please help

Just got back from the vet ER - I was wondering if anybody had a similar experience as me and if you have any advice.

My cat is about 8 years old, healthy and on a grain free diet. Here in NYC, we have been experiencing a heat wave (about 100 degrees every day) but I have my AC on all the time (but its not ice cold in my apt). He always struggles with constipation - so I put psillium in his food. Also, when well, he does not drink water independently of his food - so I have to mix it in his wet food daily. In the summer, and especially this past week, he's been having more hairballs than normal.

However, this afternoon, he threw up food, then about 30min later, threw up liquid (clear). There were also small amts of the liquid in different parts of the house. He seemed a little sluggish. I went out for a few hours, then when I came back, there was a small amount of bloody/mucousy/hard stool on the edge of his litter box (no other diarrhea or vomiting).

Given the bloody stool, and his looking lethargic, I brought him to the ER. His abdominal xray was completely normal (empty stomach and intestines). He got some sub-cutaneous fluids too. He's a little tipsy now from the sedation, too.

Does anybody have any idea what could be going on? The vet did not seem too concerned. She said for me to try to feed him a little tomorrow and see if he continues to throw up.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!!

When mine throw up it's mostly due to slight upset stomach. They chew on grass and then vomit food with liquid. They're fine after.

Constipation can cause nausea and vomitting, perhaps that was part of it.

Hi
I also don't believe anything is there to worry about. The bloody stool can be just because of the constipation and the fact of the matter is, cats throw up.
At first I was going to congratulate you for doing everything right. I probably still will but I remembered that there are a few grain free dry foods out there. I believe you are feeding canned since you said your cat doesn't drink (which is normal when feeing canned) but if you are feeding dry food then that is your problem. The system needs water to pass through and you should switch to a grain free canned diet.
What I found works great for constipation is to sprinkle some over the counter miralax on the food, In emergencies, you can give 1/4 tab of senekot 2x a ay for 2 days
Best of lu8ck

thank you for your responses! To answer the last question, I feed him 2 cans of wet food a day (mixed with water and psillium) and he also has access to a small amt of grain free dry food all day (about a saucer full).

I just tried feeding him a little bit of wet food with water and he turned his nose up at it. So I tried a little tuna with water and he also walked away which never happens. So I tried a little tuna (no water) and he ate it up! Now I'm waiting for an hour to see if he pukes.

If he were here, I think I'd get a little Slippery Elm Bark powder into him. Slippery Elm is very safe - there are only a few cautions to be aware of for cats.

Ok - so overall, much better. No vomiting today! (yay!). Ate about 1/4 small (3oz) can tuna w/o puking in the morning. Then I gave him about 3/4 can of wellness chicken and herring (I switched the flavor today as he would not eat his turkey flavor wellness) mixed it with some water. He ate it all.

This evening, I put out another 3 oz can of chicken with herring (with water) and he ate about 1/4 of it (so far). He has peed 2x today. This afternoon he even played a little but is mainly just lying in front of the fan.

However, just now he just had some diarrhea (in his litter box). Couldnt see any blood or mucous (it was covered by litter).

Any thoughts as to what is going on? Btw, my cat only had diarrhea once in his entire life.

Could be the heat. My cats don't eat much during the heat. Last week Cleo threw up some but it was very hot. Try some baby food. Try a meat only with no onions or garlic. It settled Cleo stomach.

So, he ate breakfast this am. The vet came and he is not dehydrated! This evening, he looks back to normal. Active, sitting on me. Ate all his dinner!

Thank God! And thank you so much for all your help. My vet also recommended baby food if this happens again.

THAT is really good news! Quite a relief, I'm sure.

I was thinking...and this is from memory...I believe that psillium requires a certain amount/extra water to work, or otherwise it will produce a blockage of its own - I could very well be wrong. You could do a little research on that. If that is the case, anything you can do to enourage his drinking could improve things. But, don't trust this, check it out.

Originally Posted by sangria14

So, he ate breakfast this am. The vet came and he is not dehydrated! This evening, he looks back to normal. Active, sitting on me. Ate all his dinner!

Thank God! And thank you so much for all your help. My vet also recommended baby food if this happens again.

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Yay...good to hear your good news!