Hello everyone, I have a very sick cat and was wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this before. My cat Charles (~4-7years old) started throwing up last Thursday at 9:30 in the morning and continued throwing up all day and was starting to get very lethargic in the evening. Fearing a blockage or obstruction, we took him in to the emergency vet that night. They took x-rays and said that everything looked ok and to take him to our regular vet the next morning for further testing. He stayed at our regular vet all day Friday where they ran blood work, reviewed the x-rays, and gave him IV fluids, a shot of penicillin, and something for the nausea. They couldn't find anything wrong with him and he was acting like himself again, no more vomitting, so they sent him home with us Friday afternoon. And he acted like he felt fine - he was running around, playing with the dogs, even helping wrap gifts.
Then came Saturday afternoon. He was starting to mope around again, and by the evening when I got off work, he was miserable; he had diarrhea, was extremely lethargic, and was very unresponsive. I rushed him back to the emergency vets where they began a variety of tests. He was dehydrated again and had a high fever, and as soon as they started working on him, he vomitted everywhere. They did a complete blood pannel, urinalysis, fecal, and more x-rays that night. The fecal showed a high number of bacteria (although I can't remember what) and his blood work showed increased numbers of white blood cells - he was definitely fighting off an infection. His abdomen was sore, but nothing else showed anything conclusive; the x-rays were normal, blood work was good, urinalysis was good, etc.
They kept him overnight on fluids and antibiotics, and on Sunday morning they had a specialist come in to do an ultrasound to rule out pancreatitis. The ultrasound looked good with the exception of thickened (although still within the range of normal) intestinal walls. They had to add additional antibiotics to get Charles' fever down, and they kept him on fluids. He vomitted again on Sunday morning, and he started to have bad, constant diarrhea. They retested him for FIV/FIP, and that came back negative.
On Monday he was starting to stabelize with no fever and was able to hold down food without vomitting or diarrhea, even though he had to be syringe fed. They took him off the IV antibiotics and put him on oral antibiotics (broad spectrum) as well as giving him some steriods to help with the inflammation. They sent him home with us this afternoon, and he's feeling much better (although definitley not 100%). He's drinking water on his own, using his litter box, and has been quietly resting. He hasn't shown any signs of wanting to eat yet, but they did feed him at the vets this afternoon before we brought him home.
Aside from the bacterial infection, the vets haven't found anything conclusive. They are concerned that he might have IBD or lymphoma based on the his thickened intestinal walls, but the only way to know for sure would be to do exploratory surgery with multiple biopsies. I have an appointment with my vet tomorrow morning to see how she wants to proceed, but has anyone experienced anything like this before? Charles is a house cat and I can't think of anything that he could have gotten in to. There have been no food changes. Before Thursday, Charles hadn't thrown up in months and had been acting fine with no signs of being sick. I've been reading and reading about both lymphoma and IBD, and Charles didn't have any of the normal symptoms (i.e. chronic vomitting & diarrhea, coarse, brittle fur, etc); this has all been sudden.
Thanks in advance for any & all suggestions,
Aimee
Then came Saturday afternoon. He was starting to mope around again, and by the evening when I got off work, he was miserable; he had diarrhea, was extremely lethargic, and was very unresponsive. I rushed him back to the emergency vets where they began a variety of tests. He was dehydrated again and had a high fever, and as soon as they started working on him, he vomitted everywhere. They did a complete blood pannel, urinalysis, fecal, and more x-rays that night. The fecal showed a high number of bacteria (although I can't remember what) and his blood work showed increased numbers of white blood cells - he was definitely fighting off an infection. His abdomen was sore, but nothing else showed anything conclusive; the x-rays were normal, blood work was good, urinalysis was good, etc.
They kept him overnight on fluids and antibiotics, and on Sunday morning they had a specialist come in to do an ultrasound to rule out pancreatitis. The ultrasound looked good with the exception of thickened (although still within the range of normal) intestinal walls. They had to add additional antibiotics to get Charles' fever down, and they kept him on fluids. He vomitted again on Sunday morning, and he started to have bad, constant diarrhea. They retested him for FIV/FIP, and that came back negative.
On Monday he was starting to stabelize with no fever and was able to hold down food without vomitting or diarrhea, even though he had to be syringe fed. They took him off the IV antibiotics and put him on oral antibiotics (broad spectrum) as well as giving him some steriods to help with the inflammation. They sent him home with us this afternoon, and he's feeling much better (although definitley not 100%). He's drinking water on his own, using his litter box, and has been quietly resting. He hasn't shown any signs of wanting to eat yet, but they did feed him at the vets this afternoon before we brought him home.
Aside from the bacterial infection, the vets haven't found anything conclusive. They are concerned that he might have IBD or lymphoma based on the his thickened intestinal walls, but the only way to know for sure would be to do exploratory surgery with multiple biopsies. I have an appointment with my vet tomorrow morning to see how she wants to proceed, but has anyone experienced anything like this before? Charles is a house cat and I can't think of anything that he could have gotten in to. There have been no food changes. Before Thursday, Charles hadn't thrown up in months and had been acting fine with no signs of being sick. I've been reading and reading about both lymphoma and IBD, and Charles didn't have any of the normal symptoms (i.e. chronic vomitting & diarrhea, coarse, brittle fur, etc); this has all been sudden.
Thanks in advance for any & all suggestions,
Aimee
