Kitten being sick - food advice

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Hi

We rescued two beautiful boys (approx 6mo now) from a vets recently. One of them started being sick about four days ago. Each time just a small amount of food (small enough to pick up in a piece of kitchen roll), he is otherwise well. He does wolf his food down, and will eat any left over by his brother (who is much more restrained!) I took them both to the vets for their vaccines and health check the day after it started so he has been checked over. The vets advice was basically to stop wet food, and that the flea/worming treatment may also stop the vomiting (although not sure why).

So, we've stopped putting down wet food. But they're now looking so forlorn all the time, it's making me so sad! And the kitten is still being sick - which makes me think it's not worth stopping??

They are on Whiskas dry kitten food, and were having Sainsbury's own brand wet kitten food. They were having a pouch each morning and night, which we had changed to half each at more regular intervals.

So my questions are...
Are there any brands for both wet and dry food that help sensitive stomachs?
Any other tips in general to help prevent vomiting?
Is this a 'thing' with some cats - I don't want to be withholding their wet food if he's just a sicky cat?

Thanks!

Not sure if relevant, but we've had them for just over a month and they've been on those brands of food for over 3 weeks. The vomiting started this week.

Any advice welcome!

The vets advice was basically to stop wet food (...).

I'm sorry, but that is horrendously bad advice and I'd probably be looking at changing vets because this one clearly knows very little about cat nutrition. Kittens can get dehydrated really easily when vomitting and dry kibble isn't actually that healthy for cats anyways (terrible for their kidneys). Regular vomitting is not normal and always needs to be investigated if it continues for more than a couple of days.

You should definitely be offering wet food, but most cheap / supermarket brands contain sugar and / or grains and lots of other questionable ingredients that have no place in a healthy diet for cats. There is also far too much offal in many cheap brands which often leads to vomitting and diarrhea in cats with a sensitive stomach.
I'm not in the UK, so can only give limited advice on brands, but if you can afford it, look at brands like Lily's Kitchen or Catz Finefood. Whiskas dry food (and just about everything else they produce) is unfortunately one of the worst despite the "big name" and definitely not something I'd give to a growing kitten.

Thanks @KittenFight

The vet did say more than that, that was just my take home advice. He said dry food was better for their teeth and encouraged them to drink more (and they do drink plenty, so definitely not at risk of dehydration). He isn't being sick constantly, and it's very small amounts, but it has maybe two or three times a day since Monday. He is otherwise acting quite normally. Both kitties clearly want their wet food back though.

Annoyingly, our local supermarket sells very few varieties of kitten food. Price is unfortunately a factor in what we can get, but obviously we will stretch as far as we can for their well-being. I'll look at those brands, thanks.

Some cats eat fast and vomit - having two cats might mean they're eating faster to avoid their food being eaten by the other one.
There's often very little choice in kitten food in supermarkets, but online is better. Have a look at Zooplus.
Whiskas is pretty poor quality food, whilst other brands might seem more expensive, quite often the portions needed are smaller so it lasts longer.
I'd try feeding them less at each meal and more often and perhaps feed them seperately and see if that helps.
One of mine is a bolter and I have to feed smaller portions of food I know she likes or she gobbles it up and promptly pukes!

Thank you @Beamur that's really helpful. Have you tried any bowls or feeders designed to slow cats down at all?
I'm just looking at brands and what's recommended... It's a minefield! So many brands, types, things to consider. It's frustrating that price is a factor, so I'm trying to find a balance between what they need, what will help with the vomiting, and what we can afford on a consistent basis.

The claim that dry food is better for their teeth is untrue, but unfortunately vets are taught very little about cat nutrition at university and the only "training" they receive (unless they're actively interested in it) tends to come from salespeople and seminars organised by pet food companies. Unfortunately, the only way to keep your cat's teeth clean(er) is raw meat with bones in it or brushing their teeth. Everything else is just a marketing ploy. Many cats encounter some form of kidney / urinary tract in their later years and dry food sadly plays a major part in this. If at all possible, cats should have wet food only.

Beamur is of course right in saying that eating too fast could be a problem. In their first year, cats should be fed on an "all you can eat" basis, so there should always be food available rather than just at set meal times. This usually makes them more relaxed and less greedy eaters as adults because they know that food will not run out / they won't go hungry. If you only give them small portions, take away any uneaten food fairly quickly or the other sibling eats the lion's share, your kitten may feel the need to eat faster than is good for them. If there's too much competition over food, feeding them separately is a good idea.

I second the Zooplus recommendation. It's a German website and unfortunately the choice of brands is not as good on the UK website, but I see that they do sell Feringa Kitten and Animonda Carny Kitten, which is probably what I would buy if budget was a concern. Costs £5.99 / kg which is about twice the price of Sainsbury's kitten food, but it has a much higher meat content, so you will need less of it. Ingredients and declaration aren't perfect, but it is grain and sugar free with a high meat content and enough taurine. The taurine content of the Sainsbury's kitten food is far too low (450 mg/kg when it should be 1500 mg/kg). Taurine is extremely important for heart development and eyes and Sainsbury's really shouldn't be selling this.

Sorry, that should have been "kidney / urinary tract problems" in my last post.

My cat is always sick on any food by whiskas it’s evil stuff I swear and even the dreamies she’s allergic too awful stuff
there is lots of info about purina brand that doesn’t look good we avoid it at all costs

If you have suitable kitchen scales, you should also weigh your kitten on a regular basis (I would suggest daily as long as the vomiting issue continues). If kitten keeps gaining weight and seems alert and happy otherwise, I'd be a little less concerned and see if different food solves the problem. If they keep losing weight for several days in a row, I'd probably go back to the vet sooner.

One of my cat had an allergic reaction to a supermarket brand food which caused her to vomit and licked herself like mad causing irritation to her skin. It develop after two weeks of using the supermarket brand food that i had to buy as the other food were not in stock. I revert back to her old food once stock were back and it solved the problem.

Thank you very much. Some very solid advice there @KittenFight which I appreciate. I don't have suitable scales unfortunately, but they're back at the vet soon for second vaccines so will get them weighed then (of course if we get more worried in the meantime, we'll take them down sooner).

Re feeding - we've been leaving dry food down at all times, and giving the wet food at meal times. As said upthread, to start with they had a whole pouch each morning and night, but we started to give half each at a time, and at more regular intervals. Is this the best approach?

I definitely want to give them wet food again but we only have the Sainsbury's in the house - should I hold off until I can go to a shop (we do have a pet shop in town I can try and get to over lunch) so as not to upset/confuse their tummies any further?

@ErinAoife @Loocheeyar would you mind telling me what brands you've used that your cats have been ok on, please?

(I realise I sound totally clueless 🤦‍♀️ we have had cats before but not for a while, and never with any digestive issues! Just want the kitties to be happy and healthy)

Ours are similar and we have switched to https://get.katkin.com/happier-healthier-cat-20/?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=Searchh%7CBrandd%7CPure&utmmadgroup=BrandVariationss%7CExact&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl4ekvdS3-wIVxtttCh13cAjLEAAYASAAEgJZSfD_BwE

... this company has just been recognised for providing the best cat food in the UK - customised diets aimed at addressing whatever issues your cat may have. And no, I don't work for them or have an shares etc. I'm just impressed by the complete turnaround in my cat's' health.

I always leave dry food down and give wet at intervals.
Your pet shop might have Natures Menu kitten food. Mine quite liked that, don't switch entirely but maybe add some new food to their current food and gradually increase new/decrease current over a few days and see how that goes.

My cat is fine on Sheba and any grains other than purina owned she’s on Harrington at the moment no issues and the vomiting and over grooming snotty nose sticky eyes has stopped

Yes we'd normally do that @Beamur but as it happens we've used the last of their dry food today (still some in their bowl though) and I'm hesitant to use the Sainsbury's wet food, especially as they've not had any now since Wednesday morning.

I've decided once DH is down for lunch he can deal with getting the toddler up for her nap and I'm heading straight out to the pet shop. I can't bear how miserable they might be probably are so getting a decent replacement wet and dry food is #1 priority.

The Katkin recommenation by weathervane1 looks very good! I would not continue with the Sainsbury's even for now if you can get an alternative from the pet shop.

Re feeding - we've been leaving dry food down at all times, and giving the wet food at meal times. As said upthread, to start with they had a whole pouch each morning and night, but we started to give half each at a time, and at more regular intervals. Is this the best approach?

Personally, I don't feed my kittens dry food at all (it's just not necessary / beneficial for cats in any way and only causes problems), so mine have wet food available 24/7. The brands with a high meat content don't dry out as quickly and can easily be left to sit there for several hours without getting smelly.

If you want to give several small fresh portions every few hours to avoid food drying out or one of the kittens eating everything in one sitting, you could try a microchip / timer controlled food dispenser:
www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_bowls_feeders/feeders

Haven't used one myself, but I do know people who use them very successfully.

Might be worth trying kitty on grain free food and see if that helps. Webbox do a kitten one which at the moment is on offer at £3 a box in Morrisons. It's definitely made a difference to my cat

My cat had allergic reaction to Tesco cat food pouched

If I relied on wet cat food only my cats would go hungry as they are very fussy! They do like dry food and I feed them a mix of thrive and bozita that I buy from zooplus. They get wet food 2 or 3 times a day - half a pouch/tin each

Thanks everyone so much for your advice earlier. My local pet shop literally had just Whiskas brand so I whizzed to Pets at Home in the next town over nap time and got some Wainwright's wet and dry food. Mixed the dry up with the remaining Whiskas and gave them both at lunchtime. Both cats have been visibly happier this afternoon, and we haven't had any sickness since - that's obviously not to say that won't happen, but so far so good.

Fingers crossed kitty will be happier on the new food! Can we now have a kitten picture please? 😺

Well the new food hasn't worked any magic, but I know we need to give it time. One vomit last night, but four in a short space of time this morning. Sorry, probably TMI but it was mainly bubbles/froth, rather than food this am. Not sure if that's normal or not; he isn't finishing his food either at the moment. I think if it carries on I'll be calling the vets on Monday for a more comprehensive check.

Pics won't upload for some reason @KittenFight 😏

Thought I'd update. Poor kitty isn't getting any better. He's barely eating now, and when he does he's sick immediately. I rang the on call vet this morning who said to take him in tomorrow morning for investigations and tests. Worried there may be a blockage or something else underlying, but they didn't deem it urgent enough to warrant taking him there. I've been syringing water into his mouth today to try and prevent him from getting dehydrated. Incredibly worried.

I think that you're right to take kitty back in. That sounds worrying. I hope you get some answers tomorrow.