Extreme extended nausea, help!

barbb

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I rescued several cats from Chicago's Animal Care & Control Friday afternoon along with another shelter. One of them who is in my foster care was fine at first- in fact here she is on you tube as I planned to post her on craigslist to encourage people to come to see her at the Petsmart and to submit applications .

I called her Abby. She is about 10 or 11 months old and seemed to be in perfect health and well socialized as you could see from the video.

She did not touch her food at all though, and when I came in to look at her a bit later, she was still not eating. By the next day, she was still not eating and I switched her food. I had other kittens/cats to take to the Petsmart/Banfield for testing etc. so I left, thinking I would see how she was when I got back.

When I got home, she was clicking her tongue, drooling a bit, and swallowing a lot and I thought maybe she ate a string or got a toy feather stuck in her throat or some bizarre thing. I put laxatone on her paw, which she acted like she was going to lick but did NOT touch. My shelter said take her to the vet first thing Monday (the vet is closed early on Sat and all Sun). But by Sat evening I could not deal with watching her suffer and I took her to the emergency vet at a cost of $550.

For that I learned that her blood work was fine, her x-rays were inconclusive, and they gave her an anti-nausea shot that did absolutely nothing for her.

I was given the option of leaving her there overnight for another $1,200 where they would continue to give her fluids, observe her, and do another set of xrays. I declined b/c they gave no indication it would end up with a diagnosis and frankly it seemed like an excessive amount of money with no promises. It would have made a difference to me if they could have offered any insight or just anything, but these people seemed inexperienced at best.

To make a long story short, it is 24 hours later and she is still salivating like crazy. My vet did call early this morning in response to my message on their machine, and told me to try giving her 2.5 mg pepsid every 6 hours. It has not helped at all.

If anyone has thoughts as to how to make her comfortable until I can get her to my regular vet tomorrow morning, I'd appreciate it.
 
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barbb

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I almost forgot, I do have some pain pills that were given to me for another cat in my care a while ago, I would give them to Abby but I don't want to make things worse for her. They are Torbutrol. If anyone has experience with this, let me know.
 

momofmany

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Hey Barb - nice to hear from you, even if under trying circumstances!

Did you or the vet check the inside of her mouth? She's too old to be teething still, but I wonder if she has some inflamation in her mouth - stomatitis, ate a bee or wasp and got stung, calicivirus, gingivitus? My only experience with excessive drooling comes from stomatitis cats, so I would start with an oral exam.

Torbitrol, like any pain medication, can cause nausea if taken on an empty stomach. But if she has a problem with pain in her mouth, it actually might help relax her and allow her to eat. Have you tried to syringe feed her any food or water? If you opt for the Torbitrol, give 1/4 tablet. Scarlett at 7 pounds gets very drousy on it. Muddy at 13 pounds takes it with no issues. Both get 1/4 tablet when they need it (Muddy with FLUTD, and Scarlett with occasional joint problems).

But if you don't see anything obvious wrong with her mouth, or can't get her to eat even thru forced feeding, I wouldn't try it.

Keep us posted?
 

white cat lover

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I also second the thought of something's up with her mouth. It may be a kitten tooth that didn't come out, she may have something stuck in her gums, an injury, or who knows what else.
 
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barbb

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The vet examined her mouth and throat for anything stuck and overall health and did not find anything. They said she had a broken back molar. I am wondering if she broke it at my house. I wish I knew. I am going to ask the vet Monday if they can look at the tooth more closely.

When we rescued this cat, my friend from the other shelter commented on her beautiful white teeth and said she was probably still pretty young.

She has no cold symptoms whatsoever, i.e. calicivirus, but a friend of mine also said this can precede URI. So far, not even a single sniffle and her meow is fine too, no rusty cry.

The vet said her x-ray was inconclusive because, altho her stomach looked slightly "bunched", the vet was unwilling to say that it was not normal and she could not see any foreign body in it. Also she does not seem to have any pain whatsoever in her abdomen or anywhere else. The vet told me that is why they did not prescribe any pain medication.

I keep trying to figure out if this started at Chicago Animal Control because she showed NO interest in food and threw up very shortly after coming to my house. OR, I wonder, did she eat a string from my cat tree or get her tooth stuck on a bell or choke on a feather etc. at my house?

She seemed fine at my house at first, other than lack of eating, which is not unusual even for a friendly cat that is adjusting to a new place. I did not see any nausea/mouth clicking until I got home Saturday afternoon around 3. I did notice before I left the house in the AM that she was not quite the same as the day before, b/c I wanted to get a photo of her to take with me to the Petsmart, and she was in her cat bed and did not show normal young-cat interest in greeting me. But she did not seem sick. If I'd had more time to spend with her, maybe I would have seen more.

It is very troubling because I do not know this cat enough to know her habits, and I also don't know a lot about what she might have gone thru at Animal Control, which leaves me imagining what could have possibly happened to her- and it is hard to think about that. I do know she got there on May 8th and was vaccinated and wormed that week.

It looks like she may have been an owner give-up, and I wonder too, if she has eaten much in the past week. I looked online and fatty liver disease came up as one of the nausea causes too. I hope that is not it. But her blood panel was normal, so it could not be, right? I am so confused. I plan to be sitting at the vet's at 8AM Monday.

Thank you for all your help and good wishes. I am so sad that this cat is not doing better. She is such a sweet little girl.
 

farleyv

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these things always come up on the weekends! It sounds like a mouth issue to me, but who knows? Hope you can get to vet today. Sending . Keep us posted.
 

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Did the vets mention the possibility of pancreatitis? fluids, pain meds, and cyproheptadine to stimulate appetite are the standard treatment. If it occurs in association with IBD and choligiohepatitis ( Triaditis or Triad syndrome) then prednisolone is often given as well.

The episodes can be brought on by wrong type of food, stress or as I have found...for no appearent reason


My chronic pancreatitis boy always drools during an episode flair up. He will start smacking when really nauseous and sometimes vomits yellow foamy liquid. He will actually start running away and hiding from his food dish.

It is quite common to find "nothing wrong" in the usual diagnostic tests when it is pancreatitis. In a more acute attack the Alt will be mildly elevated, often the vets don't pay attention to this one value being slightly out.

Hopefully you will get this girl feeling better soon.
 

lmunsie

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is she throwing up a lot? white foam even? This would indicate nausea, and the anti-nausea shot/pills might help in conjunction with appetite stimulants. SOmething to ask the vet about. I would also get her fluids, they can help kick start the healing process, maybe your vet can show you how to give her subQ and you can do it at home. Also try to get her to eat, even if you have to force feed watered down wet food through a syringe, not-eating will only make her far worse.

good luck and keep us posted

if i think of anything else i'll let you know
 
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barbb

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Well she went to the vet this morning. They did another x-ray and a barium test to see if she had blockage b/c they said her x-rays had a white area that was not normal.

This afternoon they said the barium passed through fine which surprised them, but it was a good sign. They also said she stopped drooling when the barium was administered which was a sign that her stomach was indeed irritated.

They said her tooth fracture was old, and they asked me if I knew anything about her former home b/c the x-ray also showed that she had a previous hip fracture which self-healed.

Also they said her liver is slightly smaller than normal which could be a possible cause of nausea and difficulty breaking down food. They said they wanted to monitor her overnite and see if she will take food and if she can tolerate it.

Another friend of mine said that this drooling is a normal shelter virus where cats just drool like crazy and it never manifests into anything else. I asked, do they drool all the time like St. Bernards? I have never seen this before, i.e. extreme, non-stop, excessive drooling and lip smacking. This cat was doing it from around 3PM Saturday with no break, up on through this morning, and the only time she was not doing that (or vomiting) was when she shut her eyes and curled up into a ball.
 
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barbb

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Also the vet did give her fluids and that is part of why they wanted to continue to keep her overnite, was for fluids. I could give them to her, but I really want to make sure she eats without this starting all over again, before I bring her home. I may not be able to afford to wait until that happens, but it is my hope- because I don't know what I would do if this began all over again. It is very painful to watch, let alone her having to deal with it.

Yes, every single vet was unequivocal that this is nausea related and not anything else. They are focused on trying to figure out the source of the nausea. They mentioned a portal systemic shunt if indeed her small liver is the cause of the problem.

For all of you who have kitties with stomatitis or other illnesses that make your kitties perpetually nauseous, I really feel for you and for them. And I want to thank you for your suggestions because this has taught me a lot in this area.
 
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barbb

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Yes kittymonsters, the lip smacking and excessive drooling is exactly what she did. And I also had the impression she would rather jump off the roof of the house than go near food. I dabbed laxatone on her paw and she rubbed it off on her carrier cage rather than lick it off, which I have never seen before.

Her throwups were white foam, I did not see yellow, but I don't know how long it had been since she ate.
 
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barbb

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Well, now she is no longer nauseous, and has instead developed URI with a temp of almost 106. The vet took more blood, gave fluids, force fed her, switched her from Flagyl/Pepsid to Clavamox, and gave her a appetite stimulant which hasn't done anything.

I have her at home b/c it is safer than the hospital for memorial day weekend. I have to also force feed her A/D, give fluids once a day, monitor her temperature, and put her in a bathroom periodically with steam to help her breathe, and administer meds, take her temp rectally.

Does anyone have suggestions for how long she needs to get steam? When I do it, I cannot tell if she is panting b/c her temp is so high, or breathing through her mouth b/c she is so congested that she cannot breathe through her nose.

This poor girl is really ill. The vet tech said she will make it; I just hope she is right.

Even more fun, I have a mom and 2 kittens in another room that have this too. I have towels at the bottom of each door so my own cats will not get it. They don't understand when I cannot touch them. I am washing my hands like crazy, but the sick cats sneeze all over me.
 

momofmany

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I had an entire household of rhino cats many years ago. I ended up putting them into different rooms with vaporizors, and the ones in the bathroom with the shower going. I left them in there as long as the hot water held out. 2 of them were so bad they wound up at the vets under oxygen. I feel your pain. This too will pass.

 
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barbb

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Thanks Amy, for the words of comfort. I feel so bad for all of them.

I gave the mom steam this morning and I was thinking about giving her and one of the kittens a little drop of tobramycin b/c their eyes are runny. But they are not goopy, just teary. On the other hand, it might be good to get that medication into them.

I feel so bad for them, they are breathing thru so much fluid.

I still have to go and force feed Abby next. This is so scary.

Through all this I cannot touch my own cats and they don't understand. I think they will get sick anyhow b/c they keep pulling the towel away from the door to the kitten room.
Their litter box is in the middle of the upstairs hall b/c all the other rooms are full of sick kitties.

My husband has been wonderful
; he went and bought litter and a thermometer yesterday for me and he helped me set up the cage for when I separate the mom.

The mom is very thin but eating well, and I don't want to separate her entirely b/c I think she is eating for the kits, not b/c she is hungry.

I am going to hang onto your words. I want this to be a memory.
 
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barbb

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Well Abby's temp went back to normal yesterday, but today it is 106 again. I gave her fluids earlier, plus an appetite stimulant/antihistimine and did force feeding, but she is breathing in a very labored way from the URI and her 3rd eyelid is showing. It is horrible to see her this way. I have to force feed her again and I just hate doing it when she is this way.
 

momofmany

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Do you have a vaporizor? I would get it running nearly all the time with her. Think of yourself with a cold and how good you felt after a night in a room with a vaporizor. She may be congested, but it can loosen it up.

And have you tried L-Lysine in their water? It can boost their immunity.
 

addiebee

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Wow.. I don't have any advice for you... just and
for you and the kitties. Poor babies!
 
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barbb

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I do not have a vaporizor but I do have a friend who has one, I think. That is a good idea and I am going to borrow it.

I have taken the cats into the bathroom and made it all steamy but they don't like it at all. Also with Abby's temperature so high I think it makes her feel worse in that area. So a vaporizer is the perfect solution.

Thanks so much for all your moral support. This is just horrible. And I hate force feeding her when she is so sick. But I know I have to do it. On the good side, she is not vomiting or diarrhea. But the URI is REALLY awful. I am so scared she will not make it.

My own cats are going crazy too, since I cannot touch them. They sit at the door and follow me from the sick cat rooms and try to get at the dirty food bowls and run ahead of me to the bathroom when I go to wash my hands, and they jump up on the sink and try to nuzzle me. The more I pull away, the more needy and affectionate they are. I am so sad and scared that they will get it.
 
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barbb

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Here is a video of the mom and kittens. These kitties have really horrible URI but they are not the sick girl. .

I will upload and post another of Abby, the really sick one. I am so scared and worried that her third eye is showing. I have never had a cat this sick before.
 
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