We welcome back our contributing guest writer, Dr. Liz Bales, veterinarian and creator of The NoBowl Feeding System™ for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co.! Dr. Bales (who has earned her amazing nickname, The Catvocate) re-joins The Meowing Vet to explain how her revolutionary feline feeding system can stop your cat from eating too quickly and up-chucking his or her food.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Bales’ NoBowl Feeding System™, an indoor feeding system that simulates your cat’s natural hunting instinct and eating patterns to improve overall health and happiness.
Disclaimers: In addition to eating too rapidly, cats may vomit or regurgitate for various reasons, some of which can be secondary to serious medical conditions Always consult with your personal veterinarian about your cat’s medical and behavioral concerns and whether The NoBowl Feeding System™ is a right fit for your cat.
A word from Dr. Liz Bales:
Step, step… squish! Oh, ick!
Most cat owners have had the unpleasant experience of unexpectedly walking into a pile of cat vomit. While it is very common for cats to vomit, it is never normal. Vomit may signal that your cat is sick, or it may be a sign that all is not well in his or her environment.
First, take your cat to see your veterinarian. A thorough physical exam can help determine if your cat needs medical care. But if your veterinarian determines that your cat is healthy, you cat may be a victim of Scarf and Barf!
Scarf and barf is when your cat eats too much too fast and, as a result, vomits undigested food. Then, your cat wants to eat again, because he or she still feels hungry!
To truly understand scarf and barf, we need to look at the natural state of the cat. In their natural state, cats have a feeding style that is very different from the way that we feed them in our homes.
In the wild, cats hunt, catch prey, eat, groom, and then sleep somewhere between 9 and 20 times a day. They commonly catch mice, crickets, and birds. A cat’s unfilled stomach is about the size of a ping pong ball and is made to accept multiple meals a day. So the natural daily cycle of a cat is one of exercise, followed by a small meal and then rest over and over throughout the day and night.
The drive to eat is very strong (in this way, I am very much like a cat!) When our cats find a big bowl of food waiting for them, they will gorge. You find that pile of puke when their stomachs cannot tolerate so much food at once, and they vomit. Voila! Scarf and barf.
There you have it. And sometimes you have it on the bottom of your foot.
(The above content by Dr. Liz Bales was originally published on August 9, 2016. It now appears on the website for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co.)
Order your cat’s feeding kit today to reduce Scarf and Barf!
I want to tell you a little bit about Bill and Marigold, who came in for a visit today. Bill is a terrific guy who never planned on having a cat! You see, Marigold found Bill.
Marigold started by showing up on Bill’s back porch and looking adorable. You guys know how this goes, right? He started innocently enough, by just putting out food for her. Before you knew it she was curled up in his lap in front of the fire. Marigold is now a permanent resident and is happily acclimating to the indoor only life.
Bill and Marigold have been together for about 3 weeks. They were back in today for the last of Marigold’s booster vaccines. I asked all the usual questions. “Any sneezing, coughing, diarrhea, vomiting…”
“Yes,” Bill replied. “She goes to her dry food, gobbles it down, and then barfs it up! Is she ok Doc?”
Here we have it, Catvocates, another case of Scarf and Barf. Of course I checked Marigold out for other causes of vomiting. Luckily, Marigold is not sick. She does, however, have the same problem as many, many of her other feline friends.
You see, a cat’s stomach is not much bigger than a ping-pong ball. Nature made it that way on purpose. In nature, cats hunt for small prey between 9-20 times a day (Not every attempt is successful)! They hunt, catch, play with their prey, eat, groom and sleep and they do this over and over all day and all night. They usually catch small rodents, insects and birds. The edible portions of these prey are rarely more than 1-2 tablespoons.
When a cat sidles up to the heaping bowl of dry food, that we like to call the All Day Buffet, they do not limit themselves to to natural constraints of their stomach volume. When they overdo it, mother nature takes over, and they vomit the undigested food.
If your cat suffers from Scarf and Barf, look to nature for the answers. Portion the daily ration into 1-2 tablespoons and feed this small amount in 5 or so feedings over the course of the day and night. It would be even better if you could simulate the hunt. Have your cat exercise and then follow the exercise session with a small portion of food.
When we feed our cats the way nature intended, Scarf and Barf is rarely an issue.
With these adjustments in how Marigold is fed, she is going to be just fine and Bill will not be stepping in cat vomit any time soon.
(The above content by Dr. Liz Bales was originally published on February 10, 2016. It now appears on the website for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co.)
– Elizabeth Bales, VMD
Created by Dr. Bales, The NoBowl Feeding System™ for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co. can slow down the rapidity of your kitty’s food consumption, improving function of the GI tract and thus reducing the dreaded “scarf and barf”. Order your kit today!
Check out Doc & Phoebe’s great kitty products!
Hear what cat owners are saying about the reduction of their kitty’s “scarf and barf” after using The NoBowl Feeding System™:
Thank you, DR. LIZ BALES, FOR CONTRIBUTING more great information for THE MEOWING VET. DR. BALES WILL continue to join us PERIODICALLY TO PROVIDE HELPFUL ARTICLES ON CAT HEALTH AND OVERALL WELL-BEING. YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. BALES BY READING HER BLOG ON FELINE MEDICINE, THE CATVOCATE, AND BY FOLLOWING HER ON HER ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM. HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NOBOWL FEEDING SYSTEM™? VISIT THE PRODUCT WEBSITE (WWW.DOCANDPHOEBE.COM), FACEBOOK, and Instagram pages to ORDER YOUR KIT AND BECOME A FELLOW CATVOCATE TODAY!
LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM? YOU’RE IN LUCK TOO! THE NOBOWL FEEDING SYSTEM™ IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE IN THE U.K. THROUGH PETS AT HOME. PETS AT HOME IS THE UNITED KINGDOM’S largest pet supplies retailer with a hugely popular online store AND MORE THAN 370 PHYSICAL LOCATIONS. ORDER YOUR KIT ONLINE TODAY!
About Dr. Liz Bales:
Elizabeth Bales, VMD, is a born animal lover. She spent her childhood on horse farms surrounded by horses, cats, and dogs. Dr. Liz graduated from The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in the United States in 2000. Dr. Liz has been fascinated with cat wellness in her veterinary career – including feline behavior, nutrition, and internal medicine. She is the founder and CEO of FEED Co. and inventor of The NoBowl Feeding System™ for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co., the first and only science-based feline indoor hunting system that satisfies a cat’s natural instinct to hunt. In the name of feline wellness, Dr. Liz authors multiple articles on cat health and appears on television to educate pet owners on how to improve feline quality of life.
The above information by Dr. Liz Bales and some images are used with permission by Dr. Bales directly from her product website for Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co. The Meowing Vet is an affiliate seller of The NoBowl Feeding System™.
