# My cat gets the hiccups alot.



## Miso (Dec 5, 2009)

Hello Everyone,

Miso seems to get the hiccups a few times a week after he eats. His stomach makes a weird gurgling sound and then he starts hiccuping. The hiccups only last for about a minute or so and it doesn't seem to bother him much but it worries me. 

Here's some background. He's 1 1/2 yrs old and I've had him since August. He is neutered and up to date with all his shots and tests. I keep him indoors only which has been somewhat of a challenge as he was a stray before I adopted him from the shelter. His last visit to the vet was at the end of October for de worming and checkup. He was prescribed two rounds of drontal 2 weeks apart which killed off the worms. The vet said other than that he's healthy, just to watch his weight and teeth. She told me because of his size he should get about 250 calories a day so I feed him 4 small portions of both wet and dry food (Iams) a day. He has a very healthy appetite and gets plenty of water as I also mix it into his wet food. I did asked her about his hiccups and she didn't really tell me much and said that she's never really heard of cats getting the hiccups. He is due for another check up in July. 

Sorry for the long post but I was wondering if anyone has had experience with hiccups and if it is normal? Thanks for any help or comments. 

Viki


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

If you could afford it, I would switch him to a better food, because Iams is filled with animal by-products and corn, which is obviously not good for them as it's garbage. He might just be getting intestinal upsets after eating, but I personally have never heard of a cat hiccuping either. However, you should look into getting a better quality food such as Evo, Wellness Core, Natural Balance, Taste of the Wild, Performatrin Ultra and the regular Performatrin (depending where you live I guess, it is a Pet Valu brand.) Just read the ingredient list and anything with by-products and corn/corn gluten is bad. As a general rule I say if you see the food being advertised in a commercial (such as iams, whiskas, friskies, fancy feast, science diet, etc.) is all garbage food, they spend their money on advertisements and not the actual quality of their products. Maybe someone on this forum knows something about the hiccuping though, sorry.


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## Miso (Dec 5, 2009)

Thanks for your advice regarding the food. I'm going to switch him to a better one as it can't hurt. I never knew that so many of the foods sold in stores are mostly fillers/crap until reading some of the other threads in this forum. I can't believe there isn't stricter laws regarding pet food. Miso is my first cat so I'm learning as I go but trying to be as responsible as possible.


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

Yes -- I would ditch the dry food entirely and switch to a high-quality grain-free canned food at minimum. EVO 95% meat or Wellness CORE are good choices.


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

Yeah Miso, no one knows until they actually hear about the bad food or research it on their own. The advertisers for those companies make it out to be good for your pet, and they are the companies who educate the vets on animal nutrition, so the vets don't know much either unless they do their own research, which most of them dont. My vet has been trying to get me to switch my cats to purina or science diet for almost a year now because they believe it is the best food out there lol. And yeah, like hoofmaiden said, a high quality canned would be best for the entire diet, however it does get a bit expensive to go through so many cans a month, so even if you went like 25% dry and 75% wet it would be ideal. Since cats don't have a thirst mechanism they dont get the proper amount of water they need daily. For example, I didn't know that when I first got my older cat when I was 15, and the animal shelter said to just feed her the dry food. 3 years later she was diagnosed with FLUTD and I have to be careful with what I feed her and water down her canned food a lot too just so she gets the extra water. A couple months ago I thought I could intergrate a very tiny amount of dry food at night, she was eating dry at night for about 2 weeks and she got another UTI, so now she is strictly on canned food and I am not feeding any dry for her. My kitten however is quite the water drinker, so I do still give him the small amount of dry at night. 
And I completely agree, there should be stricter laws regarding pet food, and its BS that it has not changed. One thing that kills me is when Im at the pet store myself buying my cat food, and I see someone in front of me thats carrying whiskas or science diet. However, as annoying as I am about pet food, I usually try to educate the person before they pay, some people actually have grabbed the food I suggested, but others are so keen on the crap food because it's what their vet recommended. And now I'm rambling ;P lol


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## Miso (Dec 5, 2009)

^ its ok. I hate it when my internet does that. Thank you for your advice. 

What you said is so true. My vet suggested Purina Pro Plan, Iams or Science Diet. Something needs to be done to better inform pet owners. For now, I'm going to start telling all my friends and family.

I live in Chicago, and shop at Petsmart and they don't seem to carry many of the suggested brands.  They have a brand called Blue Buffalo? I'm gonna have to check other pet store for the recommended brands. 

hoofmaiden- Thanks for your comment. Now that I know better, I am definitely going to switch him to a better food. Right now, he eats mostly canned foods but I also measure out 1/4 cup of dry in the morning that he munches on throughout the day. He seems to really like having both as he meows/cries for the dry if I forget to put it out. He goes by the food dispenser and scratches at it and meows/cries. I'm keeping him to 250 calories a day to watch his weight so he gets very little dry because the high carbs. 

I'm really hoping the switch goes well and helps with his hiccups. Also, I've heard fish isn't really good for them, is there certain main ingredients (chicken, beef, turkey) I should stay away from? Thanks again for all your help.

Viki


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

Coming from the side of someone in a veterinary school- we have had representatives from both Hill's (Science Diet) and Purina come and speak to us. The reason they are recommended by vets is because both companies have undergone extensive feeding tests that confirm their food is good for a healthy life time. I have seen some of these testing facilities and know first hand that Purina and Hill's do high quality, life long feeding studies that validate that YES, their food can definitely be a good life time choice. But not for every cat. Just like some people are allergic to certain foods, some cats don't tolerate the ingredients in some of the cheaper pet foods well. Many people feel that there shouldn't be grains (such as corn and wheat) in cat food, but many cats do just fine. My people feel repulsed by the by-products in cat food (which are the rest of the animal AFTER removal of human grade meat) while others see it as a handy way to recycle the bodies of these animals. It's all up to the consumer. YES cats have benefitted from high quality, grain free food, and YES some cats do well on raw diets. YES, many people feel that low quality dry food can contribute to obesity and kidney problems ( and it definitely can when fed ad libitum) On the other hand, some cats do just dandy on the "Special Kitty" crap they sell at Walmart. My mom's cat is just shy of 15 years old and has been eating Kit'n'Kaboodle and meow mix all his life. 

So it all depends on the cat. If you feel Miso does better on the higher quality food, by all means, feed it to him! It's all a matter of owner opinion. I have experienced hiccups in my own cats before, and I don't believe it is linked to food quality. It happens to Nito when he gobbles his food too fast, probably from swallowing air.


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

Miso, the Buffalo Blue Wilderness isn't bad, and yes it is the only good food they sell at petsmart. I'm not sure if the states has a ryan's pet foods or pet valu there, but if not look for a pet food specialty store, because those are the ones that sell the better foods. Personally I do stay away from fish ingredients in cat foods because it is the main thing that causes my older cat to get UTI's, as the magnesium and phosphorus levels change with fish ingredients. However, MOST cats can tolerate fish, but if you do want to incorporate fish into your cats diet, I would suggest no more than once a week. I find most cats don't like beef. However, duck, chicken, venison, and turkey are all good. Not many companies make venison flavours, I believe its only Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance, and Evo. 

On a second note, yes RachandNito, some cats do just fine on the lower quality cat foods, but the way I see it, is why feed them low grade meats and fillers when you can spend the few extra dollars to get them better food? Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I like to always look for the best foods for my cats, and I just don't see that being Purina or Sciencediet.


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## Miso (Dec 5, 2009)

RachandNito- Thanks for your comment, it gave me a better understanding as to why many vets recommend those brands. I also know some cats/dogs who are perfectly healthy eating those brands so I do agree that its up to the owner to make those choices. However, I still think that there should be stricter laws/regulations or at least more information regarding ingredients/calorie count on the label as they could be misleading. That way, owners can make better informed choices for them and their pets. Thank you for your input regarding the hiccups. Miso sometimes eats fast maybe he's swallowing air like Nito. I'll keep and eye on that as well switch his food to see if it helps.

KatBudz- I found Wellness at a different pet store so I'm going to compare the price/ingredients to Blue Buffalo and decide. Thanks for all your help.


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

RachandNito said:


> Coming from the side of someone in a veterinary school- we have had representatives from both Hill's (Science Diet) and Purina come and speak to us. The reason they are recommended by vets is because both companies have undergone extensive feeding tests that confirm their food is good for a healthy life time. I have seen some of these testing facilities and know first hand that Purina and Hill's do high quality, life long feeding studies that validate that YES, their food can definitely be a good life time choice.


The reason they are recommended by vets is because the companies spend an enormous amount of money funding vet schools, and hence, the nutritional info that is dispensed in vet schools is courtesy of these companies. 

The ingredients in Hills and Purina products are absolutely horrible and in no way species-appropriate. And the testing that they do only proves that the food will keep cats alive, usually in the short term. No, these foods will not directly kill your cat. But there are MANY better choices out there, presented by companies that, while still cooking the food to death, etc., at least make an attempt to use human-grade meat and reduce fillers and carbs.

One thing in life is almost always true: Follow the money. If a business with an agenda is contributing large sums of money to an organization, you can BET that organization will push that business's product. It's important to stay objective if possible, even though Hill's makes it hard with multi-million dollar scholarships and fellowships.


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

> RachandNito- Thanks for your comment, it gave me a better understanding as to why many vets recommend those brands. I also know some cats/dogs who are perfectly healthy eating those brands so I do agree that its up to the owner to make those choices. However, I still think that there should be stricter laws/regulations or at least more information regarding ingredients/calorie count on the label as they could be misleading. That way, owners can make better informed choices for them and their pets. Thank you for your input regarding the hiccups. Miso sometimes eats fast maybe he's swallowing air like Nito. I'll keep and eye on that as well switch his food to see if it helps.


There definitely should be some more regulations regarding pet foods, but there actually ARE some regulations regarding the labeling of these foods. For example:
>Foods with simple names such as "Beef for Dogs" or "Tuna for cats" must contain *95%* or more of said ingredient not counting water
>If the food is qualified by another descriptive term such as "Beef Dinner for Dogs" or "Tuna Platter for Cats" then the named meat must only be a quantity of 25%
>If there are two ingredients listed (Lamb and Rice dinner) then those two ingredients need only add up to 25% together (see where this is started to get tricky??)
>The "with" rule is that if a name says _with_ a certain ingredient (Cat dinner with Chicken) it need only contain 3% of said ingredient
>The "flavor" rule is the worst. "Beef Flavored Dog Food" only needs to contain enough beef for the flavor to be "detectable" 

So while it's good that they have done some regulation of the labeling of these foods, you can see how it can still be quite tricky! I only wish that the FDA would go and see the actual facilities, and regulate those, because I can only imagine the horrors at some of these pet food companies.

For more info: http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/res ... 047113.htm



> The reason they are recommended by vets is because the companies spend an enormous amount of money funding vet schools, and hence, the nutritional info that is dispensed in vet schools is courtesy of these companies.


Oh, that is totally true and beyond! I have so much Hill's and Purina merchandise that has been given to me free as a student! :wink: I take all the info they give out with a grain of salt, and I DO feed Hill's Science Diet canned food from time to time, but only because I get it at an insanely reduced price by ordering it in bulk through my school. (15 cents for a 5.5 oz can? It's a STEAL). But in general I go for the nicer stuff, such as Wellness kibbles (with no by-products), and various flavors and brands of canned foods because my cats won't eat the same flavor multiple nights in a row.



> The ingredients in Hills and Purina products are absolutely horrible and in no way species-appropriate. And the testing that they do only proves that the food will keep cats alive, usually in the short term.


Hill's and Purina do make a couple of better foods, I know that there are a couple flavors of the Science Diet canned food that are not so bad. And their feeding studies have been extensive, some of them have been going on for 15 years or more, so it _has_ been proven that their food can maintain a cat throughout its life and that said cat can live a full and healthy life. Now, that's not saying that their food is by any means the best, or that they always have good quality ingredients, nor does it mean it's the best for every cat. 

As I said before, what it really comes down to is the owners opinion, budget, and the individual cat.


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## Miso (Dec 5, 2009)

RachandNito said:


> There definitely should be some more regulations regarding pet foods, but there actually ARE some regulations regarding the labeling of these foods. For example:
> >Foods with simple names such as "Beef for Dogs" or "Tuna for cats" must contain *95%* or more of said ingredient not counting water
> >If the food is qualified by another descriptive term such as "Beef Dinner for Dogs" or "Tuna Platter for Cats" then the named meat must only be a quantity of 25%
> >If there are two ingredients listed (Lamb and Rice dinner) then those two ingredients need only add up to 25% together (see where this is started to get tricky??)
> ...


^ Agreed still quite tricky, that's what I meant by misleading. More needs to be done. Thanks for the link to more info.


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