Kitty throwing up

Nody

First time poster here (how did I miss it?!) and sorry for long post but I'm looking for second opinions basically. I got two rescue cats (sisters) who're settled in with us for about three years now (picked up when they were around 6 months). One cat (Alice, the white and black to the left) tends to be a bit of a food hog (she lacks the brains to realize that the food is not going away) but they are both slim and weight what they should. They got kibbles available at all times and have been on the same kibble for the last 2+ years (Royal Canin 37 Sterilised) with occasional weekend treats (tuna or chicken). They are very playful, energized (esp. Alice who tends to get zoom moments a couple of times a day), cuddly and have a nice glossy fur and have all shots up to date from day 1.

Now here's the oddish part; Alice has been throwing up randomly for almost as long as we've had her. Sometimes she don't throw up anything for a month and then twice in a week. Usually she throws up kibbles (sticking together but still visible as kibble) but also done it with grass (we got them kitty grass to help with digestion two years ago and they love it) or tuna all depending on the timing of the day (i.e. sometimes after she's just eaten, sometimes after she's been playing or just woken up). When she throws up it goes quickly (a couple of hulks and it's out) and she'll sniff it and walk away.

We've tried two different pastas to help with digestion (as its most likely hairball related) on recommendation of the vet but they don't like the paste and when we mixed it with other dishes (tuna soup!) it still appears to have no effect. As noted beyond some additional cleaning on our side Alice appears to have no issues with throwing up every so often.

Next step according to vet if the pastes did not work the only next step would be surgery to try to see if they can spot something once she's opened up (as nothing could be felt or spotted on blood test etc. done so far). Now here's where I got an issue (no I don't mind whatever the price would be) and that is as noted that they are rescue kitties and sisters. Both cats do not like strangers and have never been apart from each other; esp. Alice sister (Tiggy) is very afraid of strangers (Alice was demanding to be let out of the room we put them when we got them in 5 min, Tiggy took a week to dare to leave it and spent a month running back to it every so often to hide). Alice on the other side has no brains to be scared with usually but once she gets scared she'll run and hide under or behind Tiggy literally speaking. Taking them to the vet always has Alice trying to hide under Tiggy in the carry cage while Tiggy simply reluctantly accept that she's going there anyway and wants to get it done with quickly.

What I'm afraid off is to take Alice there alone (she'd miss Tiggy and be afraid) or to leave Tiggy there (as she's a cuddle bug who needs cuddles multiple times a day but are afraid of strangers) for what appears to be a relatively minor inconvenience (issue with getting hairballs through the system) on our side and none on Alice side. Google has not brought up anything of relevant to suggest it one way or another so instead I turn to the boards community for input. I’m currently inclined on doing nothing unless it gets worse simply because I don’t want to stress them out further by doing something which may bring back no result anyway (vet is open 24/7 in case of an emergency so I can get there if Alice would start throwing up blood or something). Am I being selfish/stupid or is there a point to that view.

Themadhouse

Sounds like she is eating too quickly. Try putting the food in a square or rectangular bowl and put it on an empty shoe box. Some cats need the extra height to swallow properly.

Pumpkinseeds

I'd agree, one of my cats does the same thing occassionally. He wolfs his kibble down then throws it up. He isn't very good at drinking water, we tried getting a water fountain etc but it didn't help. He gets wet food pouches a couple of times a day and that seems to have helped a little he has Royal canin available at all times. One of my cats has weight issues and I've ordered a grain free kibble for them so it'll be interesting to see how they do on that one.

lorebringer

If you do think it is hairball related, have you tried hairball food? Both Hills and Royal Canin do foods specifically designed to help with hairballs - may be worth a try, esp. because she won't eat the paste and she is used to dry food. I think (but I will stand for correction) you can get both the hairball foods on www.zooplus.ie

Nody

The Vet suggest hairballs but between adding in kitty grass and the paste (served hiddenly in tuna soup; a kitty favourite dish) we've not seen any noticable improvement so I'm edging away from the hairball theory at this time

I like the idea of the bowls and will need to try that one out (the food is already served in square Ikea cermic dessert bowls).