My Pet World: Is vomiting normal for a cat even when the vet says nothing is wrong?
Dear Cathy,
I have a 12-year-old cat that has been vomiting almost every day since October. I have taken her to three different vets. They all did X-rays and blood work and found nothing wrong. I’ve tried changing her food to her sensitive stomach food and attempted to use raised cat dishes.
Nothing seems to work. I don’t know what else I can do. She’s an indoor cat. She eats, drinks, and plays like nothing is wrong. Do you have any suggestions to remedy this?
— Jean, Seaford, New York
Dear Jean,
If the vet says your cat is healthy, perhaps your feline has hairballs from the hair they digest when grooming themselves. Your cat may be grooming more because of age, or she may not be digesting the hair as well as she used to. You can give her an over-the-counter hairball remedy or switch her to a hairball control food, which may halt or reduce the vomiting.
Also, as pets age, they can sometimes develop allergies to specific proteins, like chicken. If you suspect this, switch her to a limited-ingredient diet (available at pet stores) with a different protein, like fish or venison. Let me know if these things help.
Dear Cathy,
My husband and I adopted our lab mix rescue when she was six months old. We were told she was nervous around people, but that was an understatement. She was terrified for the first two months and kept her tail tucked tight. Thunder and fireworks do not bother her, but she jumps if a plastic grocery bag hits the floor. She cowers and shakes when people approach.
She is smart and trains quickly. We took her to an obedience training class. She was scared, but in time, she did great. In just 15 minutes, she learned how to use a bell to let us know she needed to go out. The “sit” command took only three tries. Walking her was a nightmare and training her to walk on a leash took a long time. We started walking with some friends, and it took her about a year to trust them and not shake and hide behind me. She will be six years old this month.
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