Sicking-up food

Hi everyone

I was a member here a while back, but re-registered because I forgot my account details.

Marmite is a beautiful & much loved British Blue shorthair neutered 12 year old girl. She has always been an indoor only cat. She came from a great cat breeder, but was the smallest kitten & the only girl in the litter. She has always had a little problem keeping down her food, but it has been under control for years. I only give her premium kibbles & fresh water with 2 or 3 little cat treats every night. I treat her indoor-only status with care, we have our playtimes, she has a multitude of scratch posts & beds. I have an interest in car behaviour. There is some stress in the house as we have a 16 year-old daughter from hell.

Marmite's food is Orijen chicken & at feeding times, I put her food into 4 separate dishes & hide them around the house. I have been doing this for several years. The purpose is to give her some interest hunting for the food instead of just plonking a dish in front of her. Also I do this because she can gulp all her food at once & be sick. When she is sick like this, she will sick up pretty well the whole lot of kibbles. I can help her with this by hiding the 4th dish very well & then helping Marmite to find the dish after ½ hour. Thereby forcing a break.

Over the past few weeks, Marmite have been occasionally sick early morning. Last night, she was sick at around 4am (she would have last been fed at 6pm the previous evening). Marmite sleeps next to me on the bed. She will sometimes jump down for a drink or to use the litter tray. There seems to be a routine when she is sick where she jumps down & has a long drink, then is sick. The sick appears to be firm mashed up food, about 2" long. She will then jump back onto the bed & wait for me (while I clean the carpet), then cuddle up again to purr & go to sleep. Of course, I never tell her off for being sick & stay calm to keep her at ease. While stroking her, she does not appear to be in any pain, for instance I can stroke her tummy without an adverse reaction.

Marmite has annual check-ups, her most recent was last December for her annual vaccinations & working spot-on. She is generally very healthy.

As this issue has a long history, should I assume that it is food related & try to find an alternative, more palatable food?

Thanks for your reply.

I took Marmite to the vet yesterday & the vet thought that it was a bug in her tummy. Marmite was given a couple of injections. She was not sick last night.

Today Marmite has been feeling unwell, her face has been looking unwell, although she is not hiding away, she is definitely off-colour. I rang the vet twice today to give her updates & to get advice. Early this evening, it was dinner time & Marmite had 25% of her food. About 30mins later she was obviously unwell, she was unsteady on her feet & often laying down in unusual places. I called the vet & took her straight there on an emergency appointment.

The vet has taken some bloods for testing & is now treating her for infection with antibiotics. Marmite's temperature is about 1°C too high & the vet thinks that may be due to infection. I am expecting a call tomorrow about the bloods & have another vet appointment set in the afternoon. If the bloods show nothing, they will x-ray her tummy in case Marmite has eaten a foreign object.

I'm sick with worry, but trying to leave Marmite space to rest without fussing over her.

Thanks for your reply.

The vet did wonder if there was some sort of obstruction, but we must wait for the blood test results first. Marmite never has hairball issues before.

She had a good night last night, sleeping next to me, then jumping down in the night for a good drink. It's still early (ish) in the morning, but Marmite does look better today. She does appear to have lost a little weight, but the sickness has stopped & I will try to feed her normal quantity of food today, although in more meals. Instead of 20g morning & evening, I will feed 10g morning, lunch, evening & bed time.

I have taken today off work, so I will be able to check her all day. I'm expecting a call from the vet this morning & I have another vet appointment set for this evening.

I'm relieved that she's not worse today & looks a little better, but I'm worried about the blood test results.

The vet called. The blood tests were all fine, although blood platelets a little low. That, along with the sickness & the effectiveness of the anti-biotics & my mention of darker stools, leads the vet to believe we are dealing with gastero-enteritis. She has seen several incidents of this over the past few months.

We will keep the pre-arranged vet appointment for this afternoon for a further check-up & probably topping up with more anti-biotics for the weekend.

Marmite is looking better, but she is still unwell.

Thanks, I think we caught it early.

The vet visit yesterday went fine, her temperature is back to normal & Marmite is looking better, although not completely back to normal yet. I am still feeding her 4 small meals a day & the anti-biotics will last until Monday, when the vet will give her another 3-day shot, which should clear it up.

Marmite has now had another 3-day anti-biotic shot. She is almost back to normal now, temperature is fine, no more sickness. We have a final checkup on Wednesday to be sure everything is ok.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Marmite is now completely back to normal. Doing her regular Marmite things, no sickness & stools are back to normal.

I was very worried & upset for a day or two & the vet did a wonderful job to explain to me what was happening & how it was affecting Marmite & how she was feeling. Lots of thanks to vets Maria & Katie who also kept their fees down to earth despite 5 visits & several phone calls.