This is a specific conversation about Cat food for sensitive stomachs — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A Sphynx with GI sensitivity is tricky enough on its own — add rapid eating into the mix and you're dealing with two distinct problems that can look identical on the surface. Digestive sensitivity in cats is usually food intolerance rather than a true allergy, and limited-ingredient or novel-protein diets tend to work best. But when a cat is also bolting food and then bringing it straight back up, that regurgitation is mechanical, not digestive — and it needs a separate fix. Can you tell me: what symptoms are you seeing (vomiting, loose stools, or both), how long has this been going on, and what are you currently feeding?
It's both really. He vomits maybe twice a week, sometimes it's undigested food right after eating, and he also has soft stools pretty regularly. He's been on Royal Canin Sensory for about a year but it's never fully settled. He eats really fast, like inhales it.
inparticular.ai
That split tells us a lot. The undigested food shortly after eating — that's almost certainly the rapid eating, not a food sensitivity issue. The soft stools and any vomiting that happens an hour or more after meals are more likely the sensitivity side. So you're dealing with two things and they need to be addressed differently. Has he been on the same Sensory formula the whole time, or have you tried any of the other variants? And is he on wet food, dry, or a mix?
Just the wet Sensory Smell variety. Always wet. He won't touch dry food.
inparticular.ai
Good — wet-only is actually the right call for a sensitive-stomach cat, easier to digest and better for hydration. The Sensory Smell range isn't a limited-ingredient diet though, which might be why the loose stools haven't fully resolved. Here's what I'd suggest: switch the food to Royal Canin Veterinary Gastrointestinal wet food, which is specifically formulated for cats with chronic GI issues — it has highly digestible proteins, a short ingredient list, and added prebiotics to support gut flora. It's a meaningful step up from Sensory for a cat with persistent symptoms. Then tackle the bolting separately with a LickiMat Splash or a slow feeder bowl — spreading the wet food out forces him to eat more slowly and almost always eliminates the post-meal regurgitation. That combination addresses both problems rather than leaving one untreated.
Does the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal need a vet prescription? I've seen it described as veterinary diet.
inparticular.ai
Technically it's in the veterinary range, but in practice you can buy it on Amazon UK without a prescription — it's not gated the way some medications are. That said, if your vet hasn't seen him recently for the GI issues, it's worth a check-in. Persistent soft stools in a Sphynx can occasionally point to something like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-adjacent gut involvement or a parasitic issue, both worth ruling out. But starting on the Gastrointestinal wet food while you arrange that is completely reasonable — you're not going to do any harm.
That's really helpful. I'll grab the Royal Canin GI wet food and a LickiMat. Should I transition gradually or just switch?
inparticular.ai
Transition gradually — over about 7 days. Start with roughly 25% new food mixed into the current food, move to 50/50 around day 3 or 4, then 75% new by day 6, and fully switched by day 7 or 8. With a sensitive stomach you don't want to give the gut any extra disruption to interpret. The LickiMat you can introduce straight away — no transition needed there, and honestly most cats find it a bit of a novelty at first which slows them down even more than the design alone.
