Dry food for indoor cat?

[DogualCat]

Dougal has been with me for just over 4 years, he was an FIV+ rescue so is indoor and he is the most loving, content cat.

The rescue said he was between 2-3 years so he's roughly 6-7 years now. He's had no health problems at all. At the moment I put out a small bowl of Royal Canin indoor dry food which he grazes on throughout the day. He also has one pouch of Whiskas in gravy (only wet food he will eat) he licks the gravy off but never touches the meat. He has about 5-10ish pets at home 'Dreamies' across the day and he won't look at human food. Has two good drinks of water a day as well.

I don't know if it is an age thing or a food thing but around twice a week he will vomit/regurgitate. There's always quite a bit of it and there is a lot of undigested dry food and sometimes treats in it. He never seems bothered and the vet has checked him over.

Anyone else had similar issues? Should I try and change him to a different food? Does he need senior food now? Or something more gentle on his digestion? It's normally later in the day/during the night that it happens. Picture for cat tax

Hello, eyes!

Seven is the age of a lot of senior cat food. Which they can then be on for about ten years! Maybe switch him over in a year or two.

Cats do vomit occasionally and it's normal.... I think, eg from furballs? Mine did it sometimes.

Got me curious, so I reminded myself with this;
https://wamiz.co.uk/cat/advice/22618/why-is-my-cat-throwing-up-but-acting-normal
Says indoor cats can develop allergies etc, and that 1-2 a week is fine.
Also that he could just be eating too quickly... Or yes, needs a change.

No idea re brands as mine ate Whiskas and Dreamies.

He obviously enjoys the gravy, iirc cats gets something like 80% of their hydration from wet food. I know you can get gravy powder for cats & cat soup, maybe have something like that if he doesn’t like chunks.

A vet said one dreamie is like us eating a donut, but mine has 5 a day too.
Do you have cat grass in a planter indoors? I think that’s supposed to help with digestion, you can buy seeds and plant them yourself.

Thanks both. I've just ordered some cat grass seeds as he had a planter to hand all last spring and summer. Lots of eating grass but he also liked to sit and stand in it!

He looked at me like I was mad when I offered him cat gravy but I'm not surprised, he turns down chicken, tuna and cheese. He also thinks he's a dog, he grooms my mum's dog and spends his evening competing with my dog to see who can get the comfy pet bed. He's a bit odd but he's gorgeous so it's ok!

I'll keep an eye on him and see how he goes, he's not a big eater but I do have a slow feeder mat and a small bowl of dry food available for him.

Bless him, he sounds a sweet dog cat.

Could be hairballs, mine throws them up but thinks I'm going to poison her if I try giving her the paste from the vets that helps it 🙄

You could try the 'soups' whiskas and the like do to keep up wet intake without wasting the wet food?

I've got one that often vomits if he eats dry food. The vet said that some cats over eat dry food because it swells in the stomach so they don't realise they're full until it's too late. Mine is a glutton though, ragdoll cross that definitely inherited the ragdoll greed!

we have a cat that only eats dry food. She vomits/regurgitates a lot. She also drinks a huge amount of water to compensate for the lack of wet food. She will eat cat sticks as well as the inevitable dreamies so they might be worth a try? We had to restrict catnip as it sent her absolutely loopy! 🙈

Cat soup/gravy would be too simple in Dougal's world. It has to be Whiskas in gravy and nothing else. This is the cat who was trapped by the rescue using jam sandwiches! He has hairball treats daily but not sure if they do much.

Nobody warned me that black cats are such characters, he taught himself to open the sliding wardrobe doors so he can wake me up 😂

Our cat turned ten last month and she’s become a bit of a puker in the last year or so - like you we’ve had her to the vet (numerous times actually) who found nothing wrong, and she’s totally unbothered by it herself. We have her on Royal Canin hairball dry in a puzzle feeder to stop her guzzling it, and she gets wet food twice a day too. We have a rigorous daily brushing regime and until recently she happily took the hairball paste from the vet, but last week she decided she hated it and it was the worst thing in the world, so we’re off that for now!

here she is solving the puzzle feeder.

She's gorgeous, love the concentration she's putting in to getting the food out. I'm reassured to know that they puke more as they get older, he's my first cat so I worry!

@DogualCat she’s so funny with it - lots of little chirps as she “hunts”. Initially she was completely perplexed by it then one day it just clicked. She’s definitely NOT a grazer and just wolfs everything (she was never a stray or has shared with other cats, she just loves food) so this slows her down a bit.

It isn't normal for them to throw up several times a week. A hairball every few weeks is ok, but not bringing up undigested food twice a week. Something is bothering his tummy.

Probiotics (Purina Fortiflora) often helps with general cat GI issues. It's just a powder that you sprinkle over their food and most cats accept it really well. If still not solved, you might have to talk to your vet about GI friendly (possibly prescription) cat food.

In the US we have Science Diet I/d and Biome, both wet and dry. Both are good, low residue easy to digest foods and cats tend to like them. RC makes Gastrointestinal and Purina has EN. Not sure which ones are available in UK - for mystery vomiting cats, our internist likes the Science Diet.