Throwing up/Lethargic

Pooch has been throwing up stomach acid all morning and seems lethargic.
I'll be keeping a close eye on her in case she needs to see the vet.
Any ideas?
I thought maybe I should offer her some plain cooked chicken or something....

Does she feel warm on her forehead? (A fever?) Is she properly hydrated? (Pinch her skin at the base of the back of her neck - does it kind of... "tent," or does it snap right back?) If she's dehydrated and/or has a fever, don't wait to get her to the vet.

SO many things can cause an upset tummy, which would make them lethargic, there's just no point in speculating. We always prefer to be safe than sorry, but if she's hydrated and doesn't have a fever, keep a close eye on her.

Yes, to "reset" their systems, sometimes plain boiled chicken with a little bit of white rice can help settle upset tummies. Mash up some chicken in the broth and add a little white rice, see if it helps.

Well, we took her in to see Dr. Murdoch, she says she's somewhat dehydrated and is running a slight fever. She injected her with some fluids and prescribed Clavamox in case of an infection.

Dr. Murdoch said she seemed "bright and lively" so that's a good sign.

She still seems lethargic but I think she could just be tuckered out from the stress of driving all the way there (about 15 minutes of highway/bumpy dirt road in a taxi) and going in to get the shot, etc. She HATES the going to the vet and is always stressed out when we go/return from there.

For now we're just going to have to wait and see, if she doesn't improve we'll have to go back in for xrays and bloodwork.

Please send good vibes for her!

Aw, I'm so glad you took her in! She'll forgive you.

Hope that clears up the problem!

Thanks.

She seems to be doing better this morning, I have been forcing her to drink water with an eye-dropper to keep her from becoming dehydrated again.

The vomiting has stopped for now and she's not as lethargic anymore.

Please keep your fingers crossed for her!

Hi, Pooch&Dosscara!

If/when you start offering her canned again, you can mix a teaspoon of warm water into the food to help keep her hydrated. This will also release a stronger odor which might entice her to eat more, too, if she's still off her food. (If you're feeding kibble, maybe start adding some canned into her daily menu.)

Glad she's perking up!!!! Vibes for continued improvement!

AC

Yes, the fluids often help perk them up. Is she eating?

Keeping up the vibes!

Thanks, both of you!

She's not eating yet. She has a full bowl of kibble, two water dishes and a bowl of canned food in the room that we've confined her to.

She hasn't had a bowel movement yet (probably because she's not eating) but is urinating regularly.

Some things to tempt her to eat: Drip a bit of tuna juice over the new wet food, or sprinkle catnip, Parmesan Cheese, Forti Flora flakes, fish food flakes (weird, but it works), or some crumbled up freeze-dried meat treats (Whole Life's chicken works wonderfully on my kitties) over the food.

Good luck!

AC

You're not leaving the canned out for more than 20 minutes / half an hour, are you? Bacterial growth starts to take off after that, so leaving it out isn't a good idea.

What you might want to do is heat up a little, see if that entices her to eat. Did the vet discuss with you how long to let her go without eating?

Originally Posted by LDG

What you might want to do is heat up a little, see if that entices her to eat. Did the vet discuss with you how long to let her go without eating?

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Not really, she just said keep a close eye and call in to update them on her.
If she doesn't eat by tomorrow she will be going back in.

Thomas (who's been checking on her much less than I have, to ensure that any changes in her condition would be obvious to him) says he thinks she looks way better.

When we first took her to/arrived home from the vet her eyes looked somewhat sunken and her skin was "tenting" when you pinched it, both from the dehydration. After the shot (and me constantly pumping her with H2O via eye-dropper) her eyes are looking much better and the skin "tent" when I pinch her neck goes down much faster now, not much slower than Dossy's does. Her breathing and heart rate were also slightly affected yesterday but have since gone back to normal. She doesn't feel like she is "burning up" in her face/head anymore, so the fever must be going down.

She still does not want to eat and hasn't been drinking on her own, but she seems overall more coherent than yesterday. She's not vomiting anymore and is urinating regularly, there's no sign of blood/discharge or anything like that.

Before we took her to the vet, she was sleeping right by Dossy and not paying any attention to her. She never does that. She either beats her up playfully or tries to beat her up for real, but yesterday she just didn't care.

Today I let Dossy into the room where we have Pooch confined so I could gauge her reaction, it was normal. Dossy walked in, Pooch "roars" and hisses and runs toward her. Haha - that's my girl!

Yesterday she seemed much less willing to put up a fight, she simply held still and let me give her water with the eye-dropper. Today, she keeps growling at me, putting her ears back and flailing her tail in annoyance. Another thing that makes me think she's starting to feel better.

LOL, I love it. I know exactly what you mean. We knew Lazlo felt better when we saw that not only was he grooming, he was bopping Billy.

Lots of for Pooch to feel better soon!

She ate something (tuna/salmon) yesterday and kept it down! The Clavamox did make her puke later on, she only puked up water/antibiotics but Dr. Murdoch says that's normal. She seems to be doing MUCH better overall this morning.

Oh yes, clavamox can do that. If you can, and if she eats again, try to give her the clamamox immediately after she eats. It's just like for humans, many antibiotics upset the stomach and should be taken with food.

Originally Posted by LDG

Oh yes, clavamox can do that.

If you can, and if she eats again, try to give her the clamamox immediately after she eats. It's just like for humans, many antibiotics upset the stomach and should be taken with food.

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Yes, that's what I assumed.
This morning I got her to take some chicken broth (with a tiny bit of mushed chicken) right after the antibiotics so that it would get rid of the taste and help settle her belly, it worked! She's now resting and grooming herself. Obviously, this really puts me at ease.

Thank you for all the good vibes!


ETA

She ate more tuna! Almost twice what she ate yesterday in one sitting!
She then went pee and did her usual "waking up" stretch.
She's now sitting by the window getting some fresh air.

That's most excellent news!!!! Yay!

(Just a little heads-up, though, too much tuna comes with it's own set of problems (Why Fish is Dangerous for Cats), so wean her off it as soon as you can. )

Vibes for continued improvement!!!

AC

Thanks, AC!

Yes I know that about the fish, I hesitated to even buy any but I know that it's her FAVORITE (like many cats) and I'm willing to do anything to get her to eat until she's well again. Then, she'll be back on her regular food. Maybe chicken and rice for a few days.


UPDATE

Pooch seems to be making a full recovery!
She even munched on some kibble today.
I am so happy and relieved. I'm also quite positive that I've identified the cause of this episode.

"Carnations: Mildly toxic. Chewing or ingesting the flowers can result in vomiting, diarrhea and lack of appetite."

I had some cut carnations that Thomas brought me sitting in the kitchen.
She loves to screw with my plants and fish tanks.

SO glad she's feeling better!

I'm so sorry she ate the carnations. One of our cats will eat any plant brought inside, so no plants of any kind at all for us. People have sent flowers on occassion. The neighbors always enjoy them.