Bulimic cat

[Anonymous]

We have two rescued shelter cats who have been happy together for several years now. We've not changed their food or upset their routine recently. The older one (NM, 7ish) is normal. The younger of the two (SF, 3ish) has started this new habit of binging on dry food (they're free-fed) and then barfing it up on my rug and going back for seconds. She got a clean bill of health from the vet. She is active, playful, and not out-of-sorts in any other way. She's not losing weight, she's just wasting another cat's worth of food every time she eats!

HALP!

[Anonymous]

My friend's cat did this, so they started putting an inverted empty tuna or cat food size can in the bowl, with the food sprinkled around it (the bowl is only slightly larger than the can). This makes it harder for the cat to eat, and slows him down. It worked.

[Anonymous]

One of my cat doesn't necessarily binge eat then puke, but she started eating very quickly and scooping the food into her mouth so that she basically just swallowed it whole (well, a few chews maybe). I decided to start sprinkling food on the mat I have their food and water dish on, next to the bowl. She was surprisingly good about going and eating it from there right away. I noticed that she would go and just pick up a couple of pieces into her mouth this way, and chew and then get a few more. No "layers" of food for her to go and "scoop". She still eats too quickly sometimes, but it is so much better! I leave the bowl full of food for my other cat and he mostly eats from it (though sometimes he will eat from the floor/mat too). She never goes to eat from it anymore. They are both obviously free-fed as well.

Another idea is to use treat balls or pet puzzles, etc. They say that some cats binge due to being bored and then just eating lots. Or even if not bored, it is all right there in front of them. If you put some in treat balls, or little puzzles that have tiny little bowls for the treats (or dry food) and pieces of wood etc that move to cover and uncover the bowls, the cat has to move the objects to "find" their food. It takes more time, they eat fewer pieces at once, it stimulates their brains and keeps them entertained. You can also just "hide" food around in different places, leaving a few pieces here and there, and let them hunt their food that way. Again, there is no bowl for them to binge from, they will slowly find and eat their food.

[Anonymous]

Hair ball?