Beau periodically and regularly pukes up his food. He also often coughs a lot after drinking water like he´s swallowed air and or it went down wrong. He has done this since he was a ktten. The vet says there is nothing physically wrong to cause this, and it is because he eats and drinks too fast. It really bothers me to see him go through this. Any thoughts what might help???

Mugger does the same thing with food - not so much with water although he sometimes has to sneeze it out of his nose! The only thing I´ve found that works is to make sure the food is mashed up or cut up well - and that I don´t put too much out for him, because he will scarf down however much is there. And if it´s too much, or he´s eaten it to fast.... hork city!

We have to do this with Cecil just small amounts about half a pouch at a time and I raised the bowl a little so his head is level in line with his back,don,t know if it helps but heard an old dog man say thats what helps them digest there food better,and he´s not sick even though he gobbels his food .

I hadn´t thought of that - raising the bowl. I´ll give it a try and see if it helps the Horkinator!

I did raise the bowl because I thought that might have been part of the problem, but it hasn´t made a difference. As for the amount of food that´s served at one time, that also doesn´t seem to make a difference. He does it no matter how much (or little) food is served. Interesting note: If he can see the bottom of the bowl he won´t touch his food because he seems to be afraid of running out.

Cleo eats too fast too I have found a trick with her I give her smaller amounts(wet food) and it works for her, as for the water dish she lays down in front of it and drinks its like shes too lazy to stand, but then shes a funny cat anyway.

Hi MaryC, Did your vet scope Beau´s larynx? If so, and there was nothing to see, it could be Beau trying to eat fast in case the food disappears when he´s not looking, or it could be esophogeal hypomotility (a problem with the throat muscles not working well enough). I had a cat with that problem. It´s a great idea to keep feeding him on a raised surface (I turned a plant stand into a food platform). I also fed mine a dental formula food - the kibble chunks are too large to swallow whole so he had to slow down and chew. Vet´s sell them (Science Diet also has an Oral Care formula). Some vets recommend canned food only (but it´s heck to clean up when it comes out again). If Beau eats canned food, try mixing some dental sized kibble with it to slow him down. If is a motility problem, ask your vet about Cisapride (which can sometimes help throat muscle function). Good luck!

My cats have a strange habit. They usually signal for more food when they see just a bit of the bottom of their food dish, when there´s still some food on it. I find it weird, but effective.

Thanks Michy for all the good information. I will ask his vet about it the next time I call or we´re there. He´s had x-rays and nothing showed, but I don´t know if he´s ever been scoped. Beau has never liked canned food so I don´t buy it. SakiAiza, that is soooo cool...and cute! It works! Beau just looks at his bowl then me then the bowl and meows...like, "Well, you gonna put some more in or what?!!" Thanks everyone for all the good info and suggestions!!

I took my cat in recently for the same reason. I took her when she was younger and she´s had this problem all her life. She vomits. Now she sees a vet that specializes in cats and told me tha when she eats too fast she may swallow air and that this is common. Try anythything that may make her eat slower, like feeding her in smaller bowls placed in different parts os the kitchen so she´ll have to stop eating in one and head for the other. I´m still trying. I had lots of advice on another thread to, I will post it to you here. But my heart goes out to you since its very hard, especially since feeding less is difficult for her, she´s always hungry! Another tip I got on the other thread was to put objects she had to move around in her bowl so she would take longer. I bought large marbles (so she can´t nibble them) and will try this and let you know.

Hi, Vali has the same problem, especially if he eats dry straight after wet food. He just swallows without chewing. Maybe - and this is only a maybe - giving the food in bigger bits so that he has to chew it may help. I found when I feed him by hand, bigger chunks, keeping hold of it so that he has to kind of tear it from me hand bit by bit he actually chews. Basically we need to remind them to chew. In the wild they would have a whole carcass to tear the food from.

cats sometimes do this because it thinks someone wouldsteal there food from them and hence the need to be quick.

wild animals do thay most of the time.

and cats still have some wild instincts in them.

try to feed your cat far from sight of the other cats.
if you dont have any other cat, try to put the food hidden from view.

maybe something is triggering that behavior.

its a survival technique. the fittest survive and the greediest does.which in animal terms is a good thing.

Giles is barfy too...He eats way too fast. I find that if I spill some of the food on the floor he has to go look for it, so he slows down. He´s probably afraid Lasher will eat the food...she´s the alpha, but we feed them in separate rooms.

hi katcats,

nice tactic very creative! cats are territorial. so they get touchy with food. its not greed like the human variety. its a natural instinct.

I guess its sometimes cos the food taste too good? My kits sometimes gobbles up the food,usually canned food, and vomits is later on. And eat it back..omg, if i dont clear it up on time. I think it´s too..delicious...

Lucky Brooke always puked her food up after eating, as she used to eat too fast and
barely chewed it so it just came back whole! I give her only about a tablespoon of food at a time during the day, usually separate from Constantine, or she will eat his as well! Lucky lets me know when she is feeling like a little more food and again, I only put about a tablespoon down at a time. She was very overweight before and since monitoring her food intake, she has lost weight, has more energy and hasn´t vomited in weeks!

I´m not sure if it would work for a cat, but my dog eats far too fast and ends up choking or being sick, so we put a little jar in the middle of his food bowl, so he has to eat around it. It´s slowed him down quite a bit.
other than that, small amounts of food more often might help.