Cat, what is WRONG with you?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I should start of with an admission that will surely earn me a pitting: I am not a cat person. Personally, I could happily live the rest of my life without living with another over-blown mousers. I can, however, tolerate the little buggers when someone else is responsible for them. I have met a very few cats who I would call cool. My brother’s cats are well-trained sociable creatures. One of them (Hobbes, his Abby) is a shoulder-mounted kitty; very cool. Still don’t want to live with 'em, tho.

Anyway, now that I’ve got that off of my chest, there’s a problem with this cat I live with. It’s sorta kinda my housemates. This is where things get a little complicated, so I will take another little tanget. It’s kinda long for a cat health question thread (but not Sampiro-long). :wink:

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Our housing story is long enough in it’s own right, but the short version is that we didn’t know each other until the day we signed the lease. So far, things have been great, tho. My housemate …Sally… (of course that’s not her real name) moved in with one cat, Max, and the stated intention of getting a dog, Lola. Of the two, I prefered Max’s company. (And, given the first sentence, and the fact that I am a dog-person should tell you a little something about Lola, but I digress…) Very unforetunately, Max died last weekend from an embolism that started in his back or legs, then migrated to his heart or lungs. Max was a very sociable creature; he would constantly mmrrrooowwww for attention. I nicked named him the “Attention Whore;” his owner whole-heartedly agreed. He died suddenly; he was only six. He is missed around the house. (Surprisingly enough, even by me.)

Max is (was) not the problem cat. That’s Queenie, who is not really Sally’s. Ok, so one of Sally’s former roommates is moving in with her fiance. She (the new fiance) is allergic to cats. Max knew Queenie and had lived with her before, so Sally decided that they would get along ok. So, after asking us (her current housemate), she agreed to take in Queenie. But - and here’s I think the funny part - having watched her old roommate go through several relationships, Sally only agreed to take in Queenie because she doesn’t think the relationship will last. So far, it’s been a couple of months, but the bet was six…

Queenie is nowhere near as sociable as Max was. In fact, one of her favorite games is to purr, let you start to pet her, then try to take a swipe. She can change her mood faster than any other creature I have ever seen. Her nick name is “The Drama Queen.” Again, I got full agreement from Sally.

Ok, enough backstory / rambling.

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So, Queenie is fairly new to the household; but - and here is an important part - she is still eating the exact same catfood as before she moved in. The problem is that she pukes EVERY FRICKIN WHERE, and it’s been going on for a couple of months now! I mean, it’s like I’m living with a bulemic cat or something. What, does she think she needs to lose weight or something? I could understand some issue if she had switched her food, but it’s the SAME GODDAMNED FOOD! Why does this cat decide to puke all over the house? I don’t understand it. Maybe she doesn’t like the looks of our carpets and thinks she can convince us to get rid of them? Is she trying to tell us we need to clean more often? I mean, whiskey-tango-foxtrot, cat? What is your major malfunction?

Damn! Last night I stepped in it (with shoes still on, or I would have added my own puke to the pileS), and didn’t notice until I started slipping on the hard-wood floor. (Gee, why am I losing traction? Oh, look, the cat puke again. and again. and a-FRICKIN-gain!)

So, you cat people (and I know you’re out there), what the #@(% is wrong with this cat?

Oh, and because I know I will be tarred, feathered, dipped in oil, and then cast into the pit of doom without this, requisite cat pic.

2

This seems a teensy bit obvious, but I’m going to go with it anyway.

If the cat is eating the same food as before, but now vomits all the time and didn’t do that before, then the cat has an illness and should be looked at by a vet.

It’s not the food. It’s not a deliberate decision on her part. Sick. Vet. Go.

3

Well, depends on what colour and texture the vomit is. I know, gross. But take a look at it. Does it have any grey lumps in it, or is it all one big grey lump? Either way, hairballs are the culprit. Start either feeding her Vaseline, or putting a dab on the top of her front paw to force her to lick it off. Helps a bit.

Does it look like a long lump of partially digested dry food? She’s eating too much, too fast. Dole out her portions in smaller sizes. Feed her two or three times a day in smaller doses rather than, say, one large bowl that goes the whole day.

Is this brand, spanking new behaviour, for certain, as in, something she never, ever did before? Get her to a vet. She might have a kidney infection.

Do you have plants around the place? There are many plants cats shouldn’t eat - makes them puke. :wink:

It could also just be stress. She was just moved from one familiar home/owner to a whole new home and strangers… this can be very distressing to an animal.

Keep in mind, (if you were worried at all :wink: ) that puking isn’t nearly as big an event for cats as it is for humans. We do it when we are ill and there’s something terribly wrong, we feel all nasty and rotten after doing it… cats don’t. If the cat does look kinda woozy and restless after it happens, she needs a vet. But otherwise, puking for cats is pretty standard behaviour. We lucked out in that one of our cats never pukes. But the other one… sigh. She eats too fast and gets hairballs. I love her to death, though. Little pukeball that she is.

4

They don’t puke for fun, you know. Amusement is only a side affect. Take poor kitty to the vet; something’s wrong with her.

5

Of all of your scenarios, I think that this might be the culprit. I had kind of thought it might be something like this (hence the poor joke about a bulemic cat).

To answer some other questions: I have not gotten the impression that the old owner is concerned. Sally and her old roommate talk often; I am not sure that this is a new behavior. I think that there would be much more worrying on Sally’s part if this were brand new. Also, when Max was around, food was just left out, and he would eat at his pace. I think I remember hearing that Queenie runs in a gobbles.

I will have to enquire about the feeding schedule. (I’m downstairs, the bowls are upstairs near Sally’s room.)

…aaaaand I just wanted to add one tiny little detail. From my first post, when I said “So, after asking us (her current housemate)”, I really meant “So, after asking us (her current housemates)” That was not a “royal we” kinda thing… :smack: (I would add an embarrassed smilie, but I just can’t convince myself that the bj-giving grapefruit is embarassed.)

6

Maybe she ate the same food before, but didn’t have it left out all day? Thus the overeating and barfing. One of our cats has a tendency to overindulge when we open a new bag of kibble, and it is all tasty and fresh.

But really, Sally is doing a favor for Queenie’s owner. That doesn’t mean Queenie doesn’t have an owner. Said owner really should take Queenie to the vet, perhaps with a sample of the problem. The vet can diagnose an illness, recommend a different food, etc. If that is not going to happen, I believe I’ve seen some cat foods labeled “for digestive health.” Maybe that would be an option.