Hi
I've read topics on this forum before, but I've never posted. And this is a doozy of a first time...
I have two cats who are generally VERY healthy. One (Rusty) has the occasional asthma, and the other (Frogger) has always been a puke-y kitty. I'm not sure if it's from overeating, or eating too fast, but it's not unusual for us to hear him puking in the other room, or waking up to find a pile, about 1-2 times a week.
But for the past 4 days, he's been unusually sick. Here's the recent history...
TWO WEEKS AGO, we took our cats to the vet for his yearly vaccines, blood-work, etc. Everything was totally normal, clean bill of health. Both our cats (brothers) are mutts (polydactyl american shorthair), 8 years old, and weigh 10-11 pounds. They're indoor cats who get to go into the backyard with supervision, and Frogger likes to eat grass when he's out there. Like I said, they're both generally very healthy, until...
THIS PAST TUESDAY, about 2-3 hours after eating his normal diet of dry food (science diet oral care), Frogger vomited the entire contents of his stomach, partially digested food, followed by clear liquid -- about 3-4 "rounds" of vomiting. Given that he's a puke-y kitty, we didn't think too much of it, even though there was more vomit than usual. It certainly didn't bother Frogger, who went back to his bowl to eat more dry food. About three hours later, same thing happened. We started to worry. This time, when Frogger ran back to his bowl to "refill," we took it away. Later that night, we gave him a small amount of wet food (science diet hairball control), which he did manage to keep down.
WEDNESDAY, we woke up, gave Frogger a very small amount of dry food, which about three hours later, he vomited up. At this point we took note of his cycle -- he would eat, sleep for 2-3 hours, wake up, lick his nose, smack his mouth as if he had a bad taste, grow apprehensive, go to the litter box (without eliminating) and step out of the litter box and vomit three times until his stomach was empty. We called the vet and took him in. In the exam, Frogger looked fine, teeth healthy, organs fine to the touch, heart and lungs sounded clear, temperature fine. They gave him subcutaneous liquids (which gave him a camel hump! kinda cute) so he wouldn't get dehydrated, and sent us home with cemetadine (like pepcid i think?), sucrofate (to coat his esophagus/stomach), and a laxative (since we were concerned this was all happening because he was constipated and kept going into the litter box when he felt nauseous). We took him home and he seemed to feel better that night -- we withheld food so there was no vomiting.
THURSDAY, we woke up, gave Frogger his meds, waited awhile before giving him a small amount of prescription wet food (Hills ID). He seemed to do fine, but three hours later, he vomited just as before. We waited several hours before giving him a little more wet food, but this time it only took 15 minutes before he threw it up. We called the vet and told her about his progress (or lack thereof) and she said to bring him in for xrays the next day (i think to rule out a swallowed foreign object).
FRIDAY, we took him in, he had his xrays (all clear, though his intestines seemed a little inflamed). At this point, vet thought it was Pancreatitis and took blood to run that test. The vet also gave him an anti-nausea shot, more subcutaneous fluids, and metronidazole. (We were also supposed to pick up "liquid pepcid" to give him 2mg every 12 hours, but I went to 3 drugstores before I found out there is no such thing!). We took him home, and though he seemed exhausted from the vet, he was happy and even ate some wet food without vomiting (probably because of the anti-nausea shot?).
Today is SATURDAY, and he's had a few more small helpings of wet food and hasn't vomited. Yay. We heard back from the vet, and it's not pancreatitis. So that's good I guess. We're still giving him the sucrofate (i think i'm spelling that wrong) and now the metronidazole and pepcid (a 10mg pill I split into approx. 2mg portions), but after we give him meds, or after he eats, or plays, he still does the lip smacking/bad taste in his mouth thing... I can't tell if it's like he's gagging (doesn't sound like it) or tasting something foul -- by the look of the expression, it seems like something caught in the back of his throat (but the vet did look down his throat and nothing's there).
So here are my questions...
1. We're supposed to keep Frogger on the current meds for a week and bring him in for a recheck (unless he gets worse)... But since it's not pancreatitis, which the vet seemed convinced it was going to be, what else would explain this sudden onset of vomiting? I've searched the internet, but haven't found any good answers. Most people point to hairballs, overeating, foreign objects, pancreatitis -- all things we've ruled out. Just wondering what the vet will look for next if the vomiting continues...
2. Why does he make that face after eating/meds/playing? Could it be acid reflux? Do cats get acid reflux? If so, I wonder if the pepcid is enough to deal with all of this? Is anyone else's cat on pepcid?
3. It seems like a huge coincidence that our very healthy cat goes to the vet for his exam, and two weeks later this happens. Is it at all possible that while there, something went wrong when they tried to extract the urine sample/bloodwork/etc? (Something the vet would be hesitant to consider?) Has anyone heard of anything like this happening?
4. Lastly, Frogger's been sneezing for the past two weeks after cleaning/eating. I didn't think anything of it until today, as it's only 1-2 sneezes a day. Could this possibly be related to the vomiting? (viral/fungal/bacterial infection?)
Sorry this is so long
but I figured the more info the better.
If anyone's had similar experiences, please let me know. I love my cats a ridiculous amount, and since they're usually so perfectly healthy, I'm a little freaked out and want to make sure I don't make Frogger MORE sick by giving him all these meds (especially when no one seems to know what he has...).
THANKS!!!
Louise
I have two cats who are generally VERY healthy. One (Rusty) has the occasional asthma, and the other (Frogger) has always been a puke-y kitty. I'm not sure if it's from overeating, or eating too fast, but it's not unusual for us to hear him puking in the other room, or waking up to find a pile, about 1-2 times a week.
But for the past 4 days, he's been unusually sick. Here's the recent history...
TWO WEEKS AGO, we took our cats to the vet for his yearly vaccines, blood-work, etc. Everything was totally normal, clean bill of health. Both our cats (brothers) are mutts (polydactyl american shorthair), 8 years old, and weigh 10-11 pounds. They're indoor cats who get to go into the backyard with supervision, and Frogger likes to eat grass when he's out there. Like I said, they're both generally very healthy, until...
THIS PAST TUESDAY, about 2-3 hours after eating his normal diet of dry food (science diet oral care), Frogger vomited the entire contents of his stomach, partially digested food, followed by clear liquid -- about 3-4 "rounds" of vomiting. Given that he's a puke-y kitty, we didn't think too much of it, even though there was more vomit than usual. It certainly didn't bother Frogger, who went back to his bowl to eat more dry food. About three hours later, same thing happened. We started to worry. This time, when Frogger ran back to his bowl to "refill," we took it away. Later that night, we gave him a small amount of wet food (science diet hairball control), which he did manage to keep down.
WEDNESDAY, we woke up, gave Frogger a very small amount of dry food, which about three hours later, he vomited up. At this point we took note of his cycle -- he would eat, sleep for 2-3 hours, wake up, lick his nose, smack his mouth as if he had a bad taste, grow apprehensive, go to the litter box (without eliminating) and step out of the litter box and vomit three times until his stomach was empty. We called the vet and took him in. In the exam, Frogger looked fine, teeth healthy, organs fine to the touch, heart and lungs sounded clear, temperature fine. They gave him subcutaneous liquids (which gave him a camel hump! kinda cute) so he wouldn't get dehydrated, and sent us home with cemetadine (like pepcid i think?), sucrofate (to coat his esophagus/stomach), and a laxative (since we were concerned this was all happening because he was constipated and kept going into the litter box when he felt nauseous). We took him home and he seemed to feel better that night -- we withheld food so there was no vomiting.
THURSDAY, we woke up, gave Frogger his meds, waited awhile before giving him a small amount of prescription wet food (Hills ID). He seemed to do fine, but three hours later, he vomited just as before. We waited several hours before giving him a little more wet food, but this time it only took 15 minutes before he threw it up. We called the vet and told her about his progress (or lack thereof) and she said to bring him in for xrays the next day (i think to rule out a swallowed foreign object).
FRIDAY, we took him in, he had his xrays (all clear, though his intestines seemed a little inflamed). At this point, vet thought it was Pancreatitis and took blood to run that test. The vet also gave him an anti-nausea shot, more subcutaneous fluids, and metronidazole. (We were also supposed to pick up "liquid pepcid" to give him 2mg every 12 hours, but I went to 3 drugstores before I found out there is no such thing!). We took him home, and though he seemed exhausted from the vet, he was happy and even ate some wet food without vomiting (probably because of the anti-nausea shot?).
Today is SATURDAY, and he's had a few more small helpings of wet food and hasn't vomited. Yay. We heard back from the vet, and it's not pancreatitis. So that's good I guess. We're still giving him the sucrofate (i think i'm spelling that wrong) and now the metronidazole and pepcid (a 10mg pill I split into approx. 2mg portions), but after we give him meds, or after he eats, or plays, he still does the lip smacking/bad taste in his mouth thing... I can't tell if it's like he's gagging (doesn't sound like it) or tasting something foul -- by the look of the expression, it seems like something caught in the back of his throat (but the vet did look down his throat and nothing's there).
So here are my questions...
1. We're supposed to keep Frogger on the current meds for a week and bring him in for a recheck (unless he gets worse)... But since it's not pancreatitis, which the vet seemed convinced it was going to be, what else would explain this sudden onset of vomiting? I've searched the internet, but haven't found any good answers. Most people point to hairballs, overeating, foreign objects, pancreatitis -- all things we've ruled out. Just wondering what the vet will look for next if the vomiting continues...
2. Why does he make that face after eating/meds/playing? Could it be acid reflux? Do cats get acid reflux? If so, I wonder if the pepcid is enough to deal with all of this? Is anyone else's cat on pepcid?
3. It seems like a huge coincidence that our very healthy cat goes to the vet for his exam, and two weeks later this happens. Is it at all possible that while there, something went wrong when they tried to extract the urine sample/bloodwork/etc? (Something the vet would be hesitant to consider?) Has anyone heard of anything like this happening?
4. Lastly, Frogger's been sneezing for the past two weeks after cleaning/eating. I didn't think anything of it until today, as it's only 1-2 sneezes a day. Could this possibly be related to the vomiting? (viral/fungal/bacterial infection?)
Sorry this is so long
If anyone's had similar experiences, please let me know. I love my cats a ridiculous amount, and since they're usually so perfectly healthy, I'm a little freaked out and want to make sure I don't make Frogger MORE sick by giving him all these meds (especially when no one seems to know what he has...).
THANKS!!!
