide.... with a stranger you have no idea what/who it is or if he/she is going to do any harm to you. Cats hate change, and most don't deal with it in a light way. Babies = Change.

Usually, patience, love and vet care is what's recommended. His vomiting worries me a little. Try a digestive enzyme to help him digest his foods. I know a biopsy can be expensive, but you need to make sure your cat doesn't have health issues. Yes, vomiting can be caused by stress but it can also be food related, which, in most cases, it is food related. Has he lost any weight at all? Hissing just means 'go away', or 'leave me alone'. Hissing is a warning, especially for an indoor who lives with a one year old child. Some cats will hiss when they have a health condition and feel bad, and kids certainly can add to that stress. Is your 1 year old making him uncomfortable in any way meaning, is she trying to pick him up, or play with him, or getting too close to him? Be patient. Your cat is just trying to tell you something. He isn't doing that because he is being mean.

For cats with food problems I found that (when commercial or prescription diets don't work) the best thing to do is switch them to a carefully prepared homemade diet. That's how I was able to get rid of my cat's food allergies. Science Diet, well, just forget about it. It's not good food. Some nutritionists like to call it Science Death. Natural balance is good but not all of their formulas can/will help the cat. Look at the nutrient content in each food you've bought. There has to be something common in all of them that's causing an upset stomach.

My first recommendation is to do a biopsy. Your cat may be experiencing signs of IBD in the small intestine, especially is he is losing weight. Did the vet perform ultrasounds?
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