I could do with some input and advice about Jaffa's vomiting.
First off, he has been to see the vet (and will go back to see the vet) but the vet I saw last time was new and I wasn't overly impressed. I will ask to see another vet next time I think, but in the meantime I'd like to know whether anyone else has experienced the same thing.
Jaffa began vomiting several months ago. He was vomiting approx once a week (sometimes he'd go a couple of weeks without vomiting, other weeks he'd vomit 2 or 3 times in the week) and always on an empty stomach. On all but 2 occasions it's been early morning before breakfast. To begin with he was bringing up a small amount of brownish liquid (bile) but more recently it's just been a tiny amount of clear frothy fluid. I did change his food a couple of months beforehand from a poor quality wet food (mainly felix) to a better quality one with a higher meat content. I wondered whether the new food was too rich for him and was irritating his digestive tract so have gone back to feeding him felix for the past 3 and a half weeks (plus a small amount of James Wellbeloved dry - a good quality dry). He's 9 years old and has eaten JWB dry and felix wet for most of his life with no problems. He gets fed 3 times a day - wet in the morning and when I get home from work, then some dry about 9.30pm.
The vet has had a feel and doesn't think there's any physical obstruction. He's also had a senior blood panel done and everything there is ok, although he did have a slightly high lymphocyte (?) count which the vet said indicated he may have a slight infection. It was only marginally high and the vet didn't seem concerned. He asked what I was feeding him and when I told him the name of the wet foods I feed he hadn't heard of any of them. He had heard of the JWB and suggested I feed him on just dry for a while to see if that helped. I wasn't keen on doing that as I prefer wet food for Jaffa (he doesn't drink much even when on dry) and I'm trying to increase his wet food not decrease it. I also felt the vet was clutching at straws a bit when he suggested that, esp at it was the only food he'd heard of. I haven't ruled out doing that but in the meantime I decided to go back to the felix for the wet food to see if it was the rich food that was causing the problem.
For the past few weeks the vomiting has been much less, although I'm not sure whether he was or wasn't sick 2 weeks ago. I found a small amount of slightly foamy clear liquid on the kitchen floor that may have been vomit or may have just been water splashed over from the sink! I'm not too sure. I was just thinking I'd cracked it and that it was food related when he was sick again this morning at about 6am. The usual thing - just a small amount of clear fluid. Up until he was sick this morning my plan had been to keep him on the felix for 4 weeks (just a few more days to go) then gradually re-introduce the better quality wet food into his diet to see how much of that he would tolerate before it made him vomit. I'd be happy feeding him a mixture of the felix and some of the better foods. Now that he's vomited while on the felix I'm not sure what to do. He's also had a few runny poos the last day or so, but is otherwise showing no signs of being ill. He's not lethargic or off his food and he's not losing weight. The vomiting doesn't distress him at all and he's ready for his breakfast straight afterwards. He never vomits his food back after eating.
I've read a few articles recently that have mentioned vomiting on an empty stomach (esp in early morning) and get the impression it's a well known type of vomiting that is due to bile passing back into the empty stomach and causing irritation. This sounds like what might be going on with Jaffa but I'm surprised the vet didn't pick up on the empty stomach thing. The solution offered is usually to feed more often and especially to feed during the evening so that it's not too long until the morning meal. Jaffa is already being fed at night though and has his last meal about 9.30 - 10pm.
Sorry this is so long - has anyone had a cat with this type of vomiting or got any suggestions for what I should do next? (apart from take him back to the vet which I will do soon - but I think this vet is going to need a bit of help from me!). I'm going to start him on a probiotic but other than that I'm not too sure whether to continue with the felix, go all dry - don't really want to do that - or gradually introduce some other, better foods. Anyone had any experience with this type of vomiting?
First off, he has been to see the vet (and will go back to see the vet) but the vet I saw last time was new and I wasn't overly impressed. I will ask to see another vet next time I think, but in the meantime I'd like to know whether anyone else has experienced the same thing.
Jaffa began vomiting several months ago. He was vomiting approx once a week (sometimes he'd go a couple of weeks without vomiting, other weeks he'd vomit 2 or 3 times in the week) and always on an empty stomach. On all but 2 occasions it's been early morning before breakfast. To begin with he was bringing up a small amount of brownish liquid (bile) but more recently it's just been a tiny amount of clear frothy fluid. I did change his food a couple of months beforehand from a poor quality wet food (mainly felix) to a better quality one with a higher meat content. I wondered whether the new food was too rich for him and was irritating his digestive tract so have gone back to feeding him felix for the past 3 and a half weeks (plus a small amount of James Wellbeloved dry - a good quality dry). He's 9 years old and has eaten JWB dry and felix wet for most of his life with no problems. He gets fed 3 times a day - wet in the morning and when I get home from work, then some dry about 9.30pm.
The vet has had a feel and doesn't think there's any physical obstruction. He's also had a senior blood panel done and everything there is ok, although he did have a slightly high lymphocyte (?) count which the vet said indicated he may have a slight infection. It was only marginally high and the vet didn't seem concerned. He asked what I was feeding him and when I told him the name of the wet foods I feed he hadn't heard of any of them. He had heard of the JWB and suggested I feed him on just dry for a while to see if that helped. I wasn't keen on doing that as I prefer wet food for Jaffa (he doesn't drink much even when on dry) and I'm trying to increase his wet food not decrease it. I also felt the vet was clutching at straws a bit when he suggested that, esp at it was the only food he'd heard of. I haven't ruled out doing that but in the meantime I decided to go back to the felix for the wet food to see if it was the rich food that was causing the problem.
For the past few weeks the vomiting has been much less, although I'm not sure whether he was or wasn't sick 2 weeks ago. I found a small amount of slightly foamy clear liquid on the kitchen floor that may have been vomit or may have just been water splashed over from the sink! I'm not too sure. I was just thinking I'd cracked it and that it was food related when he was sick again this morning at about 6am. The usual thing - just a small amount of clear fluid. Up until he was sick this morning my plan had been to keep him on the felix for 4 weeks (just a few more days to go) then gradually re-introduce the better quality wet food into his diet to see how much of that he would tolerate before it made him vomit. I'd be happy feeding him a mixture of the felix and some of the better foods. Now that he's vomited while on the felix I'm not sure what to do. He's also had a few runny poos the last day or so, but is otherwise showing no signs of being ill. He's not lethargic or off his food and he's not losing weight. The vomiting doesn't distress him at all and he's ready for his breakfast straight afterwards. He never vomits his food back after eating.
I've read a few articles recently that have mentioned vomiting on an empty stomach (esp in early morning) and get the impression it's a well known type of vomiting that is due to bile passing back into the empty stomach and causing irritation. This sounds like what might be going on with Jaffa but I'm surprised the vet didn't pick up on the empty stomach thing. The solution offered is usually to feed more often and especially to feed during the evening so that it's not too long until the morning meal. Jaffa is already being fed at night though and has his last meal about 9.30 - 10pm.
Sorry this is so long - has anyone had a cat with this type of vomiting or got any suggestions for what I should do next? (apart from take him back to the vet which I will do soon - but I think this vet is going to need a bit of help from me!). I'm going to start him on a probiotic but other than that I'm not too sure whether to continue with the felix, go all dry - don't really want to do that - or gradually introduce some other, better foods. Anyone had any experience with this type of vomiting?
