My cat dry heaves but doesn't vomit after new food. What's wrong?

I would wonder if the dry heaving is actually a cough - the two can sound very similar in a cat. Feline asthma, some infections or parasites like lungworms can cause a cough. I would recommend making an appointment to see your vet - they may recommend a chest x-ray to look for evidence of asthma. If you can take a video to show your vet it could help!

You can try keeping him on a sensitive stomach food such as Iams limited ingredient, Fromm, or Purina sensitive stomach. However, it sounds like Keeko may have a inflammatory bowel disease and really the prescription diets have more reliable results. Also I would keep in mind that sudden switches from one food to the next can cause upset stomach issues in and of themselves. It is recommend to do a slow transition over the course of 7-10 days whenever you are making a food change. Website link on inflammatory bowel disease https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951476 You should at the very least get her examined and open up the conversation with the vet to do baseline bloodowork to rule out anything major and then ask for a prescription diet for Royal Canin Rabbit and Potato or Roylal Canin hydrolyzed protein diet, or HIll's Z/D Ultra to start her on a food trial. This is just 1 test to run so this should be something you could feasible do to at least get him started on something more reliable and effective. If the vomiting does not improve within a few weeks of being on the food, or if he develops any more symptoms, then he should be worked up further (i.e. abdominal x-rays). I hope that your pet Keeko feels better soon and stops vomiting so frequently. Best wishes and take care!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Dry heaving / vomiting could indicate a hairball obstruction, dietary indiscretion, systemic disease / infection, etc. I would recommend withholding food for at least 6-8 hours and then initiate a bland diet as outlined below. If the symptoms does not resolve or it worsens, I would recommend having a veterinarian take a look at Tiddles so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly! GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.

Hello. If Pepper has been doing this for a while, it is time to let your veterinarian evaluate her. I wonder if she is actually coughing ( which can sound like gagging in cats ), & if she may have some degree of asthma or bronchitis. There really is not much you can do at home that is safe. I hope you can have her seen soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Pumpkin. She may be nauseous. Feed her a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in her normal diet. If the dry heaving continues on the bland diet, she starts vomiting, has a loss of appetite, or becomes lethargic, have her seen by a vet.

Hello, cats in general do not drink much water, so I'm not surprised she didn't drink. Additionally, she seems to be eating and tolerating the bland diet nicely. Its likely that she had a sensitivity t the mackerel treat you offered her and this caused the vomiting. Continue to feed her the bland diet for another day or 2 then transition her back to her normal dry food. As long as her GI signs have resolved, then you do not need to do anything else about this. If her GI signs, reoccur, you will need to have your veterinarian evaluate her. Hope this helps and best of luck.

One way to try to transition Sassy to a dry food is to gradually decrease the amount of canned food and leave a bowl of the dry food out at all times of possible. Decrease the amount of canned food by 25% every 3-5 days. She will eventually start eating the dry food. It is important to feed her a high quality dry kitten food. I recommend Iams or Royal Canin. The vomiting could be due to many things. Parasites or dietary indiscretion are common in young kittens. I recommend to have her feces checked for worms by her veterinarian. She should also be getting all of her shots currently. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.