Vomiting in 8 year old cat

[ty3535]

My 8 yo male cat vomited Monday, yesterday and today. Only once each day. Should I be alarmed? He doesn't have a history of hair balls but I guess there's a first time for everything? I figured I'd give it a few more days and if he vomits again we'll be off to the vet. I just wanted to get some feedback as to what could be the cause. Im not overly alarmed as it was only once each day.

 

[ty3535]

I should specify that the throw up was almost entirely food, some of it appearing undigested.

 

[stephanietx]

Have you changed foods, opened a new bag, or given him anything fish flavored?  Does he also eat wet food, or just dry?

 

[catwoman707]

Sounds to me like early onset of irritable bowel syndrome.

Especially that it wasn't all undigested food, only some of it.

If nothing food-wise has changed that is.

Cats unlike dogs don't vomit for no reason more than once. 

Daily for the past 3 days is a telltale sign that something's going on.

Catch it before it becomes a real problem is my advice

 

[ty3535]

He's always eaten seafood flavored wet food and he's on a strictly wet food diet due to some urinary issues. I did just buy a new flavor and I'm wondering if maybe that's the cause. Otherwise nothing has changed in his diet.

 

[ty3535]

Well it's only been two consecutive days and I think Saturday was from eating too fast. Yesterday may have been because of a new flavor of food I tried. I'll keep an eye on him and if he vomits again this week off to the vet we'll go. I'm not sure about IBS because his stools are fine, but it's worth looking into!

 

[lisahe]

Quote:

Well it's only been two consecutive days and I think Saturday was from eating too fast. Yesterday may have been because of a new flavor of food I tried. I'll keep an eye on him and if he vomits again this week off to the vet we'll go. I'm not sure about IBS because his stools are fine, but it's worth looking into!

It sounds like he didn't vomit again, is that right? Sometimes they do hoover up new foods and then regurgitate.

Do keep an eye out, though: I agree with @catwoman707 about the possibility of IBS. We learned, with our previous cat, that IBS symptoms can come and go, varying a lot in intensity and frequency, particularly in the beginning. Sometimes our cat's stools were fine but she regurgitated; sometimes it was the opposite. Other times she would seem absolutely fine. Seafood seemed to be one of the ingredients that bothered her (it's a common irritant for cats) so I'd definitely watch carefully.

Here's hoping all's well!

 

[stephanietx]

Try eliminating the new food and see if he goes back to no vomiting.  Food elimination is a good starting point.  Many cats can't tolerate fishy flavors and the manufacturer may have even changed their formula.  You might try chicken or turkey and see if that calms his tummy down.

 

[ty3535]

Quote:

It sounds like he didn't vomit again, is that right? Sometimes they do hoover up new foods and then regurgitate.

Do keep an eye out, though: I agree with @catwoman707
about the possibility of IBS. We learned, with our previous cat, that IBS symptoms can come and go, varying a lot in intensity and frequency, particularly in the beginning. Sometimes our cat's stools were fine but she regurgitated; sometimes it was the opposite. Other times she would seem absolutely fine. Seafood seemed to be one of the ingredients that bothered her (it's a common irritant for cats) so I'd definitely watch carefully.

Here's hoping all's well!

Thanks so much! He didn't vomit again. Just the once per day Monday Saturday and Sunday. Nothing today so far. Hopefully it's not seafood because that's all he'll eat. I'll definitely keep IBS in mind if it becomes a bigger issue.

 

[serena77]

This summer I rushed to the vet after one of my cats vomited four times in a single morning after eating a chicken + shrimps can: Edhel has always been a first class puker, but throughout the years I have observed that this doesn't happen randomly, but only if/when 1) she eats too fast, 2) she has had cat grass, 3) she had a hair ball in her stomach (not so frequent), 4) she's been fasting for too long. To prevent her from keeping throwing up, I generally feed her three times a day (half a 85 grams can each time; you can also leave a bowl with dry food if you prefer) and I recently took the cat grass pots away. Then, following the vet's advice, I put her (and my other cat too) on an hypoallergenic diet (you basically do that by feeding your cat a single source protein for a period of 6 weeks to ascertain if it's intolerant to a certain kind of meat- lamb rather than beef or chicken- and then you eliminate that source from its diet); since then my cats hasn't vomited anymore and I'm of the idea that the culprit was the grass.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks so much! He didn't vomit again. Just the once per day Monday Saturday and Sunday. Nothing today so far. Hopefully it's not seafood because that's all he'll eat. I'll definitely keep IBS in mind if it becomes a bigger issue.

Oops, I see that I typed IBS when I should have typed IBD, sorry about that! In any case, I'm glad he didn't vomit again. And I, too, hope he's not developing a sensitivity to seafood if that's all he'll eat. (Our cat was a fish-head, too, and I suspect all her long-term fish focus was part of her problem...)

Good luck!

 

[catwoman707]

 
Oops, I see that I typed IBS when I should have typed IBD, sorry about that! In any case, I'm glad he didn't vomit again. And I, too, hope he's not developing a sensitivity to seafood if that's all he'll eat. (Our cat was a fish-head, too, and I suspect all her long-term fish focus was part of her problem...)

Good luck!

Actually they both work, IBS and IBD are nearly the same, one is syndrome if it may be temporary, the other is disease, more ongoing long term.

 

[ty3535]

ah, okay. Well he hasn't vomited again so I'm thinking it was just the type of food or he ate too much or too fast. Maybe both! Thanks again for the suggestion it's definitely something I'll keep in mind.

 

[ty3535]

Looks like I spoke too soon-he vomited again, this time it was not undigested food. I have given him as a treat tuna juice the past three nights which is isn't used to having - could this be the culprit?

 

[catwoman707]

Looks like I spoke too soon-he vomited again, this time it was not undigested food. I have given him as a treat tuna juice the past three nights which is isn't used to having - could this be the culprit?

Sure sounds to me like the beginnings of IBD.

My Krissy started this same exact way. Then it progressed and she was lacking appetite and vomiting like 6 times in one day, that's when I took her for tests, etc.

Bet your culprit will be fish..........

Juust a feeling.........

 

[ty3535]

Sure sounds to me like the beginnings of IBD.
My Krissy started this same exact way. Then it progressed and she was lacking appetite and vomiting like 6 times in one day, that's when I took her for tests, etc.

Bet your culprit will be fish..........
Juust a feeling.........

What was the diagnosis for your kitty?

 

[ty3535]

Can anyone shed some light on what the treatment options are if it is IBD?

 

[catwoman707]

IBD and thickened intestinal wall, pancreatitis, inflammed lymph nodes, no cancer or lymphoma suspected.

If I had done something and taken it more seriously back when she had started vomiting here and there, for seemingly no reason, she would likely have not gotten the thickened intestinal wall and so much inflammation.

It's because once their system decides to have an allergic type reaction, it is done with that food, period.

So we unknowingly continue feeding them what is creating a problem now, so it gets worse and worse, and I got lucky, some people end up with HP/fatty liver disease when their cat just stops eating completely, and worse.

I have had Krissy stabilized for close to a year now without medications, purely removing all former foods, and getting her on a grain free limited ingredient diet of blue buffalo turkey dry and fancy feast turkey canned, only 3 varieties. None with chicken or fish, her 2 culprits.

She also get treats before bed but only Pure Bites freeze dried turkey treats or blue buffalo limited ingredient turkey treats.

The minute I give her something different, it doesn't agree with her, so I stay with this strictly.

She started IBD signs at 11, slowly like yours, took her in for bloodwork back then, not much came up, so I let it go on, until it got bad, then she was 12, she is now 13 and doing great.

 

[catwoman707]

Can anyone shed some light on what the treatment options are if it is IBD?

I probably just did in my post.

As limited of ingredients as possible, one single protein source, that kitty has not had before.

I went with turkey since I got her to eat and like the BB limited dry food, then worked on the canned, but she hated them all, except fancy feast.

It's been a journey to me at least, trying this and that but first figure out what all is in your cats curent food now.

Fish we know, is it really just about all fish?

If so that will be much easier to work out.

 

[ty3535]

I'm going to try stopping the food that may be the culprit and see if that helps. This was all great to know because now if I have to take him to the vet I'll be sure to mention that I think it may be IBD. I'm happy to hear your kitty is managing her symptoms without medication. I also have read that IBD seems to affect middle aged cats more which he is, so I'm fairly convinced of the vomiting continues that this is what's going on. Thank you so much for the info!