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Bad diarrhea and vomitting...when to take to vet?

post #1 of 12
9/22/10 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
Last night I noticed one of the cats had really bad smelling diarrhea. Today I monitored the litter boxes and found out it's Rocky. He's gone at least three times so far today and I'm almost positive it was him who vomited on the carpet (partially undigested food). He isn't acting sick in any other way. He isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Should I take him to the vet immediately or wait and see if it persists for more than a day?
How could I get a sample of it to take to the vet?
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post #2 of 12
9/22/10 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat_crazy View Post
Last night I noticed one of the cats had really bad smelling diarrhea. Today I monitored the litter boxes and found out it's Rocky. He's gone at least three times so far today and I'm almost positive it was him who vomited on the carpet (partially undigested food). He isn't acting sick in any other way. He isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Should I take him to the vet immediately or wait and see if it persists for more than a day?
How could I get a sample of it to take to the vet?
Have you changed the food? Vomiting like that along with diarrhea can = blockage and can be dangerous. I would take him to the vet before it becomes an emmergency in the middle of the night and you run out o options besides an ER trip.
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post #3 of 12
9/22/10 at 2:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Have you changed the food? Vomiting like that along with diarrhea can = blockage and can be dangerous. I would take him to the vet before it becomes an emmergency in the middle of the night and you run out o options besides an ER trip.
If you don't know what he got into to cause it, I'd go. Our motto is always better safe than sorry.

If he's not drinking or not keeping the water down, he can dehydrate quickly, another something to worry about.

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post #4 of 12
9/23/10 at 6:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
If you don't know what he got into to cause it, I'd go. Our motto is always better safe than sorry.

If he's not drinking or not keeping the water down, he can dehydrate quickly, another something to worry about.
+1 Take him!
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post #5 of 12
9/23/10 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30 AM. Right now I have him isolated in the master bedroom with his food and water bowl, a litter box and some toys. He's been sleeping and wanting out of the room some. I don't think he has any sort of blockage.
I have observed him closely and noticed these other things:
He has mucus in his stool.
He IS acting a little off (not persisting at the outside door to be let out and sleeping a little more than usual).
He's drinking more than usual, but not urinating any more than usual.
He's got a regular appetite.
He wouldn't stop following me around before I isolated him.


Hoping he doesn't get any worse before his appointment. If he does I'll be taking him to the emergency vet.


ETA-
Oh, yes. I'm feeding him only canned food to help him from dehydrating.
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post #6 of 12
9/23/10 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat_crazy View Post
I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30 AM. Right now I have him isolated in the master bedroom with his food and water bowl, a litter box and some toys. He's been sleeping and wanting out of the room some. I don't think he has any sort of blockage.
I have observed him closely and noticed these other things:
He has mucus in his stool.
He IS acting a little off (not persisting at the outside door to be let out and sleeping a little more than usual).
He's drinking more than usual, but not urinating any more than usual.
He's got a regular appetite.
He wouldn't stop following me around before I isolated him.


Hoping he doesn't get any worse before his appointment. If he does I'll be taking him to the emergency vet.


ETA-
Oh, yes. I'm feeding him only canned food to help him from dehydrating.
Please, do not wait until tomorrow... Take him in today... It's been too long already...
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post #7 of 12
9/23/10 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Please, do not wait until tomorrow... Take him in today... It's been too long already...
I can only do that if I take him to the emergency room....my vet doesn't take walk-ins and the next available appointment was tomorrow at 10:30 AM. So I guess a trip to the emergency vet is in order...
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post #8 of 12
9/23/10 at 11:31am
Is there another vet in the area that is not an ER vet that you can take him?
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post #9 of 12
9/23/10 at 12:08pm
You could try calling teh ER vet and ask them what they think but I would take him asap just to be sure that way you can be safe than sorry. ER vets are really good, I took my cat to one when he had a block and they said good thing we brought him in so please go if possible. I hope he is ok.
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post #10 of 12
9/24/10 at 7:22am
Thread Starter 
Okay so....last year the vet we took Penny to the vet when she was sick was just filling in for the regular vets as they were on vacation. We didn't know that at the time and did not like the vet AT ALL. I was searching quickly for a vet that took walk-ins and found that hospital again and noticed that the vet we had seen before didn't regularly work there. They take walk-ins so we took Rocky there yesterday. The vet was extremely nice. Rocky was loving all the attention he got. They did an exam, drew some blood and did a fecal test. Turns out he had a bacterial overgrowth in his stomach, so he'll be taking some meds twice a day for a week. He also tested positive for FIV and the vet agreed with us that he and Penny probably got it in utero (and Princess probably has it as well).
He also has a heart murmur. She said it may or may not develop into a problem, he could possibly end up with congestive heart failure, but he may be perfectly fine. She said heart murmurs are often found in young bigger male cats.

I'm just happy it wasn't anything worse. I'm off to do my research on heart murmurs now.
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post #11 of 12
9/24/10 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat_crazy View Post
Okay so....last year the vet we took Penny to the vet when she was sick was just filling in for the regular vets as they were on vacation. We didn't know that at the time and did not like the vet AT ALL. I was searching quickly for a vet that took walk-ins and found that hospital again and noticed that the vet we had seen before didn't regularly work there. They take walk-ins so we took Rocky there yesterday. The vet was extremely nice. Rocky was loving all the attention he got. They did an exam, drew some blood and did a fecal test. Turns out he had a bacterial overgrowth in his stomach, so he'll be taking some meds twice a day for a week. He also tested positive for FIV and the vet agreed with us that he and Penny probably got it in utero (and Princess probably has it as well).
He also has a heart murmur. She said it may or may not develop into a problem, he could possibly end up with congestive heart failure, but he may be perfectly fine. She said heart murmurs are often found in young bigger male cats.

I'm just happy it wasn't anything worse. I'm off to do my research on heart murmurs now.
I am so glad you took him to the vet There is some excellent info about FIV here http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm
My cat also has heart murmur... It can go somewhere, but a cat can also live healthy and symptom free for they whole life... What level did he get? 2,3,4? You can get an x-ray to see if he has an enlarged heart later on. Watch out if he gets lethargic, stop eating, etc., that can be a sign of heart problems - take him to the vet at once.
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post #12 of 12
9/24/10 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
I am so glad you took him to the vet There is some excellent info about FIV here http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm
My cat also has heart murmur... It can go somewhere, but a cat can also live healthy and symptom free for they whole life... What level did he get? 2,3,4? You can get an x-ray to see if he has an enlarged heart later on. Watch out if he gets lethargic, stop eating, etc., that can be a sign of heart problems - take him to the vet at once.
I know quite a bit about FIV as Penny was diagnosed with it last year.

She never graded his heart murmur. She said he had a "slight heart murmur." She was listening for about 15 or so seconds so I'm guessing a 1 or 2. We're going to take him back to get further testing once he's feeling 100% again. I'm definitely on the watch for any signs of heart problems now....At the first sign of anything I'm taking him to the vet. I'm hoping it's nothing serious but I read somewhere that FIV infected mothers can give birth to kittens with birth defects. That scares me because I'm 99.9% positive that they acquired FIV from their mother. Though if that was the case wouldn't it have been detected in his two previous check-ups?
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