Time for the e-vet?

Delilah started throwing up this morning at about 2:45am. Probably every 1-2 hours since then. It started as a brown liquid, and has now turned into foam. I also seemed through the night that the litter box was being used a lot...but never got up in time to see who was using it. However, I just heard Delilah in there and she came out with some runny stuff on her bum. So, she has diarrhea too.

I wouldn't call her lathargic, but she's hanging around a lot under the futon in the spare room, which is where she likes to sleep anyway. However, usually she'll come out when I come to see her and today she won't. She does come out to use the litter box...and once when she was out I picked her up, she started to purr, and cuddled with me for a few minutes before she jumped down and went back into her cave. It's not unusual for her to spend lots of time under there...the last couple days, however, she's been very cuddly (for her) and has been sitting on my lap, etc.

As far as I know, there is nothing she could have gotten into. She also doesn't show any interest in eating anything other than cat food. She does have her umbilical hernia...felt normal with the little chance I had to feel it.

I was wondering what to do, but then once I saw she had diarrhea and then vomited again, I decided to call the vet. However, I guess they are closed for Christmas Eve. So, the only option is to deal with the e-vet. I will say right now that I do not like the e-vet. When we were dealing with Zoey, I did not like how they dealt with her there. Once vet was horrible, the other was OK. I also know they don't like to just give advice over the phone...they will just say to come in and they will see.

Usually, I would just let it be and see how she is the next day. However, given that tomorrow is Christmas and we'll be away for most of the day, I'm thinking maybe I should just get it over with today.

I hate this...why do my animals always have to get sick on weekends/holidays when the regular vet is closed??

I'd probably at least call and get the vet's opinion.

That really stinks---she's miserable and you're worried at holiday time.

Hope things resolve soon.

Cally

Boy, I hear what you are saying about animals getting sick at the worst times! It's like they can read a calendar.

Well, if it was me I would take her in. Any vet is better than none IMO. You don't want to be worrying all through Christmas. I think dehydration might start to be a problem if now she is having a runny stool along with vomiting.

Peace of mind is everything and you would feel worse if she gets any worse.

Keep us posted. I hope she can get cleared up and home.

Merry Christmas!

I agree with farleyv's comment about cats being able to "read the calendar."

I'm sorry, zoeysmom, that Delilah seems so ill that she's in the box as well as now losing foam from her mouth.

You indicated that you called the vet and they must be closed because it's Christmas. I'm wondering if that is the only vet you have in your town. Is there another vet you could take your cat to? Our vet has an animal hospital and he and his partner take turns being on call at night, weekends and holidays. And when they are not available, they do make arrangements for a vet in a town nearby to take their calls.

Do you have something like that?

At the very least, you might want to try to get some water into Delilah so she doesn't get dehydrated.

Is she long-haired? Perhaps she has a hairball that she can't get rid of. (I believe short-haired cats get them, too.) We use a hairball remedy to help with such issues. And perhaps that would help to alleviate her situation.

Good luck. It's no fun when our kitties are ill and we don't know what to do for them.

I think it's time to get to the e-vet as well, unless she's made a terrific turn around in the last few hours. The thing is, with the holiday, if things go bad, it's going to be even harder to get assistance - and I'm not sure how you'll be able to leave her for the day if she's not better. I know, mine always manage to pick holidays to act up.

Thanks for the responses everyone!

We just got home from the emergency vet. They were much better this time! It was a long haul there though (it's 30 mins to get there, and then 30 mins back...plus lots of waiting). Delilah was a great girl though. She spent most of the time hiding under my coat, but behaved very well when it came to examining, etc (just one hiss).

They felt her belly and didn't feel anything alarming and she didn't seem to be in pain. Her temperature and heart rate was normal. We went ahead and did x-rays just in case - and everything was pretty much normal. They did say that her colon seemed to be quite fluid filled (she was pooping a clear mucus, the main reason we decided to go to the vet) and there was something in there, but that it didn't appear to be a blockage. Our mutual guess was a hairball, as Delilah is not one to eat things (can't even get her to eat treats most of the time).

In any case, the vet talked about the next options. Her bladder was very small, so we weren't going to get a urinalysis without waiting a very long time. They could do a barium enema and take more x-rays. They could give oral barium - which can act as a coating and making them feel better, help pull things along in the intestines, and if she needs to go again, they can see where it went on the x-rays. The other option was to give some lactulose and hope she works things out.

The vet said if it was her cat, she'd go with the oral barium, so that's what we did. She was such a trooper and drank it all up quickly. So, she's back home now. She does seem to be a little better...she didn't even try to hide when we got home...she's currently lying on the bed, exhausted, I'm sure, from her ordeal. She hasn't vomited at all since we left for the vet at 12-ish. She released some of the clear liquid from her bowel on me after she took the barium, but hasn't yet used her litter box (we've been home only 30 mins).

I can't say I have complete peace of mind, but I do feel better knowing that there is no blockage and no signs of infection or disease. Next step, of course, would be more x-rays, bloodwork, and urinalysis, but I didn't want to put her through that if it was just a hairball. I'm crossing my fingers that it passes in 5-6 hours with the barium!

Hopefully, she's completely back to herself before tomorrow morning. If not, I'll have to work something out so that there is someone home for more of the day than we were planning. We usually go to my boyfriend's family in the morning, and then mine late afternoon/evening, with a stop over at home in between. We might have to shorten our visits...or I can stay home in the morning if need be.

Delilah is still not feeling great. She has thrown up twice since my last post. The first time it was mostly barium with a few small chunks of something (not sure what...looked like a piece of hairball, but more the consistency of food - not the right colour for their food, though). The second time it was a mix of stomach fluids and barium. No chunks that time. She did release a bunch of clear liquid in the litter box, but as far as I can tell, hasn't passed much in the way of barium.

She's spent most of the evening on our bed...she welcomes pets and starts purring and sometimes kneading when we come see her. She even played with a piece of ribbon I was dangling for a few minutes. She doesn't show any interest in food or water at the moment. If she's not feeling better in the morning, I'll try to syringe feed/hydrate her. I really wish I hadn't given my couple cans of Hill's A/D away a few months ago!

If she's still not feeling well by tomorrow night, I will definitely call the vet at least. Now that I know it's not a blockage, in my gut, I really feel that it is something that will pass with time. However, I'm not willing to wait it out too long!

A question: Can cats vomit because of exposure to catnip? My cats have had catnip before, but never really reacted. However, I ordered some toys from Auntie Em and they both went nuts over them when I gave them some of their toys yesterday evening. They did not injest any catnip...Belle was licking the toys like crazy, but I don't think Delilah did. I'm only bringing this up because it's the only change that I can think of that happened recently.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I don't think catnip could make a kitty this sick.

I am surprised the e vet did not give Delilah fluids. She must be very dehydrated. If you are skilled at syringe feeding, getting liquids into her is good, but if she continues to vomit that will not work.

The cycle of vomiting has to be stopped and than often means nothing by mouth, it has to be sub q or IV.

She needs fluids, and soon. A kitty's organs shut down rather quickly, three days at the earliest. I hope you can get her seen tomorrow.

I know it's Christmas but I don't think I would be able to leave a sick kitty alone. Can you take the option of staying home, or taking two vehicles so one of you can come home and check on her early?

All paws crossed for Delilah. Keep us posted please.

I'm sorry she's not feeling better, and I know you're worried. Best wishes that she's feeling better today, but bless you for putting her health first.

We're between families right now, so I thought I'd update those who have responded.

Delilah hasn't thrown up since about 9pm last night. She woke up in the middle of the night to have a drink and then came back to bed. She woke up and came and saw me in the morning as she often does. She came for breakfast and was first in line for her wet food, although I don't think she ate very much. She played lightly for a little while this morning. She's still pooping out clear mucous, but is not running to the box constantly.

She's defintely not back to herself, but she seems much better. She was waiting for us at the door when we came home from a few hours with my BFs family. I'm still keeping a very close eye on her. If she's still not pooping something other than clear fluid by tomorrow, I'm going to call the vet again.

I'm wondering at this point if I should get her some lactulose to help whatever she has inside of her work its way through. The barium was supposed to do that, but I think she threw it all up before she even had a chance for it to get that far!

Thanks for those who have responded and sent good wishes! Please keep sending ...at this point, I'm really hoping for a good poop! You know you're a good mom when you start to celebrate poops!

Oh, and thank you to the person who was concerned about the dehydration. She was not given any fluids at the vet because she was not showing any signs of dehydration - said I was very on the ball! Since she's been drinking a bit here and there today, I'm not overly concerned...but I'll keep an eye on it!

We came home this evening from my parents' and checked the litter box. I stepped in a pile of clear goo, but did find a pretty good sized poop that I'm 99% sure was Delilah's as it appeared to be coated in barium. We examined it carefully and have put some in a ziploc bag just in case we need to take it to the vet, but I will spare you the details!

I'm still a little concerned that she's pooping the clear goo, but figure if her bowels are irritated, it may take a while for them to get back to normal (my research says that the clear goo is produced when the bowels are inflammed or irritated - which could be for any reason).

Still resting lots on the bed...but again got up and around when we came in the door, watched out the window for a bit, and then went back and layed down.

Will call the vet to touch base tomorrow. Maybe look into getting some lactulose to help get things moving for a while. Then I need to discuss with the regular vet how to prevent this from happening again...she won't really take anything (petromalt, margarine), so maybe something liquid that we can syringe in regularly would be better.

glad to hear she is doing better!

So, almost a year after my ordeal with Delilah, Belle is now sick. She threw up several times yesterday, and a couple of times today - seems to be after she eats/drinks anything. So far, it seems to just be clear "saliva" that she's hacking up....I suspect maybe a furball. We gave her a bit of lactulose earlier and I tried to give her some margarine (which she usually loves), but she wouldn't take it.

She's not her perky (read: annoying) little self, but she is up and about a bit. She's not showing a whole lot of interest in food or water at the moment (she ate a few treats earlier), I'm guessing because it's making her ill. Not sure about litterbox usage...I'm going to clean it out and be sure to pay attention to what's happening in there.

If she's not eating in the morning, I'll call the vet. "Luckily" we have a few more days before Christmas this year, so if she needs to go in, I'll be able to take her to the regular vet and not the emergency clinic.

OY...my cats and their timing!

Do you decorate for Christmas or have any gifts that you recently wrapped sitting out?

My first thought is that she found something and ate it. Mine, even the ones that never try to eat anything, will try to eat tape... one will go so far as trying to steal the whole tape dispenser from me (including a packaging tape dispenser years ago).

I hope she'll be ok.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Do you decorate for Christmas or have any gifts that you recently wrapped sitting out?

My first thought is that she found something and ate it. Mine, even the ones that never try to eat anything, will try to eat tape... one will go so far as trying to steal the whole tape dispenser from me (including a packaging tape dispenser years ago).

I hope she'll be ok.

Click to expand...

Nope....haven't gotten around to putting up any decorations this year, nor have I wrapped any presents. I suppose it's possible she swallowed something she's not supposed to have, but I have my doubts.

She came to us for some love a little bit ago, rested a bit in the cat tunnel, and then got up and had a little bit of water. She hasn't thrown up since. Currently, she's laying on the couch watching TV.

We have a vet appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30.

Things haven't changed much since yesterday, although Belle seems to be getting better slowly.

As far as I know, she only threw up once this morning. She had a long nap under the bed. When she got up, she was acting a bit more like herself. She was even meowing (her normal screeching "feed me" meow) in the kitchen, so I gave her a bit of food. She seemed interested, but sniffed and didn't eat any.

She has went to the water bowl on her own for some quick drinks this evening. I went to the vet and bought some A/D for her and mixed a small amount up with warm water in the magic bullet. She ate a tiny bit (improvement), and just now ate a tiny bit more.

Her behaviour is much closer to normal, as she's up and moving more, following me around, was meowing at us when we were eating (she always wants to smell what we're eating to make sure it's nothing that interests her). However, her eyes look a bit sunken in (like tiny little bags under them) and I thought I saw a tiny bit of third eyelid.

Anyway, hopefully the vet appointment goes OK. Actually, hopefully I'll be able to get her there, as Belle and the carrier do not get along. I hate to stress her out for possibly nothing, but with Christmas coming up, I want to get her in to the regular vet while I still can.